بأغلبية كبيرة.. البرلمان الألماني يصوت على حظر حزب الله وكالات/19 كانون الأول/2019
German Parliament Calls for Full Ban of Hizbullah Activities Associated Press/Naharnet/December 19/2019
Germany’s parliament passed a resolution Thursday calling for a national ban on the activities of Hizbullah and for the Lebanese Iran-backed group to be put on the European Union’s “terrorist” list.
Mathias Middelberg, the spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives in parliament, said the joint resolution was agreed upon with the junior coalition Social Democrats, as well as the opposition Free Democrats.
“It is unacceptable that Hizbullah is waging a terrorist fight against Israel in the Middle East, which is being financed through worldwide criminal activities, among other things,” he said in a statement. “In view of Germany’s special responsibility toward Israel, we call on the government to ban all activities for Hizbullah in Germany.”
The EU now lists IHizbullah’s military wing as a banned “terrorist” group, but not its political wing, which has been part of Lebanese governments in recent years.
“The separation between a political and a military arm should be abandoned, and Hizbullah as a whole should be placed on the EU terrorist list,” Middelberg said. “This could freeze Hizbullah’s funds and assets in Europe more extensively than before.”
However, other member nations have opposed broadening the scope of the EU’s Hizbullah ban.
The parliamentary resolution in Germany was approved with a majority show of hands by members of Merkel’s bloc, the Social Democrats and the Free Democrats. Other parties represented in the German legislature all abstained.
The Left Party said it could not vote for the resolution because adding Hizbullah to the EU terrorist list could complicate relations with Lebanon. Members of the Greens said they agreed with almost all of the resolution but objected to a point that they said could lead to “military intervention” in the Mideast.
Johann Wadephul, a lawmaker with Merkel’s Christian Democrats, offered assurance that the resolution’s call for measures to reduce the influence of Hizbullah in the region, particularly in Syria, did not foresee military action.
“But we are all called upon to isolate Hizbullah internationally,” Wadephul told fellow lawmakers. “They threaten Israel, they threaten the peace process in the Mideast and therefore we must confront Hizbullah.”
It was not immediately clear whether the resolution would prompt the government to pursue the ban of Hizbullah’s activities. But with the governing parties and most of the opposition on board, such action seemed likely.
Several lawmakers noted that a ban would allow authorities to prevent Hizbullah supporters from staging an annual anti-Israel march in Berlin.
Britain banned Hizbullah in March following moves of other nations, including the Netherlands, the United States and Canada.
The German resolution comes as the U.S. has been increasing its pressure on Hizbullah, placing several sets of sanctions on the group and its regional backer, Iran.
In Berlin, U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell applauded the resolution approved Thursday, saying “we stand ready to support the government’s implementation of a ban.”
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas acknowledged that with Hizbullah’s ties to Lebanese government “the political reality in Lebanon is complex,” but he said “this should not prevent us from exhausting the legal possibilities in Germany to tackle Hizbullah’s criminal and terrorist activities.”
“Hizbullah denies Israel’s right to exist, threatens violence and terror, and continues to massively increase its arsenal of missiles,” Maas said.
In Lebanon, Hizbullah was part of caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s unity Cabinet, which resigned Oct. 29 in response to mass anti-government protests amid a worsening economic crisis.
Israel and Hizbullah fought a month-long war in 2006 that ended in a U.N.-brokered cease-fire. While direct fighting has been rare since then, there has been occasional violence, most recently on Sept. 1 when Hizbullah fired a barrage of anti-tank missiles into Israel and Israel responded with artillery fire.
The barrage was fired in retaliation to an Israeli airstrike inside Syria which Hizbullah said killed two of its members. It also followed an incident in which two Israeli drones crashed in a Hizbullah stronghold in south Beirut.
Israel maintains Hizbullah has amassed an arsenal of some 130,000 rockets and missiles capable of striking virtually anywhere in Israel. More recently, it has accused the group of trying to import or develop guided missiles.
Last December, Israel announced that it had uncovered a network of tunnels that it said Hizbullah was building with the aim of infiltrating and carrying out attacks. Israel said it systematically destroyed the structures.
Hizbullah has not commented on the tunnels, though the U.N. peacekeeping force UNIFIL has said the group violated the 2006 ceasefire.
German governing parties vote on ban of Lebanon’s Hezbollah in Europe The Associated Press, Berlin/Thursday, 19 December 2019
German governing parties voted to pass a law to ban the Lebanese Hezbollah group in Europe, saying it should be put on the European Union’s terrorist list. Mathias Middelberg, the spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives in parliament, said a joint resolution with the junior coalition Social Democrats would be introduced for debate Thursday. “It is unacceptable that Hezbollah is waging a terrorist fight against Israel in the Middle East, which is being financed through worldwide criminal activities, among other things,” he said in a statement.
“In view of Germany’s special responsibility toward Israel, we call on the government to ban all activities for Hezbollah in Germany.” At the moment, the EU lists Iran-backed Hezbollah’s military wing as a banned terrorist group, but not its political wing, which has been part of Lebanese governments in recent years.
بأغلبية كبيرة.. البرلمان الألماني يصوت على حظر حزب الله وكالات/19 كانون الأول/2019
صوت البرلمان الألماني، اليوم الخميس، بأغلبية كبيرة على تمرير قانون حظر حزب الله.
وكان الحزبان الحاكمان في ألمانيا دعيا إلى حظر ميليشيات حزب الله اللبنانية، قائلين إنه ينبغي إدراجها على لائحة الاتحاد الأوروبي للمنظمات الإرهابية. وقال ماتياس ميدلبرغ، المتحدث باسم حزب المستشارة الألمانية أنجيلا ميركل المحافظ في البرلمان، إنه سيتم تقديم قرار مشترك مع الحزب الاشتراكي الديمقراطي.
وأضاف في بيان “أن أنشطة حزب الله يتم تمويلها من خلال أنشطة إجرامية في جميع أنحاء العالم، من بين أمور أخرى”. وقال “ندعو الحكومة إلى حظر جميع الأنشطة الخاصة بحزب الله في ألمانيا”. في الوقت الحالي، يدرج الاتحاد الأوروبي الجناح العسكري لحزب الله المدعوم من إيران في قائمة الجماعات الإرهابية المحظورة، ولكن هذا لا ينطبق على جناح حزب الله السياسي، الذي كان جزءا من الحكومات اللبنانية في السنوات الأخيرة. وقال ميدلبرغ “الفصل بين الذراع السياسي والعسكري ينبغي التخلي عنه، ويجب إدراج حزب الله ككل على قائمة الاتحاد الأوروبي للمنظمات الإرهابية”.
وأضاف “هذا من شأنه أن يجمد أموال وأصول حزب الله في أوروبا على نطاق أوسع من ذي قبل”. ولم يتضح على الفور ما إذا كان القرار سيدفع الحكومة إلى فرض حظر كامل، ولكن في ظل مساندة الحزبين الحاكمين ومعظم المعارضة، يبدو هذا الإجراء مرجحا.
وأقر وزير الخارجية الألماني هايكو ماس أنه في ظل علاقات حزب الله بالحكومة اللبنانية فإن “الواقع السياسي في لبنان يبدو معقدا”، لكنه قال “هذا لا ينبغي أن يمنعنا من استنفاد كافة الإمكانيات القانونية في ألمانيا للتعامل مع أنشطة حزب الله الإجرامية والإرهابية.”
وقال ماس “حزب الله يهدد بالعنف والإرهاب ويواصل زيادة ترسانته من الصواريخ بشكل كبير.”وتجاوز حزب الله العتبة اللبنانية منذ سنوات بتطويره شبكات تضم خلايا في جميع أنحاء العالم، جاهزة لضرب المصالح الإسرائيلية والأميركية وكل من تعاديه الميليشيا متى شعرت القيادة الحزبية ومن ورائها إيران بضرورة تشغيلها، خصوصاً مع تصاعد التوتر الأميركي-الإيراني وتهديد الأمين العام لحزب الله حسن نصرالله خلال الصيف الماضي باستهداف المصالح الأميركية إذا تعرّضت إيران لأي عمل عسكري. في السنوات الأخيرة، كثّف حزب الله المسلّح بترسانة هائلة من الصواريخ أنشطته خارج حدود لبنان من خلال خلايا نائمة كامنة في أوروبا، وأميركا الشمالية، وأميركا اللاتينية. وطالت أعمال خلايا حزب الله النائمة أوروبا في العام 2012 وتحديداً بلغاريا حيث وقع انفجار في مدينة بورغاس استهدف حافلة أسفر عن مقتل 7 أشخاص، بينهم منفذ التفجير و32 جريحا. اتّهمت الشرطة البلغارية خلية تابعة لحزب الله اللبناني بتنفيذه.
ودفع تفجير بورغاس في بلغاريا الاتحاد الأوروبي لإدراج الجناح العسكري للحزب على لائحته السوداء كمنظمة “إرهابية”.
