Why Hezbollah Fears About Its Designation As A Terrorist Group In Germany

Following the German government’s decision to unionize Hezbollah as a global terrorist organization, eThe Lebanese Shiite group responded threateningly to Germany’s decision last week, exacerbating the crisis that Infobae exclusively reported on.

The concrete thing is that the government de Angela Merkel has carried out a large number of police procedures throughout the country and is currently monitoring some 1,000 members and activists of the group on German soil. Some of these people have already been detained and will be deported to Lebanon, Syria and Turkey, while mosques and institutions linked to the organization continue to be thoroughly investigated by the authorities.

Government reactions in Lebanon and Iran, far from appeasing, have escalated to worrying levels, which is why Germany has taken extreme anti-terror measures through its internal security agencies. In Beirut, Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti contacted the German ambassador to Lebanon and demanded an explanation on the measure of his government and the latest events related to the arrests.

According to Lebanese sources who asked Infobae to preserve their identity, Hitti let the German ambassador know that “Hezbollah is a determining factor in the politics of Lebanon, which represents a large sector of the population and it is a majority part of the parliament, but above all, together with the Lebanese armed forces, it forms the arm of resistance to foreign attempts to dominate the country. ”

Lebanese sectors of the opposition to the government have said that Hitti made a serious political mistake by irresponsibly aligning the interests of the Lebanese state with Hezbollah, since the group configures the Iranian occupation army in the country.

At the same time, eHezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah released a statement denying any supporting evidence that his organization had political activities in Germany. Nasrallah stated that Germany is under strong external pressure and blamed Israel and the US. to extort money from Berlin to impose their agendas in the region. “The Zionist entity has an occupation plan,” Nasrallah declared. “Those who oppose the US hegemonic project and the Zionist occupation agenda are the resistance movements and for that reason Germany seeks to weaken Hezbollah,” said the group’s leader. .

However, In Nasrallah’s speech – for the first time – there is concern over the possibility that more European countries will follow Germany’s behavior. In this regard, the recent history of the United Kingdom, which declared Hezbollah a global terrorist organization last year and the Netherlands, which had already done so in 2013, worry the organization’s leadership.

It must be remembered that the Dutch declaration had a high impact for Hezbollah since after it, the organization was linked to the terrorist attack on the tourist bus in Bulgaria, a fact that happened a year earlier and where 5 Israeli tourists and the Bulgarian bus driver himself were killed. . It was there that the European Union (EU) designated Hezbollah’s military arm as a terrorist organization, although it did not do so with the political movement in general despite the fact that both wings are controlled by Iran. However, in recent years, Hezbollah’s violent activities in the Middle East and its terrorist attacks abroad have increased the rejection of several Western governments towards the organization. Even in Latin America, governments like Argentina and Paraguay maintain Hezbollah’s classification as a terrorist group.

Meanwhile in the Middle East, lThe Arab League, the regional Arab Islamic representative body of which 22 countries are part, has also ruled indicating that, “given its violence and terrorist activity, it designated Hezbollah as a global terrorist organization in 2017.” Such qualification was endorsed on the basis of a broad evidentiary plexus on his criminal activities in the region and for setting up a threat to stability and Arab national security that espouses and generates sectarian and ethnic tensions in Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. ”

Regarding the European continent, the relevant fact is that Germany is the largest economy in Europe, in addition to this a highly influential political model in Brussels. Consequently, Nasrallah’s fears of a ripple effect in the EU’s orbit have more than solid foundations.Because the precedent of the German designation on your organization may lead other members of the EU to recognize the serious threat that Hezbollah embodies and to apply the same policy by calling it a global terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, theThe effects of the German sanction have had implications for a group of Republican members of the US Congress who asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to withdraw US assistance. the Lebanese armed forces for not distancing themselves from the terrorist group representing the Iranian power in Lebanon and the region. Congressmen Brian Mast, Doug Lamborn and Scott Perry, sent a letter to Pompeo in which they cite Resolution 1701 of the UN Security Council, dated 2006, said resolution establishes that a demilitarized zone is set free of armed personnel, both members of Hezbollah and Israeli troops from the south of the Litani River to the Blue Line, demarcated by the UN and which serves as the border between southern Lebanon and northern Israel. The statement also maintains that Hezbollah and the Lebanese armed forces “are no longer two separate entities,” and that by continuing to provide that aid, Washington would be violating national security law by funding an organization declared terrorist by the federal government and by several countries. of Europe.

After the hard blow to Hezbollah’s finances and the neutralization of its money laundering network through cryptocurrencies, The next step that the German government is taking in terms of legislation against the organization and other Islamist groups is in the hands of its legislators who are working to amend the NetzDG law – of moderation and control for racist attacks – in terms of online content. . The authorities estimate that in the next four months the law will come into force with the necessary reforms for all content on social networks within Germany.

Since its creation in 1982, there is no doubt that Hezbollah is going through its most critical and vulnerable moment. In the past, the organization has reinvented itself several times, adapting its agenda to different political and military scenarios. We will have to see where he is heading and what his reaction will be at the worst moment of his existence.