German City Bans Anti-Israel Event

The German city of Bremen has stepped in to prevent a pro-Iranian group from staging an event challenging Israel’s right to exist, The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday.

The group, which calls itself “The Feather,” wanted to conduct a vote on the proposition “Israel is illegal.” They had held similar votes in the German cities of Delmenhourst and Hannover in 2016.

The group, which displays a photograph of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on its website, was founded in 2007, and describes themselves as “supporters of the Islamic Revolution.”

The German-Israel Friendship Society in Bremen praised the Bremen authorities for banning the anti-Israel vote and having “learned that continued actions of the organization… under the disguise of free speech, call for the destruction of Israel.”

Meanwhile, a joint letter to the German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, signed by members of the Knesset and the Bundestag, called on the government to prevent terrorists from holding public events in Germany.

“It is unacceptable that terrorist organizations in Germany are planning events and recruiting supporters while the responsible authorities do not have any legal tools to prevent it,” the letter obtained by the Post reads.

The letter, sent after a protest to Berlin Mayor Michael Müller over an al-Quds Day march in June, did not elicit much response. The march saw participants carrying pictures of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Israeli flags with the Star of David crossed out and shouting anti-Israel slogans. Activities organized in connection with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Berlin were also cited.

In the letter, they urged de Maizière to ban Hezbollah, PFLP and other terrorist organizations from staging public events in Germany or outlaw them completely.

“Hezbollah and the PFLP have no place in a society that cherishes freedom, democracy and human rights,” they wrote.