Germany bans IHH for Hamas links

[shira]

Germany bans IHH for Hamas links
By ASSOCIATED PRESS AND JPOST.COM STAFF
07/12/2010 15:32

Berlin official: Organization supported Gaza welfare projects.

Germany's government on Monday banned an organization it accuses of collecting donations that are sent to Hamas-related welfare projects.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said in a statement that the International Humanitarian Relief Organization was banned Monday because it has used donations to support projects in Gaza that are related to Hamas — while presenting their activities to donors as humanitarian help.

De Maiziere said organizations that directly or indirectly work against Israel's right to exist lose their right to be active in Germany.

The IHH, a Turkish charity that was one of the main planners of the Gaza flotilla, is widely considered a terrorist organization by a number of bodies - including the Israeli government - and has been accused of maintaining ties with a number of terror organizations.

more...
http://www.jpost.com/SpecialSection/Article.aspx?ID=181187&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Chulanowa]

1. One cannot do anything in Gaza without interacting with Hamas

It'd be kind of like doing public works in Florida without consulting the government of Florida.

And the Jpost is full of shit again; "The IHH, a Turkish charity that was one of the main planners of the Gaza flotilla, is widely considered a terrorist organization by a number of bodies"

Actually it's only Israel, only after the flotilla assault - and of course some violently pro-israeli right-wing groups in other states such as AIPAC. The United Nations considers the IHH nothing of the sort.

[davidinalameda]

2. I think France considers them a terrorist group

[Chulanowa]

3. Nope. it's exclusively Israel

And Israel did not have the IHH on its terror watch list until the 17th of last month. The IHH has been operating since 1992. It's a political CYA move by Israel, and has nothing at all to do with the IHH itself. Basically Israel murdered nine people, then concocted this excuse to justify doing so two weeks later.

[Riftaxe]

8. The European Union ,Israel, Japan, Canada, and

the United States classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.

This would include the Governments of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom

[Chulanowa]

9. We're talking about the IHH, Riftaxe. Not Hamas

But thanks for trying.

[Alamuti Lotus]

4. "Berlin official: Organization supported Gaza welfare projects."

HOW FIENDISH! They should fall in line with proper, US/Israel-approved, behavior, and drop bombs and tank shells on Gaza instead. Welfare projects...the nerve of these arch-villians.

[Tripmann]

5. Anybody else remember all those webpages that appeared linking the IHH to hamas?

All pages dated the same, less than a week before the flotilla raid. What an amazing coincidence.

Goebbels could only dream of such a propaganda machine.

[Chulanowa]

6. What are you, some sort of filthy anti-Teuton?

How dare you criticize the honest work of the German propaganda machine?!

Oh... Oh wait... My bad, wrong door!

[azurnoir]

7. Confusion deepens over Turkish, German aid charities

Germany’s recent ban on an aid organization due to its alleged links with Hamas and the group’s name analogy with another controversial charity in Turkey have sparked questions after the Turkish group denied any connections with the Frankfurt-based one.

The Frankfurt-based Internationale Humanitaere Hilfsorganisation, or IHH, is alleged to have collected money in mosques across Germany and sent roughly 6.6 million euros to relief organizations belonging to or supporting Hamas, which Germany considers a terrorist organization.

The organization was founded in 1992 in Freiburg, Germany, according to German authorities. They say the group split in two in 1997, IHH Germany and İHH Turkey, which are now two separate entities.

İHH Turkey, also known as the International Humanitarian Relief Organization, was recently involved in organizing a pro-Palestinian flotilla meant to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. The flotilla was stopped by the Israeli military May 31. Eight Turks and one Turkish-American were killed in the raid.

German authorities have been investigating the IHH in Frankfurt for a year. The main figures in IHH Germany are also active in the Islamic group Milli Görüş, which has been under observation by German authorities, German officials said.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=frankfurt-based-ihh-2010-07-13

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out