NEW YORK (VINnews) — Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor has called on Germany and the EU to outlaw a non-profit group known as Samidoun, on the grounds that its supports Palestinian terrorist activities, according to a report by Israel’s I24 channel.
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Founded in 2012 by operatives from the EU- and US-designated Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization, Samidoun is already blacklisted by Israel as a terrorist entity.
Prosor tweeted in German that “Samidoun is a Trojan horse. They abuse German law and use the freedoms they enjoy to spread hate and anti-Semitism. It’s time to put them on the German and EU terror lists.”
Samidoun claims on its website that it is a “Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network” that functions as “an international network of organizers and activists working to build solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in their struggle for freedom.”
In February 2021, the Israeli Defense Ministry’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) announced: “The Samidoun organization was designated as a terrorist organization, as it is part of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and was founded by members of the PFLP in 2012.”
Samidoun has an extensive network in Germany and also has a chapter in the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to its website.
In April, Samidoun garnered widespread media coverage in Germany for organizing an anti-Israel rally in Berlin attended by a crowd of 500 mostly German Muslims, where “Death to the Jews” and “Death to Israel” were chanted.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) which documents terror group rhetoric and translates it for Westerners said that the antisemitic chants included “I generate the bloody body!” and “Tel Aviv, the answer will come!” MEMRI wrote that: “Protesters openly glorified terrorist violence and praised the military arm of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades that is responsible for numerous suicide attacks against civilians, rocket attacks, and hostage taking.”
The Berlin authorities have outlawed Samidoun protests due to the potential for violence, but the German government has yet to act against the group itself.
When asked if the German interior ministry plans to outlaw Samidoun, Björn Bowinkelmann, a spokesman for interior minister Nancy Faeser, told i24NEWS that “We ask for your understanding that the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community generally does not comment on deliberations regarding a possible ban, regardless of whether there is reason for such deliberations in individual cases.” Bowinkelmann added that “the Federal Ministry of the Interior handles it this way because otherwise there would be a risk that those potentially affected would act accordingly and the effectiveness of operational official measures could be impaired or thwarted.”
Samidoun lashed out at Prosor on its website on June 15, declaring “The Zionist ambassador in Berlin, Ron Prosor, expressed his great anger at the presence of the images of Palestinian prisoners ‘on the trees’ and in the streets of Berlin, which ‘have become like the streets of Gaza,’ as he wrote in an earlier tweet.”
Samidoun added “It is clear that this attack is meant as a broad assault on the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, and that the demand to silence the work of Samidoun is an attempt to silence the voices of Palestinian prisoners at the international level.”
Natan Sharansky, a one-time Soviet dissident and former Israeli government minister, branded “anti-Semitic” a tweet by Michael Blume, who is tasked with fighting antisemitism in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in which he claimed he was being monitored by an Israeli intelligence company.
In a statement to i24NEWS, Sharansky said there was “no doubt that his tweet…is anti-Semitic. As it demonizes our people and goes to classic anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. It is a legitimate question why should the German government pay him for fighting anti-Semitism.”
Blume tweeted that: “An international team researched fake news providers in Israel. As someone affected by trolling, whose family and himself have been defamed by anti-German right-wing extremists, I have questions. And [ I am] on this.#TeamJorge.”
Blume suggested he was the victim of an Israeli disinformation campaign. He linked his tweet to a German public television report about the allegation that a group of Israelis known as “Team Jorge” operate outside of Tel Aviv and specialize in hacking and the spread of disinformation. Blume provided no evidence for his claim that he has been targeted by “Team Jorge.”