Germany is refusing to ban Hezbollah, the terrorist organisation that seeks the destruction of Israel and was banned by the UK at the end of last month.

The country’s minister of state, Niels Annen, told Der Spiegel on Friday that the U.S.-designated terrorist group plays a crucial role in Lebanon, and that the European Union already blacklists the organization’s terrorist wing, reported Reuters.

It shows that Germany, like many in the European Union, is stuck playing the politics of appeasement with the terrorists of Hezbollah.

Even Hezbollah doesn’t differentiate between its political and military wings. In fact, one Hezbollah official has said, “Everyone knows that Hezbollah’s political and military wings are one and the same.”

Because Hezbollah participates in elections in Lebanon and has members in the Lebanese government, the EU made the distinction in 2013 enabling it to outlaw the military arm while giving legitimacy to the Hezbollah political party thus protecting the basic rights of its voters or its candidates. This is one of the reasons the UK refused to ban Hezbollah in its entirety until finally recognising there is no distinction.

Click here to read CUFI’s “10 reasons why Hezbollah had to be banned”

The UK banned Hezbollah in full last month

Until the end of February, Britain had only banned its “military” arm but not its “political” wing meaning there was a legal loophole currently allowing support for the organisation to grow in the UK.

However, now the UK government has come to its senses and understands that Hezbollah is a terrorist group throughout.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said in a statement:

“My priority as Home Secretary is to protect the British people. As part of this, we identify and ban any terrorist organisation which threatens our safety and security, whatever their motivations or ideology which is why I am taking action against several organisations today.”

“Hizballah is continuing in its attempts to destabilase the fragile situation in the Middle East – and we are no longer able to distinguish between their already banned military wing and the political party. Because of this, I have taken the decision to proscribe the group in its entirety.”

The ban came into force on Tuesday, 26 February 2019.

The Home Office said, “The government has taken the decision to proscribe Hizballah in its entirety on the basis that it is no longer tenable to distinguish between the military and political wings of Hizballah.”

“Hizballah was established during the Lebanese civil war and is committed to armed resistance to the state of Israel. It continues to amass weapons in direct contravention of UN Security Council Resolutions, putting the security of the region at risk. Its involvement in the Syrian war since 2012 continues to prolong the conflict and the regime’s brutal and violent repression of the Syrian people,” it continued.

It will now be illegal for anyone to fly the Hezbollah flag on the streets of Britain – something that has been seen in London every year at the anti-Semitic Al Quds march. The order will make it a criminal offence to be a member, or invite support for Hezbollah, and will carry a sentence of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.