At 6 am on April 30, some 50 members of the German police raided the Irshad center in Berlin. They had a search and investigation warrant to find evidence that implicates the association in funding and promoting the Lebanese Hezbollah party.
Just a day earlier, the German government banned Hezbollah in the country, designating it as a terrorist organization, ending the distinction between its military and political wings.
At 6:30 pm that same day, the center posted a nearly 40-minute lecture by Shafiq al-Jaradi, a Lebanese cleric and graduate of Iran’s Qom Seminary. Jaradi is a professed Hezbollah supporter, who shocked St. Joseph University students when he made the admission during a lecture in Beirut years ago. Jaradi never hid his support. On March 25, he hailed the Iran-backed Hezbollah, tweeting that the party’s managing of civilian crises can be compared to that of developed countries.
Despite this open support, the Irshad center denies having ties with a “terrorist organization.” At any rate, the German government and association may have a different definition of terrorism. Jaradi, during a lecture before Holy Spirit University of Kaslik students said that terrorism is an “often misused word.”
A day after the raid, the center posted a statement on its Facebook page, vowing to pursue legal means to confront the “unjust political media campaign” against it. It did not refer to Hezbollah in its statement or deny supporting it.
Irshad center
The Irshad was one of four religious centers raided by German police in Berlin. Raids also took place against other centers in four cities over their suspected affiliation with Hezbollah. No one was arrested, but that does not mean that warrants are not coming. “This is only the beginning,” said Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
Despite the militia’s blacklisting in Germany, the move is unlikely to impact the party in Lebanon or Berlin’s policy towards Beirut, German diplomats told Asharq Al-Awsat. Germany still considers Hezbollah a “main element of Lebanese society” and a participant in parliament and successive governments. The blacklisting of the party in Germany does not change this.
MP Marian Wendt, of the ruling Christian Democratic Union of Germany, has been calling for Hezbollah’s blacklisting for years. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said Berlin was “realistically” assessing the political situation.
“We know that Hezbollah is important in Lebanon and that it is a partner in rule. We know we have to cooperate with it if we want to support the Lebanese people. This does not contradict with our stance that it is a terrorist party,” he explained. He cited how Germany communicates with the Taliban movement, which Berlin had blacklisted, because it cannot dismiss while providing aid to Afghanistan.
Terror financing
Wendt said his party has for years been trying to blacklist Hezbollah in order to dry up one of its significant sources of finances. The German authorities are well aware of the party’s activities on its soil. “We know that Hezbollah is using Germany as a front to collect donations to fund terrorism in Lebanon. We know of their organized crime and money-laundering operations,” he revealed.
Wendt stressed that along with the CDU, he was determined to “weaken Hezbollah and Iran’s influence in the region.”
Germany is relatively close to Iran and had played the role of mediator between Hezbollah and Israel in past prisoner swaps. The decision to ban the party in Germany may therefore, have a negative impact on Berlin’s role in such diplomatic channels.
Wendt dismissed the concerns. He also dismissed Lebanon’s summoning of the German ambassador in wake of the ban. Lebanon is an “important” partner for Germany, said the MP, ruling out the possibility that the ban may affect these relations. The ban, he stressed, throws the ball in Lebanon’s court where the people are urged to reject having a “terrorist party” play an influential role in government.
Ties with Iran
On the ban’s impact on relations with Tehran, the German Foreign Ministry said Iran did not submit any formal complaint over the move despite its threat that Berlin “will pay the price.” Laughing, Wendt wondered: “What will Iran do? Impose sanctions on German companies? Iran is in no position to object or tell us what we should and shouldn’t do.”
“What it should do is return to the negotiations table and quit harassing vessels in the Hormuz Strait and sparking conflicts in the region,” he suggested.
Weeks ago, European countries, led by Germany, activated the Instex mechanism in order to deliver medical aid to Tehran as it combats the coronavirus outbreak. This was the first time the mechanism has ever been used. Several German companies had kicked off projects in Tehran after the signing of the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. These same companies withdrew from Iran when Washington quit the deal and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. Berlin, as it seems, appears unconcerned about “bothering” Iran, which is clinging on to any western support it can get as it confronts an American administration that is bent on bringing it to its knees.
Double standards
At any rate, Germany appears to be treating Iran with the same “double standards” it adopts with the Taliban and Hezbollah. For instance, on the one hand it maintains good political ties with the Tehran regime, while on the other, it arrests and puts on trial its spies in Germany. In 2018, it arrested a diplomat from the Iranian embassy in Austria while he was visiting Germany. It accused him of plotting to assassinate Iranian opposition figures in Europe.
Political analyst Najeh al-Obeidy told Asharq Al-Awsat that Germany has been actively preventing Iran from expanding its influence on its territories, while at the same time, maintaining relations with Tehran.
Previous bans
Germany has been closing in on Hezbollah’s activities for years. It has taken small steps in the past, such as banning the party’s al-Manar television in 2009. In 2014, it banned an orphans charity that was actually a front for the Martyrs Organization, which is run by Hezbollah. Nearly all the funds collected by the charity had been transferred to the Organization, which is an integral part of Hezbollah. “The charity operated for nearly 17 years in Germany, gathering money for orphans, but they were actually being sent to Hezbollah in Lebanon that was using them to buy weapons and rockets to use against the Lebanese and Syrian people,” said then German chief of domestic intelligence Hans Georg Maassen.
Obeidy said German’s slow or even lax approach in confronting Hezbollah’s activities can be attributed to its concern over the repercussions of its actions. He said some experts believe the crackdown will force some organizations to go underground, which will impact surveillance activities against them.
Years of criminal activity
Hezbollah does not have a clear organizational structure in Germany. Terrorism expert Jassem Mohammed said that Hezbollah employs various fronts behind which it operates. It is these fronts that are usually targeted in raids.
Militias in Germany are not only active in collecting donations and spreading propaganda, but they operate drugs and money-laundering networks through several mediators, who mainly work in the car trade.
Germany has been aware of these activities for at least 15 years. Back in 2008, it arrested four Lebanese men at Frankfurt airport after it discovered 9 million euros in their luggage and which they were trying to transfer to Beirut. They were allegedly going to be delivered to a figure who is close to Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah. The bust was two years in the making after police monitored the activity of two Lebanese living in Germany and who were convicted of forming a ring to launder money generated from the cocaine trade. The suspects worked in the auto industry and had received military training by Hezbollah, but the charges were not proven in court.
Their arrest led to the launch of the so-called Cedar Operation in 2016 that led to the discovery of a drug smuggling and money-laundering network that operated in six European countries. All 14 members of the ring were either Lebanese or of Lebanese origins. Four operated in Germany.
The “cedar gang” transferred drug money generated in Latin America to Europe and Africa by buying expensive cars, watches and jewelry to later send to Lebanon, where they are sold on the black market at their original value. Investigators at the time tried to prove that the money was being funneled to Hezbollah in Lebanon or that the operations were being ordered by the party. The probe led nowhere. It is suspected that the four gang members generated some 20 million euros between 2011 and 2015.
