(AFP) Germany’s Bundestag lower house of parliament passed a law on Friday outlawing symbols of groups designated as terrorist organisations by the EU, including the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
The new law, which must still be approved by the Bundesrat upper house, also outlaws symbols of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies.
Previously, only symbols of organisations banned by Germany had been prohibited.
The move comes after several violent and anti-Semitic pro-Palestinian rallies in Germany during the escalation of the Middle East conflict in May.
Thorsten Frei, a lawmaker for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU, told Die Welt newspaper last week that the government wanted to ban the Hamas flag in response to the demonstrations.
