Germany

Government & Politics

Refugee policy EU’s ‘biggest inadequacy,’ says Germany’s Heiko Maas Germany's foreign minister took aim at the EU's approach to refugees, saying nothing has been solved since the 2015 migrant crisis. He also called again for a scheme to distribute asylum-seekers across the EU.

May 7, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has accused European Union member states of not doing enough to solve the continent’s migrant dilemma. Speaking at an online conference hosted by re:publica and the Media Convention Berlin, Maas said the manner with which […]

Government & Politics

Mossad gave Berlin intel on Hezbollah ops on German soil ahead of ban — report Unnamed Israeli official tells TV Germans were provided info on warehouses where terror group stashed materials for explosives, as well as money laundering networks

May 2, 2020   

(Times of Israel) Israel’s Mossad spy agency gave information to Germany on Hezbollah’s activities on its soil ahead of the country banning the Lebanese terror group this week, Channel 12 news reported Saturday. Germany branded the entirety of the Iranian-backed group — […]

Government & Politics

German government bans Hezbollah — Interior Ministry Authorities have designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization and banned its activity on German soil. Police conducted raids on four associations linked to the Islamist group.

April 30, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer on Thursday banned all Hezbollah activities in the country, his ministry spokesman said on Twitter. He also confirmed that “police measures are underway in several federal states concurrently,” and added that even in times of […]

Demonstrations

German Jew sues Berlin to stop antisemitic Quds Day rally Iranian regime-sponsored rally attracts neo-Nazis, members of Hezbollah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

April 28, 2020   

(Jerusalem Post) After the city-state of Berlin declined to take action against an annual Iranian regime-sponsored protest calling for the destruction of Israel, German Jewish retiree Gilbert Kallenborn filed a lawsuit to stop the rally. The Berlin-based B.Z. paper reported on Monday […]

Government & Politics

Berlin confirms to the ‘Post’ it banned Palestinian terrorist for 4 years When asked why the ban was restricted to four years Pallgen said that 'according to the requirements of German and European law, a ban on entry and residence must be limited in time.'

April 14, 2020   

(Jerusalem Post) A spokesman for Berlin’s interior ministry told the Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that the government of the capital city imposed a four-year ban on the alleged Palestinian terrorist Khaled Barakat. Martin Pallgen, spokesman for the interior ministry, told the Post […]

Government & Politics

Germany imposes four-year travel ban on senior Palestinian terrorist The EU and the US both classify the PFLP as a foreign terrorist organization. Barakat is a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, according to the Israeli government.

April 11, 2020   

(Jerusalem Post) The German government has issued a four-year travel ban against a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who allegedly supports terrorism and [the] Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against the Jewish state. The […]

Legal

German-Afghan spy gets nearly 7 years for treason The man passed on state secrets to the Iranian secret service while working as a translator for the German military. Now a Koblenz court has handed him a lengthy prison sentence.

March 24, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) A former Afghan translator to the German military has been handed six years and 10 months in prison after being charged with treason for selling secrets to the Iranian secret service. The Koblenz court also found his wife, Asiea S., […]

Children & Teens

Germany open to resettling children from Greek refugee camps Germany's government is seeking a 'coalition of the willing' to take in the children across Europe. The EU wants to avoid a repeat [of] the 2015 refugee crisis as thousands of refugees and migrants gather at Greece's border.

March 9, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) Germany is prepared to take in “an appropriate share” of the neediest refugee children housed in overcrowded Greek migrant camps, German officials said on Monday. The country is set [to] take children in as part of “a coalition of the willing” […]

Demonstrations

Germany: Thousands rally urging government to accept more refugees Berlin has insisted that the EU's 'borders are not open' despite a new push of migrants and refugees at the Turkish-Greek frontier. Up to 5,000 people have gathered in the northern city, chanting 'Hamburg has space.'

March 7, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) Up to 5,000 people gathered in Hamburg on Saturday in protest of the German government’s handling of the fresh migrant crisis unfolding at the Turkish-Greek border. The rally took place in response to the rush by thousands of … migrants […]

Government & Politics

Turkey deports 2 German nationals over terror links Terrorists deported as part of Turkey's ramped-up efforts to return foreign fighters, says Interior Ministry

March 7, 2020   

(Anadolu) Turkey on Saturday deported two foreign terrorists to their home country of Germany, the Interior Ministry said. Turkey continues to deport foreign terrorists, said a ministry statement. The issue of the handling of Daesh/ISIS terrorists and their families detained in Syria […]

Children & Teens

Germany: Alleged IS terrorist goes on trial The German convert is accused of taking her three children to Syria without the knowledge or consent of their father. The eldest son, trained as a child soldier aged 7, is thought to have died in a 2018 rocket attack.

March 6, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) A court in the western city of Düsseldorf … was scheduled Friday to hear a set of charges filed by federal prosecutors against a 32-year-old mother, accused of joining the Islamic State (“IS”) terrorist group. The woman, originally from Oberhausen […]

Government & Politics

Israel’s ambassador urges Germany to ban Hezbollah activities German politician Eva Högl said the Hezbollah ban is an 'important building block in the fight against antisemitism.'

March 5, 2020   

(Jerusalem Post) Israeli Ambassador to Germany Jeremy Issacharoff has stepped up his push for the German government to ban activities of the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist organization in the federal republic. “The decision of the Bundestag, which calls for the prohibition of Hezbollah […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

Germany’s Seehofer touts expert panel on Islamophobia after Hanau killings An expert group to tackle Islamophobia in Germany has been floated by Chancellor Angela Merkel's interior minister. The move follows a racist multiple shooting last week and precedes an integration summit in Berlin.

February 29, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) Interior Minister Horst Seehofer announced on Saturday the creation of an “independent expert group on Islamophobia” (Muslimfeindlichkeit), saying it would emulate current ministerial panels on anti-Semitism and antiziganism, meaning hostility toward Jewish and Roma communities respectively. His call follows a charge […]

Clothing

Headscarf ban for trainee lawyers ruled constitutional The German state of Hesse bans headscarves from being worn by lawyers and trainee lawyers in courtrooms. A woman had hoped to prove this was unconstitutional; but the German top court judges thought otherwise.

February 27, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) A headscarf ban for lawyers and trainees in German courtrooms is not unconstitutional, ruled the country’s top court on Thursday. A German-Moroccan law student had hoped to prove that the law in Hesse, which forbids headscarves during training in the courtroom, was […]

Children & Teens

Germany indicts Iraqi man over death of Yazidi slave girl The man has been accused of letting the 5-year-old die of thirst after keeping her as a slave in Iraq. The suspect and his wife, German national Jennifer W., allegedly left the girl chained up before she perished.

February 21, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) German prosecutors said on Friday they had indicted an Iraqi man for allegedly leaving a Yazidi girl to die of thirst. He and his wife kept the 5-year-old as a slave in Iraq and his spouse, a German convert to Islam, is already […]

News: Europe

Over 60 Germans among Islamists in Idlib An analysis of text and video messages from jihadis in Idlib reveals over 60 Germans among their ranks, German media report. Syrian President Bashar Assad is determined to retake the region.

February 9, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) More than 60 Germans are fighting in Idlib, the last stronghold of foreign fighters in northwest Syria, according to reports by the German broadcaster SWR on Sunday. SWR reviewed transcripts of instant messages sent by the fighters and determined that the […]

Academics & Education

German authorities, politicians divided on niqab, burqa ban Politicians across party lines agree that the niqab and the burqa are out of place at schools and universities. Some, however, fear that a ban could hamper integration into German society.

February 8, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) There are very few women and girls in Germany wearing a full-face veil such as the niqab or the burqa — most likely a mere two-digit number. A recent verdict handed down by a Hamburg court, however, has sparked a […]

Children & Teens

Female genital mutilation feels ‘like living in a dead body’ More than 70,000 women in Germany have undergone female genital mutilation, and a rising number of young girls are considered at risk — even though it's illegal. It's prompted Berlin to set up a national anti-FGM office.

February 6, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) After Shadia Abdelmoneim’s third child was born, while she was still under anesthetic, her midwife performed female genital mutilation (FGM) on her without her consent. It led to a lengthy period of shock thereafter where she found it difficult to […]

Immigration

Germany: Islamist jailed over planned terror attack A Berlin court has sentenced an Islamist to more than five years in jail for preparing a dangerous bomb attack. The man is from the same milieu as Berlin Christmas market attacker Anis Amri.

January 24, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) A Berlin court on Friday sentenced a 32-year-old Islamist to five years and four months in prison for planning a serious terror attack involving explosives. The man, identified only as Magomed-Ali C. under German privacy laws, is thought to have […]

Mosques

Kurds file criminal complaint against Iran mosque in Germany for terrorism The popular German news and commentary website Tichys Einblick first published the complaint, which was filed with the local prosecutor’s office.

January 16, 2020   

(Jerusalem Post) Ali Ertan Toprak, the chairman of the Kurdish community in Germany, on Tuesday lodged a formal criminal complaint against the Iranian regime-controlled Islamic Center of Hamburg, the owner of the Imam Ali Mosque, for its support of terrorism. According to […]

Law Enforcement

German police raid ‘Islamists’ suspected of planning attack Prosecutors in Berlin said that the suspects are believed to have staked out locations for a future 'Islamist-motivated' attack. Evidence gathered so far does not indicate that there were any concrete attack plans.

January 14, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) Police carried out raids at properties across four German states on Tuesday morning, targeting suspected Islamists who were believed to be “planning a serious violent act endangering the state.” Prosecutors in Berlin said the suspects were of “Chechen origin from […]

Immigration

Germany jails jihadi for Syrian massacre An ex-member of al-Qaida affiliate Nusra Front has been sentenced to life in prison for involvement in a 2013 massacre of regime forces. Prosecutors have sought to jail war criminals who arrived in Germany as refugees.

January 13, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) A German court on Monday sentenced a 31-year-old Syrian man to life in prison for double homicide and accessory to 17 counts of murder committed during his time as an Islamist militant. The former Nusra Front jihadi was found guilty […]

Academics & Education

Would Turkish schools in Germany increase Erdogan’s influence abroad? The German government is working out a possible framework for opening Turkish schools in three German cities. DW dives into what that would look like in practice.

January 10, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) The German government announced on Friday negotiations with Ankara to create a framework for Turkish schools to be opened in Berlin, Cologne and Frankfurt, sparking debate over the schools’ role in increasing Turkish President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s political influence abroad. […]