British report: UK will outlaw Hezbollah’s so-called political wing

The large British broadsheet The Sunday Telegraph reported on Saturday that the United Kingdom’s home secretary plans to outlaw all of Hezbollah’s organization this week.

According to The Telegraph report by the paper’s Sunday political editor Edward Malnick, “Sajid Javid is preparing to ban Hizbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, as soon as this week.”

The article said “The Home Secretary [Sajid Javid] is expected to proscribe the entire Shia organisation as a terrorist group, preventing supporters from parading its flag through the streets of Britain. The move will have to be approved by Parliament, raising the prospect that it could be opposed by Jeremy Corbyn, who once referred to members of the group as ‘friends.”‘

The United Kingdom and the European Union merely classify Hezbollah’s so-called military wing a terrorist entity. Hezbollah political members operate in the United Kingdom and appear at the annual al-Quds day rally in London with Hezbollah flags that promotes the destruction of the Jewish state.

The Telegraph noted that “It follows warnings by MPs that the UK had created a false distinction by proscribing the military wing of the group but failing to outlaw its political side.”

According to the article, an MP well-versed with Javid’s plan to ban Hezbollah said: “It has been worked on for some time and is now imminent – and long overdue.It was a curious anomaly not to proscribe Hezbollah’s political wing as well given that such a range of other countries had made a similar decision. In the current climate, it is a really strong signal that we won’t tolerate celebrations of terrorism and antisemitism on the streets of the UK.”

The Jerusalem Post reported on articles in the London-based Jewish Chronicle in June and September of 2018 that said Javid was slated to outlaw all of Hezbollah but the reports did not materialize. Britain banned Hezbollah’s military wing in 2008 because the Lebanese militia attacked UK soldiers in Iraq. However, the United Kingdom allows Hezbollah’s political wing to operate.

The United States, Canada, the Arab League, the Netherlands and Israel consider Hezbollah to be a unified terrorist entity without separate military and political wings.

The European Union designated Hezbollah’s military wing a terrorist organization in 2013 due to Hezbollah’s role in blowing up an Israeli tour bus in Bulgaria that resulted in deaths of five Israelis and their Bulgarian muslim bus driver. An additional 32 Israelis were injured in the terrorist attack. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has steadfastly refused to out-law all of Hezbollah. German intelligence agencies say there are 950 Hezbollah members in the federal republic who raise funds and recruit new members. Hezbollah members across Germany raise funds, recruit new members and spread antisemitism, according to 2018 German intelligence reports reviewed by the Post.

The US ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell told The Washington Examiner in December that “We have made it clear that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization and asked all allies to consider the same designation.”

A specialized Bulgarian court for terrorism crimes is currently holding a trial in absentia for the two Hezbollah operatives who participated in blowing up the Israeli bus.The Hezbollah suspects Lebanese-Australian Meliad Farah and Lebanese-Canadian Hassan El Hajj Hassan have fled to Lebanon. The Lebanese authorities have refused to extradite the men to Bulgaria. Interpol has issued arrest warrants for the two men.

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