Armin Laschet ( Christian Democratic Union, CDU), Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia and candidate for chancellor of the CDU/CSU, has called for the flag of the Islamist Hamas to be banned in Germany. “We have banned the flag of the PKK because it is a terrorist organisation,” he said in a parliamentary question time on recent anti-Semitic riots. “The Hamas flag has not been banned until today.”
“Therefore, this flag, which stands for terrorism, must also be banned. It must not be displayed on German streets,” said the CDU federal leader. A law change is now necessary, he said.
Laschet accused Hamas of making many people living peacefully in the Gaza Strip “hostages for its terrorist activities”. At the same time, Hamas was harming the Palestinian Authority.
Last week, there had been anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli riots in several cities in Germany and also in North Rhine-Westphalia, including Gelsenkirchen, Solingen, Düsseldorf, Münster and Bonn. The trigger is the escalation of the conflict between Palestinians and Israel.