Overview
- Hesse’s interior ministry announced on Tuesday that it has outlawed the association Palästina e. V., saying the group crossed the line from political speech into antisemitic propaganda.
- Police executed court-authorized searches at six locations—five in Hesse and one in Baden-Württemberg—with 35 officers involved to enforce the ban and secure further evidence.
- The administrative court in Kassel found sufficient factual indications to justify the prohibition after authorities documented long-term promotion of antisemitic positions and denial of Israel’s existence.
- Officials say investigators cited public praise for the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and the group’s stated goal of a ‘liberation’ of historic Palestine from the Jordan to the Mediterranean as evidence that the association endorsed armed resistance and supported terrorists.
- The measure follows earlier 2025 searches and a November 2024 self-declared dissolution that authorities view as ineffective; the ban signals stronger state action under German law to disrupt groups judged to threaten the constitutional order and to protect Jewish residents, and it may prompt further prosecutions and monitoring of related activist networks.