German government bans Hamas flag because of antisemitic incidents

From DW:

All parties in Germany's grand coalition government have agreed to ban the flag of Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper said in a report published Sunday.

The move comes after several antisemitic incidents occurred last month in Germany during anti-Israel rallies.

"We do not want the flags of terrorist organizations to be waved on German soil," said Thorsten Frei, the deputy parliamentary spokesperson for [Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union.]  and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union.

The center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the CDU's coalition partner, raised constitutional concerns about the proposal but later backed the initiative.

"I'm very pleased that the SPD has joined our initiative. In doing so, we can send a clear signal to our Jewish citizens," Frei added, according to the Welt am Sonntag.

Synagogues were attacked, Israeli flags were burned and antisemitic slurs were used in cities across Germany in May amid demonstrations against Israel's 11-day war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

The German government had previously banned Hezbollah flags. 

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