Hesse bans Frankfurt association Palästina e.V. and raids six properties
Hessian authorities banned the pro-Palestinian group Palästina e.V. for antisemitic propaganda and supporting Hamas, deploying 35 police officers to search residences and storage units in Frankfurt and Mannheim.
State ban and morning raids
On Tuesday, 18 August 2026, the Hessian Ministry of the Interior issued a formal prohibition against the Frankfurt-based organization Palästina e.V., dissolving its structures and banning its social media channels. Across the morning, 35 officers from the Frankfurt Police Headquarters, the Hessian Operations Headquarters, and the Hessian State Criminal Police Office executed search warrants across six properties. The operation targeted five individuals, searching three private residences and two storage facilities in Frankfurt as well as one residence in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg. Police confiscated assets, electronic storage media, laptops, computers, cash, and physical propaganda materials, including banners, flyers, and stickers. Authorities confirmed that the searches resulted in no detentions.
- Frankfurt apartments
- 3 properties
- Frankfurt storage units
- 2 properties
- Mannheim apartments
- 1 properties
Allegations of constitutional violations and terror support
The interior ministry based the ban on findings that the association operated against the constitutional order and the concept of international understanding. Official investigations established that the organization promoted antisemitic hostility and sought the elimination of Israel under the slogan of liberating historical Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean. According to the ministry, the group's charter mandated solidarity with all forms of Palestinian resistance, which extended to armed attacks by Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Following the 7 October 2023 attacks that killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel, association member Aitak B. publicly praised the operation at a press conference in Frankfurt's Gallus district before police arrested her.
There is no terror of Hamas, there is no terror of the PFLP, armed resistance is not terror.
Sham dissolution and ongoing operations
Founded in 2022, Palästina e.V. published an online announcement declaring its self-dissolution in November 2024. The Hessian Interior Ministry and the Administrative Court in Kassel rejected the claim as an evasive tactic, noting that the group's activists continued organizing vigils, demonstrations, and digital campaigns. The current enforcement followed earlier police searches conducted in January 2025 against the group's executive board. During Tuesday's operation, officers searched the Mannheim home of activist Mahmud O., who regularly addressed Frankfurt rallies and had previously overturned a municipal speaking ban in court. Following the search at his apartment, activists scheduled a demonstration outside Mannheim police headquarters for Tuesday evening.
- Palästina e.V. is founded in Frankfurt.
- Member Aitak B. defends the 7 October attacks during a press conference in Gallus.
- The association announces its self-dissolution on social media.
- Police conduct searches against association executives and board members.
- Hesse issues a formal ban and police search six properties in Frankfurt and Mannheim.
Official response and security measures
Hessian Interior Minister Roman Poseck stated that the ban demonstrates consistent legal action against rising antisemitism and safeguards Jewish life across the state. Poseck explained the decision during an appearance in Wiesbaden.
The association was oriented toward ensuring that there is no longer any place on the map for Israel.
Hessian Antisemitism Commissioner Uwe Becker stated that the group maintained operational connections with organizations such as the BDS campaign, Migrantifa, and Jüdische Stimme für gerechten Frieden in Nahost. Becker remarked that individuals who glorify terror attacks and call for Israel's destruction have no place in German society. State security authorities affirmed that protective measures for Jewish institutions, including video surveillance, remain fully operational.
