Hamas has filed a legal request to be removed from the UK government’s list of proscribed terrorist organizations, arguing that it is a “Palestinian Islamic liberation and resistance movement” rather than a terrorist group.
In a witness statement published by Drop Site News, Mousa Abu Marzouk, head of international relations for Hamas, claimed: “The British government’s decision to proscribe Hamas is an unjust one that is symptomatic of its unwavering support for Zionism, apartheid, occupation and ethnic cleansing in Palestine for over a century.” He added that Hamas “does not and never has posed a threat to Britain.”
Hamas was responsible for the October 7, 2023 attacks on southern Israel that killed more than 1,200 people, primarily civilians, and resulted in approximately 250 people being taken hostage.
The UK proscribed Hamas’s military wing in 2001, followed by its political wing in 2021, with the government stating that the distinction between the two was “artificial” and describing Hamas as “a complex but single terrorist organization.”
According to documents provided to Drop Site News, Hamas is being represented pro bono by Riverway Law, as accepting payment would be illegal under current UK law. The legal team reportedly acknowledged that Hamas’s actions fall within the definition of “terrorism” under the Terrorism Act 2000, but argued this definition also covers “all groups and organisations around the world that use violence to achieve political objectives.”
The lawyers further contended that the proscription has led to “political intimidation and persecution of journalists, academics, peace activists and students over their perceived support for Hamas,” and that it contradicts Britain’s international obligations regarding genocide prevention and ending Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
In response, Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel condemned Hamas as “an evil Iranian-backed terrorist organisation, which kidnaps, tortures and murders people, including British nationals,” adding that it “poses an ongoing threat to our security and to the peace and stability of the Middle East.”
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