Supporters of group could face up to 10 years in
prison under plans to proscribe Palestinian
movement's political wing
By MEE staff
November 19, 202:
Information Clearing House
-- "MME"
--The British Home Secretary Priti Patel has
announced plans to proscribe the political wing
of Hamas as a terrorist organisation, with those
expressing support for the movement risking up
to 10 years in prison.
Patel argued an outright ban under the UK's
Terrorism Act 2000 was necessary because it was not
possible to distinguish between Hamas' political and
military wing.
The military wing of the movement, the Izz al-Din
al-Qassam Brigades, has been proscribed in the UK
since 2001.
"Hamas has significant terrorist capability,
including access to extensive and sophisticated
weaponry, as well as terrorist training facilities,"
Patel tweeted on Friday.
"That is why today I have acted to proscribe
Hamas in its entirety."
The home secretary aims to push through the
change in parliament next week.
Wearing clothes that suggest support for Hamas,
arranging meetings for the organisation, or
publishing an image of its flag or logo that would
lead to the same conclusion, would be in breach of
the law.
The move would bring the UK in line with the
United States, Israel and the European Union, which
all designate Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
Hamas political official Sami Abu Zuhri said
Britain's move showed "absolute bias toward the
Israeli occupation and is a submission to Israeli
blackmail and dictations".
"Resisting occupation by all available means,
including armed resistance, is a right granted to
people under occupation as stated by the
international law," said Hamas in a separate
statement.
"Instead of apologising
and correcting its historical sin against the
Palestinian people, whether in the ominous Balfour
Declaration or the British Mandate that handed over
Palestinian land to the Zionist movement, Britain
supports the aggressors at the expense of the
victims.
"The occupation is terrorism. Killing the
indigenous population, displacing them by force,
demolishing their homes and imprisoning them is
terrorism," it added.
Bennett appeal
Earlier on Friday, Patel told reporters in
Washington: “We’ve taken the view that we can no
longer disaggregate the sort of military and
political side.
“It’s based upon a wide range of intelligence,
information and also links to terrorism. The
severity of that speaks for itself.”
Welcoming the decision on Twitter, Israeli Prime
Minister Naftali Bennett said: "Hamas is a terrorist
organisation, simply put."
Earlier this month, it was
reported by Israeli media that Bennett had asked
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to proscribe the
group when he met with him at the UN climate
conference in Glasgow.
Patel was forced to resign as Britain's
international development secretary in 2017 after
she failed to disclose meetings with senior Israeli
officials during a private holiday to the country.
She met with then-prime minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, Bennett's predecessor, and
then-opposition leader Yair Lapid.
Lapid, now Israel's foreign minister, welcomed
the UK's decision on Hamas, describing it as "part
of strengthening ties with Britain".
'Anyone who waves a Hamas flag'
Patel will outline further details of the move in
a speech on security on Friday at the Heritage
Foundation, a Washington-based conservative think
tank.
“Hamas is fundamentally and rabidly antisemitic,”
she will say in the address.
“Antisemitism is an enduring evil which I will
never tolerate. Jewish people routinely feel unsafe
- at school, in the streets, when they worship, in
their homes, and online.
"This step will strengthen the case against
anyone who waves a Hamas flag in the United Kingdom,
an act that is bound to make Jewish people feel
unsafe.”
Earlier this month, a man appeared in court for
wearing T-shirts supporting Hamas' military wing and
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which was banned in
Britain in 2005.
On three occasions in June, Feras Al Jayoosi, 34,
wore the garments in the Golders Green area of north
London, which has a large Jewish population.
Israeli blockade
Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007
after winning the previous year's election.
The result was not recognised by its political
rival Fatah, and internecine fighting broke out,
which resulted in Fatah being largely routed from
the Gaza, but maintaining power in the West Bank.
More than two million Palestinians live under
Israeli siege in the Gaza Strip.
Blockaded by Israel since 2006, the area has
been described as
"the world's largest open-air prison".
Since 2008, Israel and Hamas have fought three
wars, in addition to countless flare-ups between the
two sides.
During the most recent 11-day conflict in May,
250 Palestinians were killed by Israeli air strikes
on Gaza, including 66 children.
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