In an unprecedented move, Palestinian resistance group Hamas made a legal filing in London on April 9, seeking its removal from the UK list of proscribed terror groups.
Formally known as the Islamic Resistance Movement, the group has governed the Israeli-occupied Gaza since 2007. Its biggest act of defiance came on October 7, 2023, when it led an incursion into Israel in retaliation against the storming of Al Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers.
In the following year and a half, Israel bombed Gaza to smithereens, killing over 50,000 people, nearly one-third of whom were under the age of 18.
Hamas’s application to the UK Home Secretary under the Terrorism Act 2000 seeks to legitimise its role as a resistance movement engaged in a struggle for self-determination and liberation.
The ‘armed wing’ of Hamas – the Qassam Brigades – had been on the list of proscribed entities since March 2001. But the entirety of Hamas was added to the list on November 26, 2021, by the then UK Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Proscription automatically creates several criminal offences in relation to an outlawed group, including being a member, wearing or publishing its symbols or insignia, expressing or inviting support for it, and organising meetings in support of it.
Dr Mousa Abu Marzouk, the Doha-based head of International Relations and Legal Office of the Political Bureau of Hamas, made the application. He was one of the founders of the movement in 1987 and has held various senior positions in the movement since then.
“Hamas does not and never has posed a threat to Britain, despite the latter’s ongoing complicity in the genocide of our people. It is perhaps out of colonial guilt that Britain fears that one day, those it oppresses will strike back against the sponsors of the Zionist entity,” he said in a witness statement, which is part of the legal filing.
“Hamas is not a terrorist group… We also look outwards to draw inspiration from the glorious tradition of all those peoples and groups who have resisted colonialism, occupation and imperialism in the name of justice, dignity, and human equality,” Marzouk said.
He added that the British government’s decision to proscribe Hamas is not only unjust but also symptomatic of its unwavering support for Zionism and apartheid in Palestine for over a century.
Hamas is a sanctioned organisation, which means it is prohibited to make financial transactions, even in exchange for goods or services, without a licence from the treasury department. As such, no lawyer and expert witness involved in the application process has received any payment for their services or expenses from Hamas or any third party.
In the legal filing, Hamas does not deny that its actions fall within the wide definition of ‘terrorism’ under the UK’s Terrorism Act 2000.
Instead, it notes that the same definition also covers all groups and organisations around the world that use violence to achieve political objectives, including the Israeli armed forces, the Ukrainian army and indeed the British armed forces.
“Of course, not all such groups are proscribed as ultimately that is a question of discretion for the Secretary of State.”
The filing includes two witness statements by Marzouk. The first statement provides an explanation of Hamas’s history and views on its relationship with Britain, anti-Semitism, Zionism, resistance and a future political settlement.
The second statement contains a detailed explanation of the events of October 7, 2023, which also addresses the accusations against Hamas relating to that day.
The witness statement describes how Hamas sought to achieve “specific military objectives” during the October 7 operation with specific instructions not to target women, children and the elderly.
For any deviation from those instructions, Hamas says it is prepared to cooperate with the International Criminal Court and any other neutral third party in an independent and transparent investigation into the events of that day.
Replying to a question on the October 7 attacks by Hamas against Israel, Turkish President Erdogan says the backdrop of the incident should be examined, in an interview with US-based NBC News.
Basis of the legal filing
Hamas is seeking the removal of its name from the list of proscribed entities on three primary grounds.
One, it claims its proscription is contrary to the duties of the British State to end genocide, to end crimes against humanity, to bring to an end the occupation of the Palestinian territories, and recognise the Palestinian people as full members of the human family, equal in dignity.
Two, Hamas says its inclusion on the list of proscribed organisations is incompatible with Articles 10, 11 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. That’s because its legal status “unlawfully” restricts the freedom of speech and assembly of those with whom the British State politically disagrees.
Three, its legal status as a proscribed group is not proportionate because Hamas does not pose any threat to Britain or British citizens. This undermines the democratic process, the application says. Hamas’s current legal status eliminates from the political process the very party that has won the only free and fair election in the occupied Palestinian Territories, it adds.
“Hamas is the only effective military force resisting – and seeking to end and prevent – the ongoing acts of genocide and crimes against humanity being committed by the Zionist State against the Palestinians in Gaza. Its continued proscription is purposefully – and in any event practically – inhibiting the efforts of the Palestinian people to use military force to end and prevent those ongoing acts of genocide,” the legal filing states.
In accordance with the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion of July 2024, Britain has an obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the unlawful presence of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories and to remove all impediments to the exercise of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.
The legal filing says Hamas has never extended its military operations outside the territory of historic Palestine, even though the governments of Britain and the US have provided “significant levels of support” to the Zionist State, which enabled it to conduct its genocidal campaign in Gaza.
“Using the criminal law to silence those on the other side of a political debate is an affront to self-professed British values of individual liberty and the rule of law,” it says.
