This week CAGE International made a bold statement. The UK-based advocacy group declared that Hamas should no longer be listed as a terror group in the UK, filing a legal challenge to the UK Home Secretary.

Legally, the application asserts that the proscription contravenes Articles 10 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights and violates fundamental rights, including the freedom of expression.

In practice, CAGE argues, the use of Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 has led to the systematic detention of ordinary British citizens for public speaking, social media posts, or participation in peaceful protests, disproportionately affecting British Muslims.

“It should be lawful for individuals in Britain to express their political views and not to be criminalised, and certainly not to be prosecuted under anti-terror powers. That’s the thrust of our argument,” says Muhammad Rabbani, the International Director of CAGE, in an interview with TRT World.

The organisation’s case lists 24 individuals who say they’ve been designated as terrorists for mere expressions of solidarity with Palestine, ranging from a post on X to a blog post. CAGE argues that anti-terror powers are being wielded to conflate criticism of Israeli policies with support for Hamas.

Those affected include healthcare professionals, teachers, academics, university students and activists, and even school children as young as eight.

What links them, Rabbani says, is that they publicly expressed support for Palestinian rights and were later targeted, often after being doxxed by pro-Israeli groups.

“If you don't comply, then you run the risk of losing your job. That's the kind of climate that these Zionist organisations are seeking to create,” Rabbani says.

Yet, the fear doesn’t get to everyone. Tony Greenstein, a 70-year-old Jewish activist, is among those facing trial, with a court hearing scheduled for January next year.

In December 2024, police arrived at his Brighton home and arrested him under suspicion of terrorism. 

He was stunned. The only words he could manage as police stood at his door were: “This is dystopian.”

The charge, he soon learned, stemmed from a post on X. He had responded to a pro-Israeli user who challenged him to publicly declare support for Hamas. “Just say it, I support Hamas,” the user coaxed.

Instead, Greenstein replied, “I support the Palestinians — that’s enough.” But then, he added a line: “I support Hamas against the IDF.”

That, he believes, was the trigger. 

Soon after, a former Jewish Chronicle correspondent boasted on social media that he had been reported to anti-terror police.

Greenstein suspects other Zionist groups were also involved in doxxing him.

“I mistakenly thought that maybe, being Jewish and so on, that they would think twice about arresting me. But obviously they didn't,” he tells TRT World.

While Greenstein stops short of endorsing Hamas’s politics, he defends the right to resist oppression.  

“I support the right of the oppressed to take up and oppose their oppressor,” he states, a principle he says applies universally, regardless of the specific politics of the group in question.

Proscription of Hamas’ political wing

The political wing of Hamas was not always designated as a terrorist organisation in the UK.

Prior to 2021, it was only Hamas's military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, that was considered a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000, a designation in place since 2001. 

In November 2021, however, the then Home Secretary Priti Patel extended the designation to include Hamas’s political wing, effectively criminalising any form of support for the organisation.

Outspoken figures like Greenstein say this is exactly when things started to fall apart.

“By proscribing the political wing of Hamas, which forms the government of Gaza, what you're saying is that all of the Palestinians are basically terrorists who voted for them,” Greenstein says.

“What you're saying is that any doctor, any nurse, any other worker, a refuse worker, policeman or whoever, who happens to be a member of the political wing, is a fair target for Israel,” he adds.

Hamas has governed Gaza since winning elections in 2006, and assuming full control in 2007 after conflict with political rivals Fatah.

While the group is classified as a terrorist organisation by the UK, US, and EU, its political wing manages daily governance in Gaza, including ministries and civil services. 

Greenstein argues that the UK's proscription policy disregards this distinction, creating space for widespread criminalisation.

“The fact that they have nothing to do with the military wing is irrelevant. So it's a license for genocide,” he says.

CAGE’s legal submission notes that the UK remains an outlier in continuing to proscribe Hamas in its entirety, despite growing international engagement with the political wing of the organisation and its de facto governance of Gaza.

Systematic crackdown

According to CAGE, there has been a 455 percent increase in repression cases since 2021, overwhelmingly targeting Muslims and people of colour. The group argues that this trend reflects systemic Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism. While mainstream politicians remain silent on these issues, they are selectively choosing to amplify anti-Semitism concerns.

One such case is that of Dylan Evans, a 58-year-old British Muslim activist.

In May 2024, he was awoken by loud banging at his front door. Police officers stormed his home, handcuffed him, and took him in for questioning, without clearly stating the charge.

He was held in custody for hours before being released on bail and eventually charged under Section 12 for allegedly inviting support for Hamas in a single X post – details of which police have not disclosed.

Evans learnt from the police that the complaint against him was filed by a UK-based pro-Israeli monitoring group, Gnasher Jew, known for tracking and reporting pro-Palestinian activists.

These groups largely operate through social media platforms. They compile online dossiers and lodge complaints with employers, universities, or law enforcement.

“The word terrorism is crucial because it’s such a scare word. It’s a fear word, and it's such a powerful word because it carries so much stigma, fear with it. And that's the whole purpose of it, rhetorically speaking,” Evans tells TRT World.

Known for his dark humour, Evans has appeared at preliminary hearings in a bright orange prison jumpsuit, which he pointedly refers to as his “Guantanamo uniform”. He jokes with officers, saying they might as well “go straight into waterboarding” if they wish to.

But he remains defiant.

“Nothing matters more in the world at the moment,” he says. “Nothing matters more than this genocide.”