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Updated November 19th, 2021 at 08:02 IST

UK to declare Palestine's Hamas as 'terror organisation' with supporters facing 10-yr jail

UK's Home Secy said, "It’s based upon a wide range of intelligence, information and also links to terrorism. The severity of that speaks for itself.”

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
UK
IMAGE: AP | Image:self
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Hamas, the Palestinian militant Islamist group that has been leading a resistance movement by waging an armed confrontation against Israel is soon to be declared as a terrorist organisation by the UK. In an effort to combat antisemitism, UK’s home secretary Priti Patel told the British press that supporters of Hamas, anyone that shows inclination towards their flag, or those that seek to hold a meeting with the Islamic hardline faction now risk up to ten years of imprisonment. The Boris Johnson administration will proscribe the militant group under the Terrorism Act. An official announcement will be made by the British government on Friday, 18 November.

Speaking with the US and British press reporters in Washington DC, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said, “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.”

Hamas military wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades banned in UK 

Thus far, the UK has instated a ban on the military wing of Hamas known as the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades led by Mohammed Deif and its deputy, Marwan Issa. According to UK’s The Times, some of the British supporters of Hamas such as left-leaning British politician and former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn might now be convicted if they spoke in favour of Hamas as the speech would violate Terrorism Act 2000. In 2009, Corbyn described members of Hamas and Hezbollah as “friends”. Later, the former Labour party leader back paddled telling the home office select committee that with hindsight he would have refrained from using the phrase.

“The language I used at that meeting was actually here in parliament and it was about encouraging the meeting to go ahead, encouraging there to be a discussion about the peace process,” he was quoted by The Guardian as saying at the time. His remarks were made at the time of the antisemitism hearing by the committee. 

Patel is expected to tell the UK Parliament that Hamas is “fundamentally and rabidly antisemitic,” according to The Guardian newspaper. She will further add that 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.” 

Furthermore, as per Patel, the declaration of Hamas as a terrorist organisation is a move that will strengthen the case against those who blatantly support militancy and unfurl the Hamas flag in the United Kingdom. She noted that this is an act “bound to make Jewish people feel unsafe” within the UK and elsewhere in the world. Hamas is already designated as a terrorist organisation in the US, Canada and the EU.

The 'Hamas' Islamic Resistance Movement that sworn to destroy Israel originated around 1988 at the time of the Palestinian intifada, or the uprising during Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Their armed military wing Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades has been leading the movement into launching armed confrontations against the jews in order to establish an independent Islamic state in Palestine. The group also participated in the political process of Palestine and rejected the secular approach of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) or negotiations with Israel. It participated in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, had a sweeping victory over Fatah, and captured the majority of seats in the Palestinian parliament. 

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Published November 19th, 2021 at 08:02 IST

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