Labour slammed for 'delaying scrutiny' of Hamas proscription

A judge has criticised the Labour government for dragging its feet amid the appeal to deproscribe Palestinian political group Hamas. And one legal representative argued that this was a conscious effort to “delay scrutiny“.

Labour government ‘not being open and honest to the court’

Middle East Eye reported on 26 March that:

A British judge has ordered the UK home secretary to “get on with” explaining her opposition to Hamas’s appeal to be removed from the list of proscribed terrorist organisations…

Shabana Mahmood has until 20 May to disclose reasons for opposing Hamas’s bid to be removed from terror list

Hamas has been appealing the UK’s 2021 political decision to proscribe it. And Middle East Eye said Justice Jonathan Swift, the chair of the independent Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission tribunal:

criticised the government for delays in progressing the case, noting that more than seven months had passed since Hamas formally lodged its appeal, and nearly a year has passed since the initial application was submitted.

The outlet asserted that he had also accused:

the department of not being open and honest to the court

Franck Magennis, working as a legal representative for Hamas on a pro bono basis, said:

It seems clear that the secretary of state’s strategy is to delay scrutiny of her decision-making for as long as possible

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A hypocritical and problematic proscription

Hamas has a specifically local focus on opposing Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestine. And in 2023, numerous experts submitted evidence noting that the group’s military wing:

has not directly attacked UK or Western interests… [and] has not operated outside Israel and the Occupied Territories and has no overt representation in the UK

They also claimed the “lack of transparency” and political bias surrounding the proscription:

undermines public faith in the impartiality of the process

A key point to highlight here is the significant influence of the pro–Israel lobby in both the Conservative and Labour parties.

Also, at a time where Israel has been committing genocide and countless war crimes against people in Palestine and throughout the Middle East, the UK government’s efforts to keep Hamas’s proscription while maintaining strong relations with Israel brings its hypocrisy and lack of integrity further into the spotlight.

As Middle East Eye noted:

In its original application, Hamas argued that the proscription hinders the group’s ability to broker a political solution to the conflict, stifles discussions aimed at securing a long-term settlement, and criminalises ordinary Palestinians living in Gaza.

The experts submitting evidence in 2023, meanwhile, highlighted that:

proscription of Hamas in its entirety does not benefit the UK domestically.

Instead, they said, it:

may negatively impact the UK’s foreign relations.

And it would:

negatively affect academic and journalistic freedom

They added that “engaging with Hamas politically”, which is not the same as approving of the group’s actions or positions, would have “political and diplomatic benefits”.

Engaging and deproscribing is not the same as approving

As the Canary has explained previously, Hamas (like Hezbollah in Lebanon):

are defensive nationalist militants first and foremost, primarily seeking to “protect local constituents” with “a specific set of local political demands that are the focus of their activity and the core concern of their supporters”. This doesn’t mean they are progressive champions. Because they’re not. But international law protects their right to self-defence.

The 2023 submission of expert evidence noted in particular the presence of some antisemitic tropes in Hamas in the past, and that some figures continue to promote these today. But it also insisted that:

Hamas has not attacked Jews worldwide and the cause of their violence against Israelis is occupation, displacement and settler colonialism, not hatred of all Jews.

And it emphasised that Hamas’s 2017 manifesto makes clear that:

the conflict is political, not religious; that is to say, it is about Israeli settler colonialism and occupation, not some ancient struggle between Islam and Judaism.

Considering the evidence, the experts stressed that:

Hamas’s position towards Jews cannot be readily captured by the antisemitism label.

And they highlighted concern about the “conflation of opposition to Israeli settler colonialism and antisemitism”, which they called “dangerous and potentially counterproductive”.

It is absolutely possible to disagree with some or all of Hamas’s politics without defining them as something they’re not. But the Labour government seems intent on continuing to mislead the public so it can justify its ongoing complicity with Israel’s genocidal war crimes.

Featured image via Islam Channel