Removing the UK’s classification of Hamas as a terrorist organisation would not only be an insult to the thousand-plus victims of October 7th and beyond but would also place Jewish communities in Britain at great risk, the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) has warned.
The charity has this week written to Labour Home Secretary Yvette Cooper urging her to “dismiss” the application to remove Hamas from the list of terrorist organisations banned under UK law, which lawyers are hoping to succeed in doing with the help of the European Convention on Human Rights. Describing the case as “a bad-faith attempt to mainstream genocidal antisemitism,” CAA officials wrote:
To remove Hamas from the UK’s list of proscribed terrorist organisations would not only embolden a group that has proudly claimed responsibility for the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, but would also endanger the safety and wellbeing of Jewish communities in the United Kingdom.
After the news of the application first emerged, Cooper said the government maintained its view “about the barbaric nature of this organisation.” But the CAA wants her to go further, saying she “must act now to reassure the Jewish community and the wider public that support and funding for Hamas will remain illegal in Britain.”
Lawyers acting on behalf of the terror group said this week that the atrocities on October 7th were the fault of Israel, not Hamas, and has previously stressed the “urgent need to shift the narrative around Palestine.”
Despite criticism surrounding their effort, journalist Peter Hitchens earlier this month warned that “the history of Western governments, really since the 1960s, is that ultimately they give in to terror.” Cooper must respond to Hamas’ application by mid-July.
