Arab nations have been silent on British labeling Hamas as terrorist. For good reason.

While there has been much condemnation in Arab media and from individuals on the British decision to label all of Hamas a terrorist group, the reaction from Arab governments has been muted.

An op-ed in Arabi21 decries the silence of the Arab nations, seeing it as part of a larger issue of Arab nations not even bothering to condemn Israel:

Officially, no Arab political position has been issued condemning the British designation of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) as terrorist and the prohibition of its activity on British soil.

The positions of the Arab foreign ministers and the positions of the Arab League and its leaders have been dead for a long time, not only towards the British and Western classification of the Palestinian people’s resistance to the Zionist colonial force, but from all the terrorism practiced by the occupying power on land and people.

Middle East Eye lists Arab political leaders who have condemned the move, and the list is pretty short: Hamas itself, Hezbollah, the Palestinian Authority, and 75 members of Jordan's parliament (but not its foreign ministry or government.)

The reason isn't hard to understand: most Arab governments themselves already treat Hamas as a terror group, and a part of the Muslim Brotherhood. They regard Hamas' brand of Islamism as a threat to their own stability. 

Sunday's terror attack where the murderer was a member of Hamas but not its Al Qassam Brigades, and Hamas' rush to praise the attack, cemented the fact that all of Hamas indeed is a terror group. 

Hamas' political website stresses that all of Hamas wholeheartedly supports murdering Jews:

The mujahid brother Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of Hamas, called the family of the martyr Mujahid Fadi Abu Shkhaydam, the executor of the heroic Jerusalem operation that took place yesterday, Sunday.

He said, "The martyr Fadi, may God have mercy on him, combined knowledge, faith, jihad and martyrdom, and defended Al-Aqsa with this heroic operation that raised the head of the entire nation.

The leader of the movement considered that the pure and pure blood of martyr Fadi that was shed in the alleys of the Holy City is on the path to liberating Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, and it is a debt on our necks, so there is nothing greater than martyrdom for the sake of God, and to be in Jerusalem and on the walls of Al-Aqsa.

The deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas  movement, Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri stressed that the will of our people is renewed through the resistance, stressing that Jerusalem is a safety valve for the Palestinian cause.

Al-Arouri expressed Hamas’s pride and honor that the martyr Fadi Abu Shkhaydam, the executor of today’s heroic Jerusalem operation, was one of its sons, noting that he had a fragrant and blessed journey, and one of those stationed in Al-Aqsa Mosque.

It is hard for even Hamas fans to argue that Hamas' political wing isn't terrorist when their own leaders proudly take credit for terror attacks - and promise more.

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