Jpost Editoiral: There is only one face to the terror group Hamas
Hamas used the terrorist two-step for years, pretending it had an “armed” wing and a “political” wing. Many terrorist groups used this privileged stance in the 20th century, which enabled governments often to host the “political wing” while pretending not to work with the “armed wing.”Ian Austin: Hamas Supporters Are Terrorist Sympathizers. The UK Is Right to Punish Them
The illogic behind this policy is that it gave terrorist groups more privileges than countries or mafias. While a country can’t pretend that its “armed wing” commits crimes against humanity while its government has no connection to it, and a mafia can’t pretend its boss is not connected to the “criminal wing,” when it came to terrorist groups, they could always use this pretense.
Often this pretense of legality was used solely regarding Israel. That means terrorist groups that targeted the West, such as al-Qaeda or ISIS, didn’t have a fictional division under the law between the “armed wing” and the “political wing.” Only with groups that killed Jews and Israelis was this the case. Many of these groups, including Iranian-backed terrorists, have targeted Jews and Jewish institutions in Europe, the Middle East, Turkey and South America.
Thanks to the British efforts, the fiction behind Hamas’s “political” and “military” wings has been revealed, and the curtain pulled back. The United States, Canada, the European Union and Israel have similarly designated Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist organization. Australia and New Zealand have applied the terrorist label only to Hamas’s “military wing.”
According to Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the move could also prompt Australia to similarly outlaw Hamas’s “political wing.”
The British decision will likely help cut off funding sources for Hamas.
The effects may not be felt immediately, around the world or on the ground in Jerusalem. But the more countries that recognize the true stripes of Hamas, the safer we all will be.
Home Secretary Priti Patel's decision to ban Hamas in its entirety should be welcomed by all those who oppose terrorism. Hamas is not - as some of its sympathizers intimate - a legitimate campaign for Palestinian rights. It is an armed group of genocidal terrorists that wants to wipe Israel off the map and murder both the Jews and Arabs who live there. It has subjected the poor people of Gaza to a brutal dictatorship ever since it seized power in a bloody coup 15 years ago.
The group is opposed not just to the idea of any sort of peace process with Israel but rejects the very existence of the Jewish state in the first place. In fact, its founding charter contains disgusting racist language calling for the death of all Jews worldwide. Funded by Iran, it presents an existential threat to the Middle East's only democracy.
Earlier this year, Hamas provoked a conflict with Israel by firing thousands of rockets indiscriminately at Israeli civilians. Had it not been for the country's Iron Dome missile defense system, thousands would have been slaughtered. Several of their missiles misfired and killed Palestinians.
The UK decision will mean that showing support for Hamas could result in imprisonment under the Terrorism Act. That will prevent the group raising funds here. Moreover, it will deal with some of the disgusting anti-Semitic racism we have seen on British streets during the recent conflict, like pro-Palestinian demonstrators wearing the Hamas-style headband traditionally worn by its suicide bombers. The decision is showing that the supporters of anti-Semitic terror will not be tolerated on the streets of Britain.
The Palestinian Jihad against Jews
If Palestinian leaders believe that Jews are not entitled to their holiest site, the Temple Mount, and that Jerusalem belongs only to Muslims and Christians, how can they talk about establishing a Palestinian state that would exist in peace and security next to Israel?
Western donors seem not to understand that the refusal by Palestinian leaders to recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people remains a major obstacle to peace and the "two-state solution."
"We categorically reject the Jewish state," Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has stated on more than one occasion. "We will not backtrack on this matter."
On the eve of the meeting of the donor countries, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh reminded Palestinians that there is no such thing as Jewish history in Jerusalem.... "Jerusalem has Canaanite, Roman, Islamic, and Christian antiquities, and no one else has any traces in it."
This is the same Shtayyeh who days earlier told foreign journalists in Ramallah that the Palestinians have no problem with Jews.
Perhaps Shtayyeh thought that his remarks in Arabic during the PA cabinet meeting would not be translated or noticed by non-Arabic speakers.
On the same day the Western donors were meeting in Norway, the PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that the Palestinians oppose visits to the Temple Mount by Jewish students.
The Norwegian foreign minister and the donor countries should have taken note of what Palestinian leaders are telling their people and the rest of the Arabs and Muslims about Israel and Jewish history. Had they paid attention to the words of the Palestinian leaders, they would have realized why it is impossible to achieve peace between the Palestinians and Israel at a time when the PA is openly saying that Jews have no right to live in their own homeland.
Western donors might wish to consider this Judenrein type of Palestinian anti-Semitism and incitement against Israel and Jews the next time they open their wallets to the PA.