“Hamas cannot be destroyed. As long as Israel oppresses Palestinians and takes their land, there will be Hamas”
Hamas leaders in Gaza
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Join the call for removal of Hamas’s Political wing from the UK’s Proscribed List of Terrorist Bodies
Dear Home Secretary,
We, the undersigned, are calling for the removal of the Hamas political wing from the Proscribed list. Whilst the military wing was proscribed by Blair’s Government of 2001, the political wing was only proscribed by your predecessor Priti Patel two years ago, following her secret meetings whilst on holiday in Israel. It was passed in parliament without a vote.
Section 4 of the Terrorism Act 2000 provides “that the organisation or any person affected by a proscription can submit a signed, written application to the Home Secretary requesting that they consider whether a specified organisation should be removed from the list of proscribed organisations”. (See under Deproscription here) We are all affected by the Hamas proscription, so our signature on this letter cannot be used against us.
With death and destruction in Gaza, we think now is the time to re-open communications with Hamas’ political wing; they are the democratically elected leaders of Palestine. Britain regards the occupation of Palestinian land by Israel as wrong, yet by proscribing Hamas, we exclude Gazan leaders from conversations about resolution. Because we created Israel, the responsibility to resolve the occupation falls squarely upon us.
International law guarantees Palestinians the right to resist occupation, including armed resistance- a course which Hamas follows, but few western governments acknowledge. United Nations resolution 37/43 of 1982, “reaffirms the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial and foreign domination and foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle.”
The resolution’s preamble makes clear that it refers specifically to the rights of Palestinians: “Considering that the denial of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, sovereignty, independence and return to Palestine and the repeated acts of aggression by Israel against the peoples of the region constitute a serious threat to international peace and security.”
Under international law, Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal, and Palestinians have a right to “armed struggle” against their illegal occupier – thus, ipso facto, Palestinians have a right to defend themselves against Israel – but Israel’s right to defend itself against Palestinian resistance is not guaranteed in the same manner.
Hamas’ most recent communiqué of 2017 underlines their commitment to abide by the democratic will of a new Palestine – one that includes their oppressors, on the understanding that they cease their Zionist aspirations. They may seek an Islamic state, but they declare they will abide with the democratic preference of a majority- in an electorate that would include those identifying as Jews. No Zionist would be forced to leave a Palestine that was run by Hamas. Muslim lands have – and still do – welcome Jews, as “people of the book”.
Whilst Israel believes it can wipe out Hamas, we believe that translates into wiping out the Gaza people, for they elected Hamas and are closely intertwined with that body, after 75 years of occupation. In 2006 the Palestinians appointed Hamas to lead them; please note that the Palestine Authority rejects Hamas’s annual calls for fresh elections.
I declare that because we recently proscribed their political wing, we leave Gazans without a voice. That decision must be reversed.
Yours sincerely,
[add your signature at https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/call-for-removal-of-hamas-political-wing-from-the-uks-proscribed-list-of-terrorist-bodies.html or short url www.tiny.cc/hamas ]
(The petition was launched on 26th October, after the UK Gov refused to allow it on their website [more below] – it was publicised here: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231030-we-need-a-national-debate-about-hamas/ The above open letter is supported by anti-Zionist campaigner Tony Greenstein. Following the delivery of the first tranche of 1,410 letters to the Prime Minister on 11th January 2024, the following article was published: The petition to have Hamas removed from the UK ‘terrorist’ list lives on – Middle East Monitor )
Hamas objectives on 7th Oct – “self-defence” – and Can you help?
International law is clear: Hamas have a legitimate right to use force to oppose Israel, an occupier. Israel does not have the right to use force against those whom they occupy.
So what was happening on the 7th October? According to Deputy Hamas leader, Sheikh Salah Al Arouri, his movement’s military assault on Israeli settlements and military bases near Gaza thwarted a planned Israeli attack on Gaza. Speaking to Al Jazeera about his Movement’s operation, he said that it aimed solely at soldiers and military installations. He stressed that Hamas had received intelligence indicating that the Israeli occupation intended to launch an assault on the organisation after the Sukkot holiday, so that Hamas carried out this “pre-emptive strike”. The senior Hamas leader argued that, after the fall of the Gaza Division command, Hamas fighters initially took only soldiers as prisoners but, later armed civilians entered the scene, resulting in chaos. See Hamas: Our assault thwarted planned Israeli attack on Gaza – Middle East Monitor. On the 7th November, the Guardian went into a lot more detail- see A deadly cascade: how secret Hamas attack orders were passed down at last minute | Israel-Hamas war | The Guardian Analysts said other objectives of the 7th October attacks probably included halting efforts to normalise relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Hamas officials have said planning for the attack began two years ago, after Israeli police raids at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest site – which is why they named the attack as the “Al Aqsa Flood”.
Ismael Patel of FOA explains here why Israel-Palestine war: Israel’s claim of ‘self-defence’ has zero legal legitimacy | Middle East Eye and Propaganda & Co does a 14-minute summary here
CJ Werleman, writing in TRT World, notes: “International law sides with the struggle for Palestinian liberation, and is vehemently opposed to Israel’s transgressions, and thus the international community must stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, because in conflict between occupier and the occupied, only the occupied have a lawful and moral right to defend themselves.”
“When Palestinians support non-violent forms of resistance, such as the boycott Israel movement, they’re smeared by Israel as “anti-Semites.” When they protest against their injustices angrily, they’re smeared as violent Arabs, and when they resort to violence, out of sheer desperation, they’re labelled “radical Islamic terrorists.”
“Under international law, Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal, and Palestinians have a right to “armed struggle” against their illegal occupier – Israel – thus ipso facto Palestinians have a right to defend themselves against Israel, but Israel’s right to defend itself against Palestinian resistance is not guaranteed in the same manner.”
“This undercuts every Israeli attempt to couch its violence against the Palestinian people in claims of self-defence.”
Ardi Imseis, former UN official, has pointed out that Israel cannot use Article 51 to claim self-defence; para 139 of the International Court of Justice Advisory opinion of 2004 in relation to the apartheid wall- notes that Israel does NOT have the right of self-defence in relation to attacks with emanate from within occupied territory that it controls (that includes Gaza).
(Also see United Nations on Self-Defence below- and Who has the right to self-defence, the occupier or the occupied? – Arena)
As Al Kazak observed “To say Israel has the right to defend itself is like saying a chronic abuser has the right to defend himself because his victim hit him. Israel is not an innocent party under attack and defending itself, as it is being portrayed by much of the international media. It is a settler-colonial apartheid regime, established on the ruins of Palestine at the expense of the Palestinian people in 1948. Colonialists, occupiers and apartheid regimes do not have the right to defend their occupations and apartheid systems. It’s the occupied who have the right under international law to defend themselves and to liberate their countries. Most of the Jewish settlers are armed and members of Israel’s reserve army; Israel knew the risk it was taking by perpetrating the Catastrophe (al-Nakba) of 1948, occupying someone else’s country and denying Palestinians their rights because they are not Jews, in what was established as a Jewish state.”
Even former Labour Leader Tony Blair said in 2017 that “We were wrong to boycott Hamas after its election win.”
Stanley Cohen, a Jewish American lawyer declares “Occupation sits heavy on the occupied, every day in every way, limiting who you are and what you may dare to become.”
Hamas published “A Document of General Principles and Policies” in May 2017, that accepted an interim Palestinian state along the “Green Line” border established before the Six-Day War, but that still refused to recognize Israel. It notes “ Hamas affirms that its conflict is with the Zionist project, not with the Jews because of their religion. Hamas does not wage a struggle against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine. Yet, it is the Zionists who constantly identify Judaism and the Jews with their own colonial project and illegal entity.”
Israel’s perspective? ‘There are no Innocent Civilians in Gaza‘, says Israel President.
[NB Not all Jews are Zionists; not all Zionists are Jews. Zionists include Winston Churchill, George W Bush, Joe Biden, Sir Keir Starmer – who are Christian Zionists. Surveys have shown that around 70% of those 300,000 in the UK declaring as Jewish are Zionists.]
A likely explanation for Israel’s bombing campaign is Gaza’s huge marine gasfield, estimated at 30 billion cubic metres and worth billions of dollars, which Israel has been trying to steal for years. This is a possible reason for demolishing Gaza and annihilating its residents (or driving them into Sinai): see this 9 minute video
IF YOU WANT TO HELP WITH THIS PETITION: We have 20,000 copies of this flyer to distribute. Please take some to your next Palestine rally. You can get as many as you want posted to you, between 50 and 1,000. Just send your address, etc to us at info@onepalestine.land. If you want to know where the next demo in your area is, consult this: https://samidoun.net/2023/10/calendar-of-resistance-for-palestine-events-and-actions-around-the-world/
Palestinians in Gaza rushed to the water tanks to draw the last of what was left in them, so they gathered around the water pipe to fill their tanks with whatever remaining water was available. Israel took advantage of their gathering in this place and killed them all with a missile from a plane that was flying directly above them.
Debunking Statements from UK Politicians on Hamas
Our politicians say ‘We condemn the brutal terror attacks perpetrated by Hamas, the murder, torture, mutilation, hostage-taking and rape in the strongest possible terms. Innocent people have been once again caught in the cycle of violence that has torn apart so many lives… Israel has the right to defend herself from terror.‘
Many of these lies come from the Israeli army spokesman, from Newton Mearns in Scotland, Richard Hecht.
However, there is no evidence of torture, mutilation and rape. The New York Times “weaponized” Hamas rape story is a fraud, as Skwawkbox and this EI video shows. Max Blumenthal refutes the NYT article claiming mass rape here. In this hostage video, Hamas’s respectful attitude to women undermine the ludicrous Israeli rape claims. There is no evidence of any beheadings either, US President Biden has now admitted. This is Israeli hasbara; no pictures have been presented of on-site evidence- only reports from Israeli army personnel. It took Israel a fortnight before it presented what they claim is visual evidence of torture; could AI have been used? But what is absolutely clear is that many – possibly 50% of those who died- were killed by Israeli forces. Images of cars full of burned corpses and destroyed houses could not have been done by the Palestinians, who were on motorcycles with Kalashnikovs and a few RPGs.
The Israeli air force itself admitted that Apache helicopters shot up every car headed to Gaza that it could, all of which contained Israelis being taken there. This video from the Electronic Intifada includes eye-witness Israeli civilian and helicopter pilot accounts (they were firing Hellfire missiles) which confirm this. This radio interview from a woman at the music festival tells more; much more of the interview is included, along with an interview with Jasmine Porat who was held in a kibbutz, in this Electronic Intifada article. This most prominent incident happened in kibbutz Be’eri, where Israeli tank shelling Porat’s building killed 14 Israeli captives along with 39 Hamas captors. (See Israeli military killed Israeli grandmother on October 7, report says (uncaptured.media)) As many as 112 Israelis in all were killed in this kibbutz by Israeli firepower.
There is a Zionist army order called the ‘Hannibal Directive’. This allows them to kill their own people to prevent them being taken captive- see https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzAqEHmoL9z/ The Israeli publication Ynet declared that 70 vehicles heading to Gaza were destroyed by the Israelis- First Hours of Black Saturday • 7 Days • Yedioth Ahronoth (ynet.co.il). Scroll down to 11:59 that day and note that was when the Hannibal Directive went out. If there were 3 Israelis in every vehicle, that would account for over 200 settler deaths.
The Grayzone has pulled much information together here: October 7 testimonies reveal Israel’s military ‘shelling’ Israeli citizens with tanks, missiles – The Grayzone Hamas has called for an international investigation into the atrocities on October 7th after evidence exposed Israel was guilty of murdering many of their own civilians.
The Israelis themselves admit they killed Israeli civilians. Indeed, it is clear that they are responsible for the massacre of their citizens at the October 7th concert, not Hamas. This interview with a festival-goer confirms this. Footage from an Israeli Apache helicopter shows it is shooting at civilians and civilian vehicles, everywhere. This explains why there were so many burned and destroyed vehicles, despite the fact that Hamas fighters mostly only had light weapons. Despite that, the Israelis justify themselves by claiming that Hamas was hiding among the civilians. “The pilots realized that there was tremendous difficulty in distinguishing within the occupied outposts and settlements who was a terrorist and who was a soldier or civilian… The rate of fire against the thousands of terrorists was tremendous at first, and only at a certain point did the pilots begin to slow down the attacks and carefully select the targets.” – the article says- at Hamas Misleading IDF Helicopters and Directing Pilots on WhatsApp | Air Force on Day 1 (archive.is) Also see Israeli newspaper: Israeli army ordered the killing of Israeli civilians and soldiers Oct 7 (israelpalestinenews.org)
Actual footage from the Israeli helicopters destroying cars can be seen here. And here. Middle East Monitor chronicled the evidence here.
On the 11th November the Israelis declared that of the 1400 “civilians” that died on 7th October that 200 were Palestinians. Haaretz Newspaper was able to name less than 980 (some yet to be identified). George Galloway had this to say: “The foul allegations of rape have been dropped by the Israeli government. The forty beheaded babies has been downscaled to one dead baby, not beheaded, and killed by persons unknown. Over one-third of Israelis killed on October 7 were military personnel. The killers of the remainder are definitively revealed to have been in part the Israeli armed forces themselves. Those with influence who spread the propaganda to the contrary stand exposed as war criminals and now much blood stains their character for ever. It is a spot which will not out.”
The Cradle exposed more on Oct 24th What really happened on 7th October? (thecradle.co)
There are numerous more links in this article Popular Resistance: Does the truth matter? (popular-resistance.blogspot.com)
One Democratic Palestine’s press release on the Israeli killings was published on 12th Nov Israel revises 7 October death toll of “1,400 Israelis dead” to 1,200 plus 200 Palestinian fighters – without declaring that most deaths were at hands of Israel – Redress Information & Analysis (redressonline.com)
On the 13th November, Israeli Air Force Colonel Nof Erez admitted air force targeted Palestinian and Israeli civilians in line with the “Hannibal Directive”.
On the 16th Nov at Al Shifa hospital, the Israeli Army was caught out claiming a Hamas command centre, when they portrayed a Hamas laptop, that was exposed as IDF equipment. Indeed, Israel failed to show evidence of Hamas command center at al-Shifa hospital | The Electronic Intifada
On the 18th Nov, more evidence came to light- Video: Israeli reserve colonel says Oct 7 killings were ‘mass Hannibal’ directive by IDF, not Hamas – SKWAWKBOX – this includes Regev’s admission. On 19th Nov, MEMO revealed that an Israeli helicopter opened fire on Israelis in festival during the Hamas attack on October 7 . On the 23rd Nov Israeli police admit rave-goers were shot by IDF helicopter – SKWAWKBOX. On the 27th Nov, Video: Israeli soldiers say they shot at kibbutz houses, burned bodies – SKWAWKBOX. On 15th Dec, Eye-witnesses say ‘poster child’ for Israeli propaganda was killed by Israel, not Hamas – SKWAWKBOX
US Journalist Max Blumenthal has exposed the myth of the IDF’s “raped Israeli” – this was actually a Kurdish woman, killed in 2022- see https://www.facebook.com/Travel2Misr/posts/1491256934992140/
All material was pulled together in this 2.5 min TikTok clip by Alhaqiquh
As the investigation into Shireen Abu Akleh, the American/Palestinian journalist killed by the Israeli army, has shown, denial and lies are normal for them. (Another example: on the 23rd October, Israeli President Isaac Herzog claimed on Sky News that Israeli Military found materials to develop chemical weapons on Palestinian fighters. It’s been revealed that the material was an amateur biography of World Trade Centre attacker Ramzi Yousef and contained no instructions on how to develop chemical weapons.)
More lies followed, in the Israeli assertion that there was a Hamas centre under Al Shifa- Israel fails to show evidence of Hamas command center at al-Shifa hospital | The Electronic Intifada . Also see- Investigating the assault on al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital – The Washington Post
There have been many deaths, however- but politicians need to understand that this is as a result of armed struggle. Let us note that all Israelis defining themselves as Jewish (apart from the highly Orthodox) are reservists in the Israeli Army and can therefore be deemed combatants.
What do Hamas themselves say?
Osama Hamdan, senior spokesperson for Hamas, told Al Jazeera that the group was not attacking civilians even though the group’s own videos have shown its fighters taking elderly Israelis hostage during the fighting on the 7th Oct.
But Hamdan insisted that the group was attacking only settlers living in illegal settlements, whom he described as legitimate targets.
“You have to differentiate between settlers and civilians. Settlers attacked Palestinians,” Hamdan said.
Asked whether civilians in southern Israel were also considered settlers, Hamdan said: “Everyone knows there are settlements there.”
“We are not targeting civilians on purpose. We have declared settlers are part of the occupation and part of the armed Israeli force. They are not civilians,” he added.
The Hamas account of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood can be downloaded here
Background on those who died
As noted by Dr Gideon Polya, of the 1,200 Israelis killed, 84.2% (1,010) were 18-39 years old (i.e. were current Israeli military, conscripts or reservists), 13.3% (160) were 40 and older (with most being former or existing military), and 2.5% (30) were under-18 (i.e. children). Thus over 84% of those killed were legitimate military targets as serving Occupying forces. Clearly many of the Israeli deaths on 7 October were caused by the overwhelming IDF response that involved heavy machine-gun fire and missiles from helicopter gunships, high explosive shelling from tanks, and the killing of 1,500 Palestinian fighters plus any Israelis hiding with them. Occupied people have the right of armed rebellion. Israel says “Israel proclaimed its right to self-defence, declared war on Hamas, vowed to exterminate Hamas in retaliation, imposed a total siege, commenced bombing Gaza, and promised a post-war new order”, but: (i) A belligerent Occupier has no right to self-defence from its brutally subjugated Subjects… (iv) Imposition of a total siege on the Gaza Concentration Camp that had already been illegally blockaded and bombed for 16 years is collective punishment and therefore a a war crime against a captive population… (v) The leaking of a secret Israeli government report reveals that it favours total ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
The settlers are also illegal occupiers of Palestinian land. They cannot claim to be ignorant of this, for the UN has been telling them as much for many years. Hence, they are actually victims in a battle with those whose land they illegally occupy. Our politicians condemn Russia over its occupation of Ukrainian land, yet a comparison is appropriate here. We devote enormous resources to saying Russia is in the wrong, but we tolerate, nay, support Israel doing the same. At the same time, Britain is hugely culpable in far worse massacres. Our illegal invasion of Iraq twenty years ago dropped 30,000 bombs along with the US; this and our ground invasion resulted in the deaths of 300,000 civilians. Yet our politicians consider Hamas, with their motorcycles and paragliders, to be worse than us – with our cruise missiles and drones. Colonising Europeans, (and we include Israelis here), have believed since the crusades that there is some God-given right to kill Arabs. We are the mother of Israel; Israeli weapons are made in the UK; this is our jihad, too.
It is clear that Hamas’ military objective on the 7th Oct was primarily to seize Israelis. What our politicians call “hostage-taking” should be seen as “administrative detention”. See Hamas video interview with Sky about Israelis held in Gaza here
The Cradle reported on Nov 9th that Israeli Apache helicopters killed its own soldiers and civilians on 7 October: Report (thecradle.co), illustrated by the above photo, after the Israeli military has released drone footage showing hundreds of scorched and damaged cars moved from the Nova music festival, providing further evidence that Israeli forces likely killed many of their own during the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October. This video of 10th Dec shows an Israeli tank firing at settler homes in Kibbutz Be’eri. The Israelis themselves admitted there was an immense amount of friendly fire on 12th Dec. Eventually the MSM took an interest- on 11th January, the Independent reported Friendly fire may have killed their relatives on Oct. 7. These Israeli families want answers now (msn.com) . It appears that it was at noon on the 7th Oct that the Hannibal Directive was put out by Israeli HQ.
All the attacks were summarised in Spanish Halyon, in Scheerpost and in Mondoweiss
The legal basis for Israel’s use of Administrative Detention is the British Mandate 1945 Defence (Emergency) Regulations . Now Hamas are doing what we British did both then and most recently, in Northern Ireland. If we do it it is correct, but when Hamas do the same, it is somehow wrong? Don’t forget, Hamas are the democratically elected rulers of Palestine; their legitimacy is founded on that fact. Note Israel immediately took 5,000 Gazans who had been working in Israel hostage, when the attack took place. Their soldiers and police beat them and denied them medical treatment: Fears for thousands of Gazans missing in Israel as workers ‘rounded up, arrested and blindfolded’ (msn.com) A month later, on 3rd Nov, Israel deported as many as 10,000 Gazans back to Gaza, having beaten them, killed some and robbed all of them of all they had – see Israel deports thousands of Palestinian workers back to Gaza’s war zone (msn.com). Since 7th Oct, the Israeli army have arrested 5,875 Palestinians, including 355 children and 200 women, in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera cited a statement from the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society as saying.
Experts independently verified this image. Here are dozens of Palestinian hostages that were kidnapped by Israel and have been tortured and humiliated. Some appear to have been burned and mutilated as well. In another incident on 19th December, 11 Palestinian men were summarily executed in front of their families- UN Human Rights Office – OPT: Unlawful killings in Gaza City – occupied Palestinian territory | ReliefWeb. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) called for the Israelis to investigate- a request ignored. Pope Francis deplored the killings when Israel army kills 2 Christian women in ‘cold blood’ at Gaza church compound | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera, suggesting Israel was using “terrorism” tactics in Gaza.
There are still 5,200 Palestinians, including 33 women and 170 children, currently rotting in Israeli jails. And there are 1,264 Palestinians under “administrative detention”, meaning they are held indefinitely behind bars without facing trial or any charges.
Israeli news reported on 2nd Nov that the hostages’ families had received that evening an SMS from Hamas. The message contained the Hamas’ exchange offer to Israel: all the Palestinians detained by Israel in return for all the hostages. Israel rejected this offer. Hamas also asked the Israeli families to get in touch by hitting a link so they could get information about their beloved. The Israeli authorities asked the families to ignore the Hamas’ SMS. Gilad Atzmon writes “It seems to me as if Hamas cares more for the Israeli hostages than Netanyahu & co.”
The good treatment of the Israelis held captive was evidenced in a letter written by one after her release- see https://youtu.be/HbQ2T_Pmzzg?si=4ZvFI19WFtNhDOTR – this is in stark contrast to how Palestinians are treated by the Israelis. The letter was published here.
The 43-minute video made by the IDF alleging Hamas’ war crimes was shown to MPs and journalists; on Nov 27th, Owen Jones noted that there was no evidence of beheaded babies or rape.
Those politicians claiming that Hamas would not honour a ceasefire need to think back to June 2008 when they agreed a ceasefire which held until November 4th (the date of the US Elections, when Obama won) when Israel attacked Hamas in a “pre-emptive strike” which led to their operation Cast Lead that killed 1400 Gazans- only 20% of whom were Hamas. The numbers are analogous to Hamas’ Oct 7th attack, as Norman Finkelstein observes. It is Israel that has a record of breaking ceasefires.
The Western world believes it is acceptable for Israel to keep 2.3 million Palestinians in a concentration camp with inadequate water and medicine, a wrecked infrastructure and 54% unemployment and leave them there to die- in a classic example of illegal collective punishment- yet condemns Hamas for breaking out.
So what is terrorism? It is ‘… the calculated use of violence or threat of violence to attain goals that are political, religious, or ideological in nature. This is done through intimidation, coercion, or instilling fear.’ (US Army Operational Concept for Terrorism Counteraction, TRADOC Pamphlet No. 525-37, 1984) By this definition, Noam Chomsky points out, the major source of international terrorism is the West, notably the United States. But the UK has done its share too (Iraq, Dresden, etc).
As well as the UN, 80% of the world’s countries do NOT regard Hamas as a terrorist entity. We know this, because there are 195 countries globally. Only 36 designate Hamas as terrorist entity. [UK, US, EU (27), Japan, Australia, NZ, Argentina, Paraguay, Switzerland – and of course Israel]. That’s 18.4 % of 195 countries, leaving 80% who feel the opposite way…
Netanyahu, Hamas vs ISIS and British Tory History
Netanyahu has, his whole life, aimed to get all Arabs out of Israel. In the 70s, historian Max Hastings interviewed Netanyahu extensively, after he was recruited to write a biography of his brother Toni. Here Hastings, in his memoirs, recalls Netanyahu’s racism and enthusiasm for total ethnic cleansing: “In the next war, if we do it right, we’ll have a chance to get all the Arabs out…”
It’s important to note that for the past 15 years Netanyahu has been an enabler of Hamas, allowing funds from Gulf patrons to flow through Israeli banks to keep it flush. In March 2019, Netanyahu told his Likud colleagues ‘Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to Hamas… This is part of our strategy – to isolate the Palestinians in Gaza from the Palestinians in the West Bank.’
It is no secret that following the Hamas win of Palestinian elections (they took almost double the seats of Fatah), Israel (with US assistance) fomented the civil war between Fatah and Hamas in 2007, which has left the two groups physically and politically separated by 22 miles of land controlled by Israel.
Hamas was treated as a partner to the detriment of the Palestinian Authority to prevent Abbas from moving towards creating a Palestinian State. Hamas was promoted from a terrorist group to an organization with which Israel conducted negotiations through Egypt, and which was allowed to receive suitcases containing millions of dollars from Qatar through the Gaza crossings. By enabling funds to both Fatah and Hamas, Israel has supported both. This allows Israel to insist there is no Palestinian partner they can do business with, so no peace process is possible.
What Israel is guilty of is a litany of war crimes since the day it was founded on 14 May 1948. ‘Shooting fish in a barrel’ is perhaps the metaphor closest to Gaza’s reality right now. 90% of Palestinians are internally displaced and living in inhumane conditions with “no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel.” No functional hospitals. No mosques. No churches. No libraries. No schools. No universities. No bakeries. At this rate, the brutal Israeli regime will soon destroy every aspect of life in Gaza.
Whilst some politicians have said Israel is committing war crimes, this is all they should be talking about. South Africa has launched a case at the UN international court of justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of committing genocide in its military campaign in Gaza. There are so many statements that prove the requisite intent to ‘destroy in whole or in part’ the Palestinian population in Gaza. We can point to Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant’s reference to Palestinians in Gaza as “human animals” and Israeli army Major General Ghassan Alian’s subsequent statement that: “Human animals must be treated as such. There will be no electricity and no water [in Gaza], there will only be destruction. You wanted hell, you will get hell.”
The claim that Hamas were in the wrong to break through the illegal border fence and kill Israelis is bogus; Hamas are in the right under international law, which declares that Palestinians have the right to use force against Israel and its army personnel (both active and in reserve) to end their unjust rule. We all regret the killing of unarmed civilians – but Israelis who resist Hamas are occupiers and must either surrender or accept the consequences.
Israel thinks it can “wipe out Hamas”- but others know better. Jordan thinks it cannot and neither does the Palestinian Christian leader Hanan Ashrawi, who recently pointed out on Channel 4 news that Hamas are part of the fabric of Palestinian life and cannot be removed.
When Israelis say Hamas are like ISIS, they intentionally muddy the waters, as they are quite the opposite. Hamas welcomes British and US aid workers, whereas ISIS execute them. And note that Islamic State despise Hamas. One of Hamas’s main crimes, Islamic State argue, is its participation in Palestinian elections, which Islamic State view as putting man-made law above god’s law. This ought to indicate to us all that Hamas are committed to respectful international relations and democracy. Their most recent communiqué of 2017 is where they make clear their commitment to abide by the democratic will of a new Palestine – one that includes their oppressors, on the understanding that they cease their Zionist aspirations. They may want an Islamic state but they state they will go with the democratic preferences of a majority- in an electorate that would include those identifying as Jews. No Zionist would be forced to leave in a Palestine that was run by Hamas.
The truth is that Jews have always fared well in Muslim countries, notwithstanding Mossad’s best efforts to bomb the synagogues there to claim otherwise. That’s because Islam sees Jews as ‘people of the book’, for the Q’ran recognises the prophets of the Torah. This 5-minute clip we made on TikTok of Rabbi Beck on Islam saying as much a week ago has had over a million views; it’s on Youtube too
We note that since 1920 at least four times more Palestinians have been killed by Israelis- with their homes and land stolen whilst the West looks on. Hamas were elected by the Palestinians to govern in 2007; they annually call for fresh elections, but are opposed by the Palestine Authority President Abbas in getting these, because he knows Hamas would win again. They are the legitimate voice of the Palestinian people.
Netanyahu opposed Oslo; he has always opposed negotiating a settlement. Israel calling Hamas a terrorist organisation and lobbying for the UK and US to do the same makes sure it cannot participate meaningfully in global politics. The rift with the Palestine Authority preserves diplomatic paralysis by ensuring there is no established government with which to negotiate. This gives Israel a convenient excuse not to end the conflict.
The UK Government’s proscription of Hamas is wrong: Hamas has never threatened attacks on UK soil, nor is known to have carried out any attacks outside of Israel-Palestine. Hamas is a resistance movement, no different from the many resistance movements that we supported against Germany’s occupation in WW2 of France, Belgium, Holland etc. The US killed many civilians, with Hiroshima; Britain too – Dresden for example- and plenty of Palestinians from 1936 to ’39. So we are as guilty as anyone. Note that Churchill knew full well of Auschwitz but chose to do nothing- if we had put some of the resources used to support the free French into bombing the gas chamber railway lines, or dropping flyers to the German public about the Holocaust, then we could have saved many from the gas chambers. Indeed, Britain’s relaxed attitude towards antisemitism in WW2 and its current support of Zionism go hand in hand; both aim to get the Jews out of Britain, by exporting them to Palestine.
Let’s remember that we British gave away Palestine to the Zionist Federation in 1917, even before we had stolen it from the Turks. (It was a Tory Government who did this). Then we changed the demographic from 8% Jews to 82% people identifying as Jews over the following 30 years, suppressing every complaint from Palestinians by massive force, bombings and executions (see www.tinyurl.com/bbcukapology ). Britain effectively created Israel through the British mandate: we ignored Truman’s offer to take Holocaust survivors to the USA, rather allowing Zionists to transport them to Palestine, where they joined the Jewish battalions we had trained to fight Hitler and the Zionist settlers we had trained to kill Palestinians. To drive the Nakba of 800,000 Palestinians out of their homes, they used the uniforms and weapons we left behind when we did a runner, after the precursor of the IDF – the terrorist Irgun – moved on from killing Palestinians and started murdering British soldiers. Britain bears absolute responsibility for the suffering of Palestine. (see Israel & Palestine Explained – One Democratic Palestine (onepalestine.land))
Antipathy towards Palestinians runs deep within Israeli society, for citizens have been taught since birth that they are God’s people who own all of the land. Israel now plans a complete blockade of two million Gazan Palestinians, stopping all essential supplies. The defence minister of the far-right regime of Netanyahu and Ben Gvir and Yoav Gallant, motivated this by saying that Palestinians were ‘human animals’ who need to be deprived of all food, water and medicine. This is the politics of Adolf Hitler, and if carried out would lead to the deaths of a couple of million people, turning Gaza into Auschwitz. At the same time, Netanyahu openly stated that he wants Palestinians to flee to Egypt. So, this is how they are attempting another Nakba in Gaza.
And it’s not just Netanyahu- all leading Israeli politicians see wiping out Gaza and killing millions to be something they are entitled to do- see Israelis Keep Hurting Their Own PR Interests By Talking | by Caitlin Johnstone | Nov, 2023 | Medium
If Hamas is regarded as a terrorist organisation because it has killed “civilians”, shouldn’t Israel be called a terrorist state because it has massacred and killed large numbers of Palestinian and Arab civilians? What difference is there between Hamas’s military wing shooting soldiers at an army base and Israel raining bombs on the most densely populated place of earth? The difference is that Hamas are freedom fighters and Israel is carrying out its own final solution on two million Gazans, with the clear support of Sunak, Starmer and Biden. The Palestinian Christian leader Hanan Ashrawi recently pointed out on Channel 4 news that Hamas are part of the fabric of Palestinian life and cannot be removed; will Netanyahu kill everybody?
The YouGov survey (at www.tinyurl.com/YouGovPal ) of May 2023 reports 23% of the UK public support Palestine, with just 10% for Israel- yet our leaders favour Israel. Why?
Sunak’s statement to Parliament at Israel and Gaza – Hansard – UK Parliament on the 16th October shows just how deluded and out of step with the British people he is. He spouted more of the same, a week later – see Israel and Gaza – Hansard – UK Parliament
Background
*Al Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obaidah on 23rd Oct: “We have released two Israelis for compelling humanitarian reasons, although Israel has committed over 8 violations to obstruct the process procedures” [2 more were released a couple of days before]. See how the Israelis held in Gaza were treated here and here.
More at www.onepalestine.land/israel-palestine-explained/#Hamas
Originally this petition was lodged with the Government – see UK Gov call for Hamas to be removed from the proscribed list here with 21 signatures. However, the Gov declared the petition invalid, declaring “It calls for an action relating to a particular individual, or organisation outside of the UK Government or Parliament. We can’t accept petitions [on our site] which call for actions with regard to named individuals, organisations or businesses. This includes petitions [on our site] about the proscription of organisations under the Terrorism Act 2000.”
To see the widespread antipathy towards Palestinians, watch “Israelis Speak Candidly to Abby Martin About Palestinians“. This is because Israeli children are taught in schools to hate – Even children are brainwashed 🙁. I have no words! #school #children #muslim #islam | Instagram. Here is a Zionist rally in Jerusalem where the cry is “Death to the Arabs!”
The documentary Tantura shows Israeli attitudes to the Nakba- a pride in murdering Arabs – see this extract
Whilst British newspapers screech about every dead Israeli; reflect on this – Devastated British doctor loses 35 members of his family in airstrike on their Gaza home (msn.com)
See Rabbi Beck explain why Zionists are not Jews and Israel is not the Jewish state and how Muslim have always welcomed Jews
Watch short drama “Three Minute Warning” on Israeli roof-knocking at https://youtu.be/PoPcn4Qpg68 . This is what Biden’s multibillion- dollar gift to Israel is going to fund.
In Israel, Palestinians have to display separately marked license plates – to show that they are not qualified to ride on the same highways as Jews. The euphemistically named ”settlements” are linked by Jewish only highways. Even in South Africa during apartheid they did not have that: whites only highways. In 2008, there were 800 kilometres of Jewish-only roads in Palestine/Israel.
What is more shocking: 200 Israelis captured on 7 October 2023 or the more than 2,000,000 Palestinian captives, on top of 75 years of genocide and apartheid?
The Human Cost of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is illustrated here:
David Ben-Gurion himself said that the Palestinians are the descendants of the ancient Hebrews; they have far more rights than the invading European colonists over the land. More on our Israel & Palestine page.
Hamas Policies
The Hamas account of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood can be downloaded here
Hamas “A Document of General Principles and Policies” in May 2017 is at https://palwatch.org/storage/documents/hamas%20new%20policy%20document%20010517.pdf and www.tinyurl.com/hamaspolicies
It observes:
1. The Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” is a Palestinian Islamic national liberation and resistance movement. Its goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project. Its frame of reference is Islam, which determines its principles, objectives and means.
9. Hamas believes that the message of Islam upholds the values of truth, justice, freedom and dignity and prohibits all forms of injustice and incriminates oppressors irrespective of their religion, race, gender or nationality. Islam is against all forms of religious, ethnic or sectarian extremism and bigotry. It is the religion that inculcates in its followers the value of standing up to aggression and of supporting the oppressed; it motivates them to give generously and make sacrifices in defence of their dignity, their land, their peoples and their holy places.
12. The Palestinian cause in its essence is a cause of an occupied land and a displaced people. The right of the Palestinian refugees and the displaced to return to their homes from which they were banished or were banned from returning to – whether in the lands occupied in 1948 or in 1967 (that is the whole of Palestine), is a natural right, both individual and collective. This right is confirmed by all divine laws as well as by the basic principles of human rights and international law. It is an inalienable right and cannot be dispensed with by any party, whether Palestinian, Arab or international.”
16. Hamas affirms that its conflict is with the Zionist project not with the Jews because of their religion. Hamas does not wage a struggle against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine. Yet, it is the Zionists who constantly identify Judaism and the Jews with their own colonial project and illegal entity.
17. Hamas rejects the persecution of any human being or the undermining of his or her rights on nationalist, religious or sectarian grounds. Hamas is of the view that the Jewish problem, anti-Semitism and the persecution of the Jews are phenomena fundamentally linked to European history and not to the history of the Arabs and the Muslims or to their heritage. The Zionist movement, which was able with the help of Western powers to occupy Palestine, is the most dangerous form of settlement occupation which has already disappeared from much of the world and must disappear from Palestine.
18. The following are considered null and void: the Balfour Declaration, the British Mandate Document, the UN Palestine Partition Resolution, and whatever resolutions and measures that derive from them or are similar to them. The establishment of “Israel” is entirely illegal and contravenes the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and goes against their will and the will of the Ummah; it is also in violation of human rights that are guaranteed by international conventions, foremost among them is the right to self-determination.
20. Hamas believes that no part of the land of Palestine shall be compromised or conceded, irrespective of the causes, the circumstances and the pressures and no matter how long the occupation lasts. Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea. However, without compromising its rejection of the Zionist entity and without relinquishing any Palestinian rights, Hamas considers the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital along the lines of the 4th of June 1967, with the return of the refugees and the displaced to their homes from which they were expelled, to be a formula of national consensus.
25. Resisting the occupation with all means and methods is a legitimate right guaranteed by divine laws and by international norms and laws. At the heart of these lies armed resistance, which is regarded as the strategic choice for protecting the principles and the rights of the Palestinian people.
28. Hamas believes in, and adheres to, managing its Palestinian relations on the basis of pluralism, democracy, national partnership, acceptance of the other and the adoption of dialogue. The aim is to bolster the unity of ranks and joint action for the purpose of accomplishing national goals and fulfilling the aspirations of the Palestinian people.
30. Hamas stresses the necessity of building Palestinian national institutions on sound democratic principles, foremost among them are free and fair elections. Such process should be on the basis of national partnership and in accordance with a clear programme and a clear strategy that adhere to the rights, including the right of resistance, and which fulfil the aspirations of the Palestinian people.
40. In its relations with world nations and peoples, Hamas believes in the values of cooperation, justice, freedom and respect of the will of the people.
41. Hamas welcomes the stances of states, organisations and institutions that support the rights of the Palestinian people. It salutes the free peoples of the world who support the Palestinian cause. At the same time, it denounces the support granted by any party to the Zionist entity or the attempts to cover up its crimes and aggression against the Palestinians and calls for the prosecution of Zionist war criminals.
42. Hamas rejects the attempts to impose hegemony on the Arab and Islamic Ummah just as it rejects the attempts to impose hegemony on the rest of the world’s nations and peoples. Hamas also condemns all forms of colonialism, occupation, discrimination, oppression and aggression in the world.
More info on Hamas in What Is Hamas? from the Council on Foreign Relations at https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-hamas
The UK Government declared all parts of Hamas terrorist in 2021; the European Council on Foreign Relations thought this a mistake. It noted “A motion to label the entire Hamas movement as “terrorists” is an attempt to score political points at the cost of a peacemaking strategy for Israel-Palestine.” See https://ecfr.eu/article/why-the-uks-blacklisting-of-hamas-hurts-its-own-peace-policy/
According to Wikipedia, Palestinian political violence – Wikipedia, it is estimated that since 1920, when the first riots against Jews broke out, 90,785 Arabs including Palestinians have died, and some 67,602 been wounded in all wars and conflicts between Israel and its neighbours. On the other hand, 24,841 Jews and Israelis have died and 35,356 have been wounded during the same period. Since 1967, some reports estimate that some 40% of the male population of the West Bank and Gaza have been arrested or detained in Israeli prisons for political or military reasons.
Of course, before the British gave Palestine away to the Zionist Federation in 1917, Jews and Muslims had lived together in harmony for 1,400 years
Oil, gas and the Ben Gurion canal is at the heart of Israel’s plans for Gaza
This 9-min video explains why the US is not acting to stop the genocide. Richard Medhurst pulls in the USA, Russia, China, Ukraine, to outline what else is driving Israel’s war on Gaza.
Also see 29th Nov article – ‘This Genocide Is About Oil’ | Atmos
There is more- Israel wants to build a canal that would compete with the Suez canal for the world’s shipping trade- that canal would go through… Northern Gaza; see more here
This Russia Today news item covers this “Gaslighting Gaza“
That Israel wants Gaza for its own use was made starkly apparent when Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich issued this statement on 15th Nov: Israeli minister calls for voluntary emigration of Gazans (msn.com)
United Nations on Decolonisation
The 1960 General Assembly decolonization resolution:
“The subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights, is contrary to the Charter of the UN and is an impediment to the promotion of world peace and co-operation.”
UNGA Resolution 3314 (1974) affirmed the right of self-determination, freedom, and independence for all “peoples under colonial and racist regimes or other forms of alien domination,” and affirmed the “right of these peoples to struggle to that end and to seek and receive support.”
UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/3246 (XXIX) (November 1974):
Reaffirms the legitimacy of the peoples’ struggle for liberation from colonial and foreign domination and alien subjugation by all available means, including armed struggle.
“Strongly condemns all Governments which do not recognize the right to self-determination and independence of peoples under colonial and foreign domination and alien subjugation, notably the peoples of Africa and the Palestinian people.”
Also:
Fourth Geneva Convention (1949): supplementary amendments under Protocol I (1977) expanded the scope of the law, explicitly affirming that it applies to situations including “armed conflicts in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation and exercise their right of self-determination.
This update to international law gave legal legitimacy to “the resort to arms by national liberation movements incl. the PLO”, giving Palestinians a “legal right” to use force against military occupation, similar to that enjoyed by sovereign nations. (https://www.cjpme.org/fs_236)
United Nations on Self-Defence
Article 51 of the founding U.N. Charter covers the individual or collective right of states to self-defence against armed attack and states must immediately inform the 15-member Security Council of any action that states take in self-defense against armed attack.
In a letter sent the same day as the Hamas attack, Israel told the council it would “act in any way necessary to protect its citizens and sovereignty from the ongoing terrorist attacks originating from the Gaza Strip.” But it does not appear to have formally invoked Article 51, diplomats said.
Arab countries have argued that Israel cannot justify its actions as self-defence.
“The Gaza Strip is an occupied territory,” Jordan’s U.N. Ambassador Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud told the council on 16th October, citing a 2004 opinion by the International Court of Justice on an Israeli separation barrier built around the West Bank.
“We recall the advisory opinion of the ICJ … according to which Israel does not have the right to defend itself within occupied Palestinian territory,” he said, speaking on behalf of the Arab group.
Israel said in 2004 that the barrier was meant to keep suicide bombers out of its cities. The ICJ said Israel “states, the threat which it regards as justifying the construction of the wall originates within, and not outside, that territory.”
“Consequently, the Court concludes that Article 51 of the Charter has no relevance in this case,” it ruled. Israel rejected the ICJ ruling.
United Nations on Genocide
[Thanks to Fernando Guevara for this section]
The Genocide Convention of 1948 (in force since 1951) defines genocide as:
acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
The Convention, further, declares that there shall be no immunity. Persons participating in this crime shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.
Aside from jus cogens (customary law that compels all states, regardless of treaty affiliation), Israel chose to make itself a party to the Genocide Convention. Those responsible for committing genocide are not entitled to ”self-defend”. Why do mainstream media refer to incitement to genocide as “lobbying”, when done by Israel and its terror networks? Why do we make ourselves complicit in the genocide?
Please also note that armed squatters are not civilians under international law. Especially not when governmentally/militarily sponsored. In Israel, armed land-occupiers have received carte blanche from the Israeli army to kill occupied Palestinian civilians – the squatters are even egged on by the army.
In addition, we’d like to point out the international law criteria for statehood. They are:
1. A permanent population
2. A defined territory
3. The capacity to conduct foreign relations
4. A government
Israel has failed the first two out of four (see below). While it is conceded that a bunch of war criminals effectively rule Israel (meeting point 4), it is debatable whether Israel has shown a capacity to have relations with other nations, as required by point 3.
Regarding points 1-3:
1. A euphemistically named ”settler” population does not qualify as a permanent population. Nor as a civilian population, as mentioned above.
2. Israel has never had a defined territory.
3. We are questioning whether Israel has the capacity to have foreign relations because we do not believe that violence qualifies as “having relations”. In other words, we are saying that neither war, blackmail, bribery or threats qualify as foreign relations. Asserting that would be like asserting that rape qualifies as making love.
Moreover, Israel has proven incapable, which includes unwilling, of honouring even basic agreements like abiding by the United Nations (UN) ”Partition Plan” or the UN Charter (which was a condition for Israel’s membership in the UN), the Genocide Convention, to name but a few. In the present context, it is also very important to point out that the Partition Plan itself was not a legally binding document; it was a UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution (UNGA Resolution 181, passed in 1947). As opposed to a Resolution by the UN Security Council, an UNGA Resolution is not binding (even assuming Palestine were theirs to give away). Therefore, the Partition Plan had all the legal force of a SUGGESTION.
United Nation articles and Palestine
Article 2(4) of the UN Charter expressly prohibits aggressive war and Article 5(3) of General Assembly Resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 1975 (which includes the definition of Acts of Aggression) nullifies any legal title acquired in this way? And that. Article 5(3) says “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations“? In carrying through its genocidal assault on Gaza’s civilians and their homes, infrastructure and livelihoods, Israel cannot possibly claim to abide by international law.
International Court of Justice Lawsuit Against Israel
South Africa’s 84-page application to the International Court of Justice to begin proceedings against Israel for its genocide in Gaza is a devastating document, laying out Israel’s genocidal acts and statements in horrifying detail. It was lodged on 28th Dec 2023: read about it at South Africa appeals to the International Court of Justice: Stop Israel’s genocide in Gaza – Mondoweiss. Hearings begin on 11th January; 57 other countries who comprise the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Co-operation) are backing South Africa on this. Please write to your MP asking if they support South Africa’s action at Coordin8.org.uk
Also see Francis Boyle speaking in Democracy Now! and Craig Murray in the “Not the Andrew Marr Show“. Owen Jones interviews Daniel Machover here, who spells out the implications if the ruling goes against Israel. He also speaks to South African Andrew Feinstein who identifies himself as Jewish about the import of his country taking out the lawsuit.
View the lawsuit here– it runs to 84 pages. The summary, which runs to 16 pages, can be found here.
Israeli politician Ofer Cassif announced his support for the Gaza genocide lawsuit against Israel at the ICJ- he now faces getting kicked out of the Knesset https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/1/11/why-i-support-icj-gaza-genocide-case-against-my-country
Read the judgement handed down by the court at Order of 26 January 2024 (icj-cij.org)
Immediately it was published, Israel launched its attack on UNRWA – read about it here
LAWSUIT AGAINST BIDEN
On November 13, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a federal lawsuit, Defense for Children International—Palestine, et al. v. . Joseph Biden, et al., on behalf of Palestinian human rights organizations and Palestinians in Gaza and the U.S. Plaintiffs are suing President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, and Defense Secretary Austin for their failure to prevent and complicity in the Israeli government’s unfolding genocide against them, their families, and the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza. The case against the three high-level U.S. officials argues that they are violating international law, including those codified in the 1948 Genocide Convention and the corresponding Genocide Convention Implementation Act (18 U.S.C. § 1091) passed by the U.S. Congress in 1988.
The lawsuit situates the unfolding genocide within a history of Israeli actions against the Palestinian people – starting with the Nakba in 1948. It sets out how Defendants Biden, Blinken, and Austin have not only failed to prevent the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza but have helped advance the gravest of crimes by continuing to provide the Israeli government with unconditional military and diplomatic support, coordinating closely on military strategy, and undermining efforts by the international community to stop Israel’s unrelenting and unprecedented bombing campaign and total siege of Gaza.
Plaintiffs are filing this federal complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief asking the court to declare that these U.S. officials have failed to prevent genocide and are aiding and abetting genocide, and to order an end to U.S. military and diplomatic support to Israel. The lawsuit is accompanied by a preliminary injunction (PI) motion, which seeks an emergency order to prohibit any further U.S. military and diplomatic support to the Israeli government while the case is being considered.
News articles
Israel claims to have free press – but they don’t when it comes to coverage of Gaza and Hamas, as the Intercept explains.
Middle East Eye had this to say when Hamas was proscribed in 2021.
Israel-Hamas war: UK could be complicit in Gaza war crimes, Tory MP warns | World News | Sky News
See how Hamas treated their captives here on Instagram
Israeli military discussing alternatives to full Gaza invasion with US, says Biden (msn.com)
20 Oct 2023- see “Hamas Empathy” letter from One Democratic Palestine in Letters – Weekly Worker
See in the Guardian Israel’s plans for Gaza’s future will only keep the flame of Hamas resistance burning (msn.com)
Why not deliver aid by sea to Gaza? International community faces acid test on Gaza – Redress Information & Analysis (redressonline.com)
Axel Springer’s Upday News App Imposes Pro-Israel Bent on Gaza (theintercept.com)
Al Jazeera covered this campaign Scottish human rights to Al Jazeera Net: I am harassed because of “Hamas” | Politics | Al , Jazeera Net
Israel is intent on ethnic cleansing – or genocide Netanyahu Openly Calls for Genocide Citing the Bible: “Go, attack the Amalekites…” (financial-world.org)
See a 1-minute clip from Pete Gregson’s interview with Times Radio outside Labour Conference here
See Mandela ‘did the same thing’ as Hamas, says leader of South African firebrand party (msn.com)
See why Hamas will never give up https://x.com/memrireports/status/1719662664090075199?s=46&t=ez68eLP0Belf61U-ifpOFA
See Turkish president says Hamas is not a terrorist organisation (msn.com) and how it cannot be excluded from peace negotiations
Lord Ricketts, who served as the UK’s first national security adviser, said Tel Aviv’s plan to destroy Hamas “seems to me to be impossible” due to the political and social nature of the organisation. Lord Peter Hain observed on the 2nd January that Israel could not destroy Hamas, no matter how many bombs it dropped.
During the recent truce, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, carried out a survey into Palestinian attitudes both in the West Bank and Gaza which found that almost three-quarters (72%) of all respondents believe Hamas’s decision to launch its attack on Israel on October 7 was “correct.” And support for Hamas is rising- in the West Bank, from 12% it has almost quadrupled. With every Palestinian killed, support for Hamas rises. Palestinians see nobody else standing up for their freedom; they know that the rest of the world will do nothing, for no-one can challenge the power of the USA and the UK. Palestinians continue to reject Fatah, who they see as corrupt and in league with Israel.
See Katie Halper – Does Israel have the right to defend itself?
Crisis in Gaza, Israel, and the wider Occupied Palestinian Territories | Amnesty International UK
Timeline: Israel’s attacks on Gaza since 2005 | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera
Watch “Abu Jamil Street”, a 52-minute documentary about Gaza’s tunnels- to rent from Journeyman TV
Israel told people inside Al-Rantisi children’s hospital to evacuate. They came out waving white flags and then the Israeli military shot at them- see here
See France24 debunking fake video of nurse at Al Shifa condemning Hamas
This is what Israeli kids are singing “We will annihilate everyone” in Gaza, against a background of destruction.
Also see Times Radio snippet https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzGm3Rts5Ui – see
The RT- Arabic service video where the petitioner, Pete Gregson, talks about the Hamas petition (his voice overdubbed with a translation) is available at Russia Today- Pete Gregson on Hamas Petition- Arabic (rumble.com) and he was also interviewed on Al-Jazeera on 8th January . The delivery of the petition to Downing Street was covered by the Canary Hamas petition delivered to Downing Street of proscribing (thecanary.co) and the Edinburgh Reporter Murrayfield community councillor delivers message to Prime Minister | The Edinburgh Reporter and Your Harlow Harlow resident delivers petition to Downing Street calling for Hamas to be removed from terrorist list – Your Harlow
Also see Times Radio snippet outside Labour Conference https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzGm3Rts5Ui
See CAGE interview “The Politics of Proscribing Hamas” with Drs Asim Qureshi (CAGE Director), Azzam Tamimi (Palestinian broadcaster, author of “Hamas: Unwritten Chapters”), Sophie Haspeslagh (Kings College, London; author of “Proscribing Peace”) , Trishan Dunning (Queensland Uni; author of “Hamas, Jihad & Popular Legitimacy”) of 25th Nov at https://youtu.be/22qF2mQq3HY
In late December, both Tony Greenstein and Mick Napier were arrested for “supporting Hamas”; in response, Former Scottish police chief gives up MBE over UK’s… (inkl.com)
Paul Heywood Smith KC declares Israel has no right to exist. Its membership of the United Nations was approved in 1949. Unlike other states, it was approved conditionally upon Israel complying with Partition Resolution 181 as to the limits of the Israeli State, and UN Resolution 194, allowing the return of refugees. Israel has complied with neither condition. This and its apartheid nature makes it an illegal entity.
Read Israeli arrogance thwarted a Palestinian political path. October 7 revealed the cost (972mag.com)
See Owen Jones explaining Biden’s contempt for Palestinian life
See Sara Al-Yafi outline Israeli soldiers shoot to kill, shoot to maim policy against Palestinian children
Scott Ritter
Scott Ritter is an American intelligence officer whose views on Hamas are of interest.
See “Time has Changed” by Scott Ritter at https://www.tiktok.com/@derbaco/video/7292529121412861216?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7286156359526893089
See “What Hamas has planned for the end will shock Israel to its core“- speaking with Freddy Barrett on the 27th October , Scott Ritter says:
“Hamas made the attack on 7th October in order to break the paradigm of the Abrams Accord, the Trump agreement that normalised relations between Israel and the Arab world at the expense of Palestinian statehood. Hamas realised that if Israel normalised relations with Saudi Arabia there would never be a Palestinian state- ever. If normalistion was arranged- then Israel wins. What needed to be done, was to initiate a military operation, of the scope and scale of which, would change the entire paradigm in the Middle East. So this is not just about embarrassing Israel, its about what they want to happen next.
“Israel responded in a predicable fashion, doing what it wanted to do anyway, on a massive scale. This is the massive indiscriminate and assault on Gaza. Israel is now losing the public relations war. By the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, Israel is destroying any prospect of normalisation with the many Arab nations which surround it. If Israel had not attacked on the 7th Oct, there is a high likelihood that Israel would have normalised relations with Saudi. And with US and UK support for Israel’s bombing Gaza campaign, their impact, long-term is to Israel’s disadvantage, as it pushes Arab countries to criticise Israel. Hamas is now using Israel’s genocidal behaviour against Gaza as a weapon against Israel.
“Arab countries such as Turkey declare that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation; they are now saying that Hamas are mujahedeen, they are resistance fighters, they are working on the cause of God. Turkey is giving voice to that which is believed throughout the Arab world.
“Israel is holding onto the idea that they can get things back to where they were pre-Oct 7th. They think they can defeat Hamas, but they know they can’t. That because Hamas is an ideology and that ideology is magnified 100-fold for every bomb that is dropped on Gaza. So rather than defeating Hamas, Israel is expanding Hamas. People are coming out in support for Hamas, across the world, as people are beginning to recognise Israel for what it is; Israel is no longer able to “sell” itself as a smooth-talking responsible state, as an extension of America, with democracy, respect for life, American values, etc. Israel is not even pretending that right now.
“The speeches coming from Israeli politicians and generals right now, of elimination and death, are similar to what the Nazis were saying in the 1930s. The doctrine of Israel is political Zionism, that they are the chosen few of God, empowered to oppress people who get in the way of the creation of a greater Israel. Now, the Americans adopt the principal that all men (and women) are created equal- there is no supremacy. But Israel posits that they are the chosen ones, that they have a covenant with God, so anything is therefore allowed and tolerated. The Israels are treating anyone who is not in favour of a Zionist state as “Goyim”, a derogatory terms for non-Jews, increasingly heard in Israel today, which implies Goyim are animals.
“This kind of language was used by Stefan Bandera and his Ukrainian nationalists, about the exceptionalism of Ukrainian nationalism and the subhuman status attached to Russians, to Poles and to Jews. In the past, suggesting Israel was behaving like the Nazis in demonising any that opposed it would not have been acceptable, but it is increasingly been seen as such. Israel now attacks the Secretary General of the UN for articulating unhappiness at Israel’s conduct. They are alienating many who believe in Israel’s “right to exist”. And once they have lost these people, it’s “game-over” for Israel.”
“The ground invasion? The Israeli army are just not that good- there are 300,000 reservists in the front line, recently pulled from office life. They are suffering great losses in urban warfare in Gaza, which is why America told them not to do this. But the Israeli leaders will not lose face, so they are sacrificing Israeli soldiers who are not physically prepared for battle. The Israelis have already said that they will treat anything that moves as a Hamas supporter – and evidence to date confirms this – and they will kill it. So innocent Palestinians will be slaughtered.
“And this will bring Hezbollah into the war. At the point at which it becomes a regional war, it risks sucking in us too. I used to train alongside Israeli soldiers and carry out joint operations with them. But not any more; not only do I not care about them, I want them to lose- because only by losing can we break the paradigm of control that Israel has had over the Middle East peace process. There will never be peace so long as political Zionism is in place. That needs to be defeated in order for there to be peace. They need to accept they are not “God’s chosen”; to stop believing in their supremacy, for which they do not have the ability to act on. So I pray for Israel’s defeat on the battlefield; they need to be defeated so that we can change the dynamic that existed under the Abrams accord, where the Palestinian people were forgotten. Palestine can only get the status it so sorely needs with Israel losing. Israel is on the wrong side of history right here.
“There is nothing good that can be said about Israel today. Listen to the hate-filled statements from the Israeli politicians and soldiers, where they call the Palestinians animals. The Israeli mindset is to bring in everybody to the war- their “Samson option” as they call it, that normally attached to their nuclear deterrence, which means that if it looks like Israel is going to be destroyed, that they will kill everybody with their nuclear weapons. It’s the mindset that says if we can’t live, the way we want to live, we will bring everybody down with us. This tells us all that Israel is the greatest threat to peace and security in the world today. They must learn to live with the Palestinians as their equals- the days of Israeli exceptionalism are over. Israel needs to see itself as not superior, but equal to its neighbours, if it is to survive. And you know who get to thank for making this possible? Hamas.
“To say that a ceasefire now benefits Hamas is stupid- because Hamas planned for this Israeli invasion. They can go on for months, underground. If the US and UK want the massive demonstrations for Palestine to stop, they need a ceasefire. Right now, Hamas is the noble resistor. Every day that Israel goes on doing what they are doing, they make Hamas appear more noble. Israel’s refusal to negotiate with Hamas is its greatest weakness. Because if they invited Hamas to negotiate, Hamas would be forced to recognise them. If they called for a ceasefire, if they allowed humanitarian aid in, if they said we want to negotiate over the release of those held captive, then they could defeat Hamas. But Israel is not capable of doing that…
“Political Zionism needs to be defeated; the best way to do this is to expose it as a disgusting, decrepit ideology, similar to the Nazi ideology of the 30s and 40s. And they are bringning all Jews into this, by saying that Israel represents all Jews. So by their actions against civilians, they make Jews all over the world, vulnerable…
“What Israel doesn’t want to talk about, is what happened on Oct 8th, when the undiciplined IDF poured back into the settlements and slaughtered the settlers that were there. I guarantee that if they released the autopsy reports of all the bodies they’ve picked up, you’ll find that the majority of them- or even more than a majority – were killed by 5.56mm rounds fired by Israel. There’s enough eyewitness testimony that supports this. And Israel doesn’t want to talk about this.”
Chris Hedges
Chris Hedges opines that all settler colonial projects, including Israel, reach a point when they embrace wholesale slaughter and genocide to eradicate a native population that refuses to capitulate .The Europeans are, of course, masters at this, having taken America and Australia. He observes in “Exterminate all the Brutes” that:
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Hamas in a press conference with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, as ‘the new Nazis’.
“Think about that. A people, imprisoned in the world’s largest concentration camp for sixteen years, denied food, water, fuel and medicine, lacking an army, air force, navy, mechanized units, artillery, command and control and missile batteries, is being butchered and starved by one of the most advanced militaries on the planet, and they are the Nazis?”
He concludes:
“Maybe we are fooled by our own lies, but most of the world sees us, and Israel, clearly. They understand our genocidal proclivities, rank hypocrisy and self-righteousness. They see that Palestinians, largely friendless, without power, forced to live in squalid refugee camps or the diaspora, denied their homeland and eternally persecuted, suffer the kind of fate once reserved for Jews. This perhaps is the final tragic irony. Those who were once in need of protection from genocide now commit it.”
See the talk Chris gave to the Islamic Society of New Jersey on 18th Jan 2024 “The Death of Israel” and “What really happened in Israel on Oct. 7? w/Max Blumenthal” Nov 17th 2023
Booklist
A book by Azzam Tamimi of 2009 “Hamas: Unwritten Chapters “
Also “Hamas: Political Thought and Practice” by Khaled Hroub (Institute of Palestine Studies, Washington, DC) written in 2000
Also Daud Abdallah from Jan 2021 Engaging the World: The Making of Hamas’s Foreign Policy