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In an extraordinary legal filing submitted Wednesday in London, Hamas argued that the British government should remove its designation of the movement as a proscribed terror group and recognize its legitimate role as a Palestinian resistance movement engaged in a struggle for self-determination and liberation. A top political leader of Hamas rejected allegations that the movement is an anti-semitic terror organization, asserted that Hamas poses no threat to Western nations, and argues that the political organization has never engaged in an armed operation outside the boundaries of historic Palestine.
“Hamas is not a terrorist group. It is a Palestinian Islamic liberation and resistance movement whose goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project,” wrote Mousa Abu Marzouk—head of international relations for Hamas, and the applicant for the claim to the U.K. home secretary—in a signed and submitted witness statementprovided to Drop Site. “We also look outwards to draw inspiration from the glorious tradition of all those peoples and groups who have resisted colonialism, occupation and imperialism in the name of justice, dignity, and human equality,” referencing historical struggles against colonialism and imperialism from across the world.
The legal summary prepared by lawyers representing Hamas highlights the African National Congress in South Africa and Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Army in Ireland as historical analogues to Hamas and the fight for Palestinian liberation. Marzouk charged that Hamas has been subjected to a concerted smear campaign about its official position, including support for a Palestinian state defined by the borders that existed prior to Israel’s invasion and occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem in June 1967—and the subsequent violent campaign of annexation of Palestinian land that continues to this day.
