Australia to record Hamas as a terrorist organisation – Center East Monitor

The federal government of Australia will record the Palestinian resistance motion Hamas as a terrorist organisation.

“The views of Hamas and the violent extremist teams listed at this time are deeply disturbing, and there’s no place in Australia for his or her hateful ideologies,” mentioned House Affairs Minister Karen Andrews.

“It’s vital that our legal guidelines goal not solely terrorist acts and terrorists, but additionally the organisations that plan, finance and perform these acts,” Andrews added.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett welcomed the event and thanked his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison “for following by way of on our dialogue on this necessary matter.”

“That is one other necessary step within the world struggle in opposition to terrorism,” Bennett tweeted.

Australia’s upcoming choice to designate Hamas as a terror group in its entirety, is a crucial one.

Here is why: pic.twitter.com/zFQjF5niZj

— Naftali Bennett בנט (@naftalibennett) February 17, 2022

The US, UK, EU and Canada have all beforehand blacklisted the group, which gained democratic elections in 2006 and governs the besieged Gaza Strip.

The transfer has drawn sharp criticism from the Australia Palestine Advocacy Community (APAN), which mentioned it “strongly disagrees” with a proposal that “does nothing to advance the reason for peace, and can solely trigger extra struggling for the two million individuals at present surviving beneath a 15-year Israeli blockade.”

The federal government has failed in its obligation of looking for a peaceable resolution and has proven it applies one algorithm to Palestine, and one other to Israel

Bishop George Browning, the group’s president, mentioned in an announcement.

“The complete course of main as much as this designation has been led by those that have a political barrow to push, with solely pro-Israeli teams being sought out for proof. As soon as once more this authorities has proven it has little interest in human rights, or the applying of worldwide regulation.”

Australia listed Hamas’ army wing – the Al-Qassam Brigades – as a “terror” group in 2003, however the brand new designation, which is able to come into drive in April, will record the organisation in its entirety, together with its political wing.

Nasser Mashni, vp of the APAN, additionally referred to as out the Australian authorities for its “biased strategy to Palestinians.”

“Israel has regularly been discovered to be an apartheid state by human rights organizations, against the law in opposition to humanity, but it’s Palestinians who as soon as once more should endure from this focused bigotry,” he mentioned.

“It is no surprise Palestinian-Australians endure racial discrimination if the federal government itself is joyful to color a goal on our backs.”

Amnesty labels Israel an apartheid state