About time
'Hamas's military and political wings are one and the same...'
THE listing of Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist organisation under the Criminal Code is welcome and overdue.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) report outlined what we have known for years. Hamas’s military and political wings are one and the same.
The entire organisation is dedicated to the destruction of Israel, a sovereign nation.
During the Second Intifada, Hamas suicide bombers committed scores of attack against civilian targets including a pizzeria, nightclub, university cafeteria and even a communal Pesach seder, resulting in the deaths of more than a thousand Israeli civilians.
Since seizing control over Gaza in 2007, where it rules as a military theocracy, Hamas has rained tens of thousands of rockets over Israeli civilians while using the strip’s population as human shields.
These atrocities were not the actions of an independent military wing. Hamas’ political leaders oversee and take part in terrorist attacks. Personnel rotate between the political wing and the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
As the Zionist Federation of Australia’s Bren Carlill puts it, “The idea that Australia could artificially differentiate between different parts of Hamas never really passed the pub test.”
Thankfully, this artificial distinction is no more. We laud the decision by Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews and thank the PJCIS for its work in presenting the facts. We appreciate shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus’ bipartisan support of the ban.
And we welcome the strong comments made exclusively to The AJN by Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week drawing the line against terror.
Our community is lucky to have such strong friends among our nation’s leaders.
The tireless efforts of our communal organisations who advocated for years for this are to be applauded, while we also thank ASIO director-general of security Mike Burgess, whose support for the change was crucial.
This ban has nothing to do with who is right or wrong in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and everything to do with Hamas’s genocidal purpose and methods.
All moderate Australians, whatever their view of the conflict, will agree that targeting innocent civilians – as Hamas does – is always wrong.