Hamas seeks to overturn Australian terror listing

Hamas has filed an application in a Federal Court case to challenge its designation as a terrorist organisation in Australia, arguing the listing breaches international law and provides legal cover for Israeli attacks on Palestinians.

The application, lodged on October 15, was filed as part of a court case brought by Indigenous activist and radio host Uncle Robbie Thorpe, who argues the Hamas terror designation limits freedom of political communication in Australia.

In the interlocutory application, Hamas sought leave to intervene and raise additional grounds for judicial review of the government’s decision to maintain its proscription.

The application argues that Hamas was denied procedural fairness in the government’s consideration of a de-proscription application. “Hamas is an interested party. Hamas is the Governing Authority in Gaza. Hamas could be contacted at all times through its Diplomatic Mission in Qatar,” the document states.

The filing claims “the ongoing proscription impeded negotiations, exposing even the negotiators to assassination” and “impedes the maintenance of any cease-fire agreement”.

It further argues that “the ongoing proscription of the entirety of Hamas, including its political wing and the government of Gaza, has the effect of purporting to declare Hamas, Hamas members and their families, and the Palestinian people in Gaza, as terrorists, or terror supporters”.

The document claims the proscription “incites Israel to commit genocide against the Palestinian people” and “purports to morally justify, excuse, and provide legal cover, for the Genocide carried out by the State of Israel against the Palestinian people, in breach of Australia’s international obligations under the Genocide Convention”.

Hamas also argues the listing “purports to declare as unlawful the armed self defence of the Palestinian people against Genocide carried out by the State of Israel, contrary to international law” and declares as unlawful “the armed struggle of the Palestinian people for liberation from unlawful occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories”.

The application states Hamas was deprived of the opportunity to provide evidence about how the proscription “undermines Palestinian sovereignty, self-determination; and the right of organised armed self-defence and resistance against illegal siege of Gaza, illegal occupation, apartheid, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide”.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Hamas request for an interlocutory application was refused by the court. Lawyer Daniel Taylor, who lodged the application on behalf of Thorpe, said the application was provided to him by Hamas’s political bureau, which is based in Doha, Qatar.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Taylor said Hamas intends to file a subsequent application to the Federal Court and to lodge a formal request with the government to be removed from the terror register.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said the documents “make for extraordinary reading and they reveal something chilling about our country”.

“Since October 7 we have seen public expressions of support for Hamas as an organisation and specific support for its invasion of Israel and the horrors that accompanied it. Now we can see that even as a ceasefire and peace plan was being implemented, and the full terror of their crimes both against Israelis and the people of Gaza was becoming apparent, there were Australians doing Hamas’s bidding,” said Ryvchin.

“It shows that even among educated Australians, including lawyers and self-styled human rights activists are people who defend what Hamas did and what they represent. The fact that any Australians would put their names to a document aimed at lifting Hamas’s terror status and asserting its so-called rights should shock and alarm all of us. Their conduct begs the questions of what else have they done to serve Hamas, how far are they willing to go, and how many Australians have aided them. This warrants immediate investigation and affirms what we already knew, this war has global ramifications and is far from over.”

The Morrison government listed the entirety of Hamas as a terrorist organisation in 2022 with Labor’s support, joining the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and other nations. Previously, only its armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, was designated as a terror group in Australia.

The terror listing prohibits Australians from providing financial support to Hamas, joining the organisation or recruiting for it.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Commonwealth is contesting the court case. A spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke declined to add to his submissions to the court.

The Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks killed an estimated 1200 people in Israel and triggered a war that continued for two years, until a Donald Trump-brokered ceasefire took effect earlier this month.