Australia announces its decision to list Hamas’ military and political wings as terrorist organizations
Australia has joined a list of Western countries and organizations that fully classify Hamas as a terrorist organization, amid the erosion of the line between the military and political wings.
The Australian decision tightens the western noose on Hamas, depriving it of raising funds through a number of its leaders in the diaspora, and significantly restricting its movement and ability to maneuver, according to observers.
On Friday, the Australian Government designated Hamas a terrorist organization.
In announcing the designation of eight organizations, Australian Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said the views of Hamas and other violent extremist groups that have been listed today are extremely disturbing, and there is no place in Australia for their hateful ideology.
Inclusion of Hamas in the designation would place restrictions on its funding and any kind of support, as well as certain activities related to the group that could carry a 25-year prison sentence, according to Reuters.
“It is essential that our laws target not only terrorist activities and terrorists, but also organizations that plan, finance and carry out such acts”, she said.
Strategy change
Over the past two decades, Australia has only designated the military wing of Hamas, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, as a terrorist organization.
But a few weeks ago, it announced its intention to expand the classification to include Hamas entirely in its political and military wings, which is what happened today.
The Australian decision reflects the erosion of the dividing line between the military and political wings in the strategy of some Western countries in dealing with terrorist organizations, such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
In the past two years, several Western countries such as Germany and Austria have surpassed this strategy of differentiating between the political and military wings of Lebanese Hezbollah, while Australia has broken the same strategy today with regard to Hamas.
This new Western approach reflects a greater awareness of the nature of the work of such organizations, the danger they pose and the lack of separations between their military and political work, according to observers.
Terrorist organizations have been taking advantage of this separation between their political and military wings in a number of Western countries in fundraising activities and influencing the Muslim diaspora, which has resulted in the collection of millions of dollars a year in donations that went to fund military action.
But the West’s current move to eliminate the separation between the political and military wings undermines Hamas and Hezbollah’s fundraising and influence networks in Western countries, dealing a heavy blow to these organizations, which rely primarily on these funds for arms and operations.
America is the first country
The United States was the first Western country to blacklist Hamas in 1997, followed by Canada on November 27, 2002.
Since 2003, the EU has placed Hamas entirely on its list of terrorist organizations, although the group has filed several lawsuits before European courts, leading to a final ruling last year that confirmed the group’s status on terrorist lists.
All European member states of the bloc are committed to the collective classification of Hamas as a terrorist organization.
But Germany decided to go ahead and take more action against the movement last June, when parliament passed a resolution banning all Hamas slogans and symbols in German territory.
Last November, Britain joined the Western Front against Hamas by declaring that the Palestinian movement was totally banned on its territory, before Australia today branded the movement a terrorist organization.
In doing so, the main Western states and blocs completely classify Hamas as a terrorist organization, undermining the movement’s fundraising strategy in these countries through donations and commercial and financial activities, which undermines the movement’s capabilities to develop its arsenal and carry out operations.
