Hamas Challenges Terrorist Designation in Australia, Citing International Law, Palestinian Rights

Hamas is mounting a legal challenge against the group’s terrorist designation in Australia, arguing that the listing breaches international law and provides legal cover for Israeli attacks on Palestinians — its second such attempt after a similar case in the United Kingdom.

Earlier this month, Hamas filed a legal petition seeking to be removed from Australia’s list of proscribed terrorist organizations, Australian media first reported on Friday.

Pro-Palestinian activist and radio host Uncle Robbie Thorpe filed the application in Australia’s Federal Court on behalf of the Palestinian Islamist group, claiming that its terrorist designation restricts freedom of political communication in the country.

In the lawsuit, Hamas contends that the government denied procedural fairness when reviewing its application to be removed from the terrorist list.

According to the application, Hamas was denied the chance to present evidence showing how the proscription “undermines Palestinian sovereignty and self-determination, as well as the right to organized armed self-defense and resistance against the illegal siege of Gaza, illegal occupation, apartheid, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.”

The filing also claims that the group’s terrorist designation undermined ceasefire negotiations and the implementation of any peace deal, while inciting “Israel to commit genocide against the Palestinian people.”

“The ongoing proscription purports to declare as unlawful the armed self-defense of the Palestinian people against genocide carried out by the State of Israel, contrary to international law, and the armed struggle … for liberation from the unlawful occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” the lawsuit says. 

After its initial request was rejected, Hamas filed a follow-up application with the Federal Court and submitted a formal request to the Australian government seeking removal from the terror register, local media reported. 

Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, condemned Hamas’s legal action, saying it exposes a troubling level of support among some Australians for the terrorist group and its atrocities. 

“Since Oct. 7 we have seen public expressions of support for Hamas as an organization and specific support for its invasion of Israel and the horrors that accompanied it,” Ryvchin told the Sydney Morning Herald, referring to the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel in 2023.

“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,” he continued.

“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,” he said. 

In 2022, Australia designated all of Hamas as a terrorist organization, joining the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and other nations, after previously listing only its armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades. 

Once an organization is proscribed, it means Australians are legally prohibited from providing financial support, joining the group, or recruiting others on its behalf.

Earlier this year, Hamas sought to challenge the organization’s terrorist designation in the UK, prompting fierce criticism from British Members of Parliament and Jewish organizations.

Hamas filed a legal petition arguing for its removal from the country’s list of proscribed terrorist groups, describing itself as “a Palestinian Islamic liberation and resistance movement whose goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project.”

“The British government’s decision to proscribe Hamas is an unjust one that is symptomatic of its unwavering support for Zionism, apartheid, occupation, and ethnic cleansing in Palestine for over a century,” the filing read. “Hamas does not and never has posed a threat to Britain, despite the latter’s ongoing complicity in the genocide of our people.”

Hamas, whose founding charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews, led thousands of Palestinian terrorists into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. During the invasion, they murdered 1,200 people, kidnapped 251 hostages, and perpetrated widespread sexual violence.