LONDON (Dispatches) –
Resistance groups have condemned Britain’s decision to ban Hamas, which could see supporters of the Palestinian resistance movement punished with 14 years in prison.
“The decision is not surprising at all as Britain is the founder of the (Zionist) occupation,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, said Saturday.
“The move coincides with the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, and underscores Britain’s continued support for the criminal regime,” Houthi added.
The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War, which laid the foundations for the Zionist regime. The declaration is seen as a catalyst for the 1948 Nakba (catastrophe) where more than 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes.
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel on Friday announced the move to bring Britain into line with the European Union and the United States, which designated Hamas a ‘terror group’ in 1995.
The British parliament will vote on the proposals next week and if successful, could become effective from next Friday.
“We had hoped that Britain would not commit a new crime against the Palestinian nation following the Balfour Declaration,” said Khalil al-Hayya, deputy head of the Hamas political bureau.
Showing support for Hamas in Britain could be punished with 14 years in prison if the government succeeds in banning the group.
Earlier this month, a man appeared in court for wearing T-shirts supporting Hamas’ military wing and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which was banned in Britain in 2005.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned the decision, describing the move an unjustified attack on Palestinians, who have been subjected to the most heinous forms of occupation and historical injustice as a result of the ominous Balfour Declaration.
The Palestinian foreign ministry also slammed British Home Secretary Priti Patel, saying, “She is the same minister who visited the Golan Heights settlements several years ago in coordination with the settlements council there, but without the approval of her government.”
Furthermore, a group of Palestinian resistance factions unanimously rejected the British decision against Hamas, and said the move would give the Zionist regime the carte blanche to press ahead with its crimes against the Palestinian nation.
“We consider this action as a direct attack on Palestinians, and an utter disregard of their legitimate rights as well as struggle for freedom from (Zionist regime) occupation,” they said in a statement.
Additionally, the media bureau of Yemen’s popular Ansarullah resistance movement strongly denounced the proscription against Hamas.
Ansarullah called on Arab and Muslim nations to massively support the Palestinian cause, and to reject the criminal British measure against Hamas and oppressed Palestinian people.
The Palestinian Mission in the UK also condemned the designating of Hamas as a “terrorist organization”, stressing that this step “will make peace-making harder” than ever.
“With this move, the British government has complicated Palestinian unity efforts and undermined Palestinian democracy,” the mission announced in a statement.
“It is a retrograde and one-sided step that will do nothing for efforts to secure a peaceful two-state solution, an outcome that is being undermined every day by Israeli war crimes, including its illegal colonial settlement project in occupied territory,” the statement added.