This move comes mere months after the Aussies outlawed Hezbollah in its entirety!
By Nosson Shulman: Licensed Tour Guide of VIP Israel Tours & Authentic Virtual Tours (click here to check out his free trailer videos)
In another major blow to Hamas, Australia has just blacklisted the entirety of Hamas as a terror organization (although they banned the military wing in 2003, until now dealings with the political wing were legal). This follows Australia’s complete ban on Hezbollah (an Islamic terror organization based in Lebanon) only a few months ago!
Now with this designation, providing any support to the terror group (financial or otherwise) in the Land Down Under is punishable by a prison sentence of up to 25 years! Says Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews “The views of Hamas and the violent extremist groups listed today are deeply disturbing, and there is no place in Australia for their hateful ideologies.” Indeed, the group’s charter openly seeks the destruction of Israel. In the last several years, the Jihadist group has initiated several (unprovoked) wars against the Jewish State, indiscriminately fired thousands of rockets into heavily populated areas, and orchestrated acts of terrorism against innocent civilians.
Australia was the not the first country that differentiated between Hamas’ political and military wings. In late November 2021, England (which had already banned the military wing years earlier) finally took the step to outlaw its political wing, dealing a major financial blow to Jihadists (for more on that, click here). Even today, countries such as Japan, New Zealand, and Paraguay have only outlawed Hamas’ armed forces, claiming that the political wing carries out important civil society functions like charity, humanitarian projects and the building of infrastructure in Gaza, and therefore should not be sanctioned on that end. Those opposed to this idea are quick to point out this fallacy from both a moral and practical point of view. Morally both wings have the same goal, the utter destruction of the Jewish State and its inhabitants and cannot be considered separate entities (as a comparison, no decent person would ever even consider funding the “political wing” of the mafia or racial supremacy groups like the KKK, Neo-Nazi movement and Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam regardless of the social service programs they were offering).
From a practical perspective, once countries and private donors give money to the “political wing” of Hamas, the money can “find” it’s way to the military wing (indeed, this arrangement often allows Hamas to by-pass sanctions against it). Even where there is oversight on how the money is spent, Hamas uses the money to build schools encouraging a life of Jihad, establishing community centers where weapons of the “military wing” can be stored in the basement, funding “certain science and technology (i.e., weapon building)” university programs in Gaza and paying terrorists who are sitting in Israeli prisons.
It’s not just the money. Since the “political wing” members aren’t sanctioned, influential citizens and politicians can meet with them, giving them legitimacy. The policy has led to hundreds of very powerful institutions (such as the UN and universities) and NGOs to hire terrorists (many of them who have spent time in Israeli prisons) who in turn hire more Hamas members. Once in a position of power, they use their positions to recruit would-be terrorists to the organization, and lobby countries to apply pressure on Israel to free convicted terrorists.
t needs to be pointed out that the political wing isn’t immune to using direct violence to obtain their goals (even without the help of the military wing). One of the most recent terrorist attacks in Jerusalem (in which a 26-year-old civilian was shot and killed in cold blood, 2 officers injured, and a Rabbi (and father of 8) still dressed in his prayer shawl was shot and miraculously survived the attack) was committed by a senior member of the political wing.
With this move, Australia joins the ranks of countries that have banned Hamas in its entirety. Included in this list are Canada, United States, UK, EU, and the OAS (Organization of American States).
Nosson Shulman is a journalist and Licensed Tour Guide in Israel specializing in Biblical tours. To allow tourists to experience Israel during the Corona era, he created the new hit Israel tour video series which brings Israel to the home of viewers by simulating actual tours. To check out his free sneak preview tour videos, click here. To view sample tour itineraries or to inquire about private tour opportunities with a personalized itinerary on your next trip to Israel, click here.
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