Today, CAMERA UK led an initiative and approached various UK Civil Society organisations to take a stand against Hamas’ Invasion of Israel by signing an open letter.
London-October 9th: UK Civil Society Orgs Stand Against Hamas’ Invasion Of Israel
On Oct 7 the world woke up to news of an orchestrated attack on Israeli civilians by the terrorist organisation Hamas. This attack occurred on Shabbat (the Jewish Day of Rest), the Jewish Holy Day (Simchat Torah), and a day after the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Yom Kippur War. With at least 800 Israelis murdered (and thousands injured), the attack represents the largest number of Jews killed in a single day since the Holocaust. We are still in the midst of learning of the gravity of the situation, including how many Israelis were taken hostage.
We’ve also learned that several foreign nationals have been killed, kidnapped, and paraded in the streets of Gaza.
We, as various civil society organisations, join together in calling on the UK government, Universities, and other relevant bodies to hold to account anyone who publicly supports Hamas in the name of the Palestinian people. Refer to the below:
In 2021, the UK Government proscribed Hamas as a terrorist organisation, and the UK Government Terrorism Act 2000 made clear that it is illegal to:
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express an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation, reckless as to whether a person to whom the expression is directed will be encouraged to support a proscribed organisation; (section 12 (1A))
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arrange or manage a meeting in support of, to further the objectives of, or to be addressed by a member of a proscribed organisation; (Section 12(2))
We call on media outlets to stop referring to Hamas as “militants” and call them what they are according to UK law: terrorists. We also call on media outlets to stop excusing the violence by attributing Hamas’s attack to the failure of the peace process, ‘frustrated young men’, or ‘the occupation’, but to note the truth of what “From the River to the Sea” truly means.
We are also aware of reports that Iran may have been involved in helping orchestrate these attacks against Israel, and we call on the UK government to immediately proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
We hope and pray for better days.
Signatories:
CAMERA UK
CAMERA on Campus UK
National Jewish Assembly (NJA)
North West Friends of Israel
Exeter University Israel and Zionism Society
Kings College Israel Society
Brunel Jewish society
Brunel Friends of Israel Society
Harif
Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue Holland Park
Zionist Central Council
North London Friends of Israel
Fly the Flag
UK Israel Future Projects
University of Southampton Friends of Israel Society
StandWithUs UK
Israel Advocacy Movement
B’nai B’rith UK
King’s College London Jewish Society
Confederation of Friends of Israel in Scotland (COFIS)
QMUL Jewish and Israel Society
City University of London Israel Society
European Jewish Association (EJA)
We Believe in Israel
UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI)
Technion UK
Glasgow Friends of Israel
If you wish to be added as a signatory, please be in touch with Christina: christina@camera.org who will add you to the live version: https://docs.google.
