Australia will add the entirety of Palestinian group Hamas to its list of banned terrorist organizations, local media reported on Thursday.
Canberra, which has already listed Hamas’ military wing as a terrorist group since 2003, will join the US, UK and Israel in extending the designation to its political branch, according to state broadcaster ABC News.
“There is no place in Australia for their hateful ideologies,” said Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews, terming Hamas’ views “deeply disturbing.”
“It is vital that our laws target not only terrorist acts and terrorists, but also the organizations that plan, finance and carry out these acts.”
The move has drawn sharp criticism from the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), which said it “strongly disagrees” with a proposal that “does nothing to advance the cause of peace, and will only cause more suffering for the 2 million people currently surviving under a 15-year Israeli blockade.”
“The government has failed in its duty of searching for a peaceful solution and has shown it applies one set of rules to Palestine, and another to Israel,” Bishop George Browning, the group’s president, said in a statement.
“The entire process leading up to this designation has been led by those who have a political barrow to push, with only pro-Israeli groups being sought out for evidence. Once again this government has shown it has no interest in human rights, or the application of international law.”
Nasser Mashni, vice president of the APAN, called out the Australian government for its “biased approach to Palestinians.”
“Israel has continually been found to be an apartheid state by human rights organizations, a crime against humanity, yet it is Palestinians who once again have to suffer from this targeted bigotry,” he said.
“It’s no wonder Palestinian-Australians suffer racial discrimination if the government itself is happy to paint a target on our backs.”
