The Jewish News (and the Scotsman) reported that UK Lawyers for Israel had, on around the 25th or 26th March, written to Head of Legal at our Council to say that to twin with Gaza on Tuesday would be to support Hamas. The Jewish News item can be viewed here.
[The Scotsman posted their article at 14:00 on Sat 26th March , which was basically the same as the Jewish News one, with extra fibs and untested claims attached- such as that “the Capital’s Jews were “alarmed” at the prospect of twinning with Gaza, which we believe was untrue- following our complaints, the Scotsman them deleted the offending piece from their website at 06:00 on Sun 27th March. However we had been able to take a screendump before they did, so it was downloaded, then uploaded again to this website: you can read it by clicking here https://www.twingaza.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ScotsmanEveningNews_Capitals_Jewish_Community_Alarmed_Over_Gaza_Twinning_Cache_Dump.pdf ]
The UK Lawyers for Israel are, basically, threatening criminal proceedings against Edinburgh’s 62 Councillors should twinning go ahead. The law states that supporting Hamas can be punished by up to 14 years in jail.
The law to which UKLFI refers to is this one, as promoted by this UK Government in a press release of 19th Nov 2021, issued by the Home Office and Priti Patel MP ( www.gov.uk/government/news/home-secretary-to-ban-hamas-from-uk )
“Priti Patel has today (19 November) laid before Parliament an order to outlaw the militant Islamist terrorist movement Hamas in its entirety from the UK.
Hamas is an organisation which calls for the establishment of a Islamic Palestinian state under Sharia law and has repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel. It has long been involved in significant terrorist violence.
The organisation’s military wing is already banned in the UK but following a new assessment the Home Secretary has concluded it should be proscribed in its entirety. This action will support efforts to protect the British public and the international community in the global fight against terrorism. Hamas is already listed in its entirety by the United States and European Union.
Proscription makes it a criminal offence to be a member of, or invite support for the group, with those found guilty facing up to 14 years in prison.
Today Home Secretary Priti Patel will give a keynote speech on security and counter terrorism at the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC.
She will say:
Today the UK Government has laid an order in Parliament to proscribe Hamas in its entirety – including its political wing.
Hamas has significant terrorist capability, including access to extensive and sophisticated weaponry as well as terrorist training facilities, and it has long been involved in significant terrorist violence.
Hamas commits, participates, prepares for and promotes and encourages terrorism. If we tolerate extremism, it will erode the rock of security.
Hamas’ military wing was proscribed by the UK in March 2001. At the time it was the Government’s assessment that there was a distinction between the political and military wings of the group. This distinction is now assessed to be artificial, with Hamas as an organisation involved in committing, participating, preparing for, and encouraging acts of terrorism.
Proscribing organisations in the UK makes it difficult for extremists to operate. As well as criminalising membership and support, it supports the takedown of online content.
Hamas is one of 78 terrorist groups proscribed in the UK and the third proscription order laid by the Home Secretary within the last year.
The Home Secretary’s decision to proscribe Hamas follows advice from the Proscription Review Group, which brings together experts from across Government including representatives from operational partners and the intelligence community.
The proscription order laid before Parliament on 19 November will now be debated and, subject to approval, will come into force on 26 November.”
The sentence that UKLFI claim from the above would put Edinburgh Councillors in breach of the law is this one: Proscription makes it a criminal offence to be a member of, or invite support for the group, with those found guilty facing up to 14 years in prison.
The law that Patel refers to comes under Section 12 of this parliamentary legislation
The UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) letter to the Head of Legal Services states that to make any agreement with Gaza would be illegal.
We already have plenty of material on this website to explain that Gaza city is actually run by the 11 members of the municipal council, who are selected by other community leaders*, but not elected, due to the separation which occurred between Gaza and West Bank after 2007; where after Hamas was democratically elected, Fatah broke away to rule the west Bank. The municipal council is formed every 4 years. (*The community leaders are the Gaza strip’s decision makers, public figures, local council leaders, advocates, organizations representatives, etc.)
The information on the Gaza Councillors can be found at www.twingaza.com/why-twin/#about-gaza-council
Thus, we argue. as the Gaza Municipal Council members are not Hamas members, how can a pledge between our Lord Provost and the Gaza Mayor to encourage twinning activity with Gazan citizens amount to any kind of criminal offence?
But the UKLFI know that the prospect of 14 years in Jail for twinning with Gaza is a price not worth paying- and intend to force our Councillors to suspend the vote, or else reject the petition outright.
Our objections to the UKLFI letter have been sent to all Councillors and are available here:
www.twingaza.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Scotsman-rebuttal-and-UKLFI-bogus-claimsV2.pdf
We are working hard to reassure our Edinburgh Councillors that they have nothing to fear from UKLFI.
More about UKLFI
UKLFI recently forced Manchester University to dismiss Alistair Hudson, Head of Whitworth Art Gallery. His crime? He had allowed, as part of an exhibition, a statement of solidarity with Palestine to be displayed. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/feb/22/whitworth-gallery-director-alistair-hudson-forced-out-over-palestinian-statement
STOP PRESS
The petitioner knows Michael Mansfield QC and has written to him seeking advice.