Hamas's attack on Israel will have terrible consequences in the UK, warns Dr Paul Stott
The Hamas assault on Israel is rapidly turning into the greatest military disaster in that country's history - comparable to the unexpected Japanese triumph over the British in Singapore in 1942.
By
DR PAUL STOTT
19:04, Mon, Oct 9, 2023 | UPDATED: 07:56, Tue, Oct 10, 2023
20BOOKMARK
The Israeli West Bank separation barrier cutting through Abu Dis or Abu Deis a Palestinian community (Image: Getty)
Large numbers of young men, fighters from Hamas and other Islamist groups, entered southern Israel intent on kidnapping, theft and mass murder.
Many of the details are as yet obscure, but it seems around 250 people, mostly in their teens and 20s, including dual nationals and those from a range of countries, were murdered at the Supernova rave near Kibbutz Re’im.
Deaths now total around 800, and at least 100 people, including children and the elderly, have been taken to Gaza as hostages.
How does this impact upon us in the UK? Sadly, what goes on in the Middle East, does not stay in the Middle East.
Three examples suffice. For some years now a campaign of direct action by a group called Palestine Action has seen factories in England and Wales attacked, as protestors accuse them of arming Israel.
Some have received heavy sentences, and others have been found not guilty, after utilising the same defence as climate change protestors following the 2021 Ziegler judgement – that their actions are "proportionate" given the threats they pertain to demonstrate against.
Following the terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel, Saturday evening saw crowds in Acton, west London, waving Palestinian flags in celebration.
While the world digested in horror social media clips which included the body of a near-naked woman being spat on by Hamas fighters, on Sunday marchers in Brighton listened to a speech where the "victory" of the Palestinians was applauded.
As the police increase patrols, those committing public order, criminal damage or hate crime offences must be rapidly arrested and prosecuted.
London’s status as a global city has ensured virtually every political exile movement has some degree of representation in the capital. That obviously includes Hamas.
The UK had long proscribed its terrorist wing, but only in November 2021 did Home Secretary Priti Patel ban its political wing.
However, this shift appears to have produced little in the way of obvious action from the police or security services towards Hamas supporters here.
Earlier this year, in a review of the counter-terrorist Prevent strategy, Sir William Shawcross criticised the Home Office’s Research Information and Communications Unit (RICU) for failing to produce an analysis of Hamas in this country.
Sir William added “The open support voiced in the UK for Hamas, including by those in senior political or community roles, is totally unacceptable.”
We need to hear from the Home Secretary what is being done to both assess Hamas’ membership and support networks in this country and to minimise their influence.
Three examples that make good Shawcross’ criticism follow. Back in 2004, Hamas released a suicide video showing two Britons, Asif Hanif and Omar Khan Sharif, whom the group used to conduct a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.
In 2017, Mohammed Sawalha, then a trustee of Finsbury Park Mosque, was part of a delegation of Hamas’s Political Bureau to
Russia.
In 2015, Mohammed Kozbar of Finsbury Park Mosque travelled to Gaza, where he was pictured at the grave of Hamas’s founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and met its leader, Ismail Haniyeh.
Today Kozbar is Deputy Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain.
This summer the MCB tweeted a picture of Mohammed Kozbar, with Matt Jukes, the national head of counter-terrorism policing and Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner, at the London Association of Muslim Police’s AGM at the Islamic Cultural Centre, Regent’s Park Mosque.
Whenever questions are asked about the police’s approach to "community relations", the response is often that senior police officers should have "operational independence" to decide how to address these issues.
"Operational Independence" however, cannot be used as a fig leaf to prevent appropriate democratic oversight.
Last month the Home Secretary announced a review of political activism and impartiality in the police, to be conducted by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). That will consider staff networks, including the National Association of Muslim Police and its local branches, although its deadline to report in March 2024 is too late and must be brought forward.
Above all, in light of Sir William Shawcross’s words and what we have seen from Hamas supporters on the streets, the Home Secretary should ask the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, to conduct an urgent review specifically of police engagement with community organisations.
This must consider whether existing engagement is fully consistent with the updated CONTEST and Prevent counter-terrorism strategies.
She needs to raise this topic at her regular meetings with Sir Mark Rowley and Matt Jukes.
If war is too important to be left to generals, aspects of policing are surely too important to be left to policemen and women, no matter how eminent they are.
Dr Paul Stott is Head of Security and Extremism at Policy Exchange
www.972mag.com
