Until now Britain only banned Hamas' military arm, the Al Qassam Brigades. Now the ban will include Hamas as a whole. Obviously the rationale presented below is IRRELEVANT to such a decision. Let's see what the full rationale is in the next few days...
But for now, some context:
- Israel just listed 6 Palestinian HR Orgs as terrorists w/out ANY evidence
- The terrorism of settlers (often w/ protection & backing from Israeli forces) has been increasingly documented (eg by Btselem)
ie: the term "terrorism" is a propaganda weapon
- in 2018 @ronenbergman revealed @IDF officers ran terrorist group that used car bombs & killed 100s civilians in Lebanon in 80s. Reaction in West? NO call for investigations. NOT EVEN call for Israel to DENOUNCE & CONDEMN these past activities. Rather, reaction has been SILENCE
For much more on the hypocrisy of Britain's decision here, see:
I ask US journos AGAIN: What exactly here (@ronenbergman revealed in 2018 that Israeli officers conducted secret terrorist car bombing campaign that killed 100s of civilians, it was covered up by act of censorship & this story may still b censored in ISR today) is NOT newsworthy?
In 1980s @tomfriedman covered several car bombings claimed by the FLLF on @nytimes 's front page. Bergman (his NYT colleague) revealed FLLF was CREATED & RUN by Israeli officers! Nearly 4 years later Tom has still not written a WORD about these revelations
In 1981 2 Israeli journalists for @YediotAhronot were about to reveal the truth about this secret terrorist operation conducted by Eitan, Dagan, Ben-Gal & others. The Israeli military censor killed that story (& the car bombs kept killing & maiming):
Patel's decision to list Hamas as a whole as a terrorist org is based on logic that its military & political wings are intertwined
Below is story of a terrorist car bombing campaign implemented by IDF & proxies under direction of Ariel Sharon, who was Israel's Defense Minister
According to Patel's logic (& logic applied by US & EU) not only should the whole @IDF (the "military wing") have been designated a "terrorist organization" but the entire Israeli government (the "political wing") should have been designated as such.
In real world, in 1981 Israeli military censor killed a story by 2 Israeli journalists that would have revealed the existence of this secret terrorist operation. And, since the whole thing was revealed in 2018, the US media has remained SILENT about it:
Context on how "terrorism" discourse is PURE IDEOLOGY: in 2018 @ronenbergman revealed that senior @IDF officers created & ran #terrorist group that killed 100s of civilians in Lebanon in 1980s. This has been greeted w/ TOTAL media silence & ZERO answer from the Israeli government
In 1981 the Israeli military censor (how often do we hear, in US, about existence of that censorship system?) killed story by 2 @YediotAhronot journalists that would have revealed the whole thing. And still, ONLY Palestinians are ever called "terrorists"
In his book, @ronenbergman describes IN DETAIL how Ariel Sharon played a DIRECT role in a 2-week car bombing campaign that killed at least 200 civilians in Sept-Oct 1981! Somehow THIS has been deemed NOT newsworthy by US media:
I wish Ronen Bergman would finally decide to talk or write about these revelations (from his own book!) & I truly wonder what would happen if he did: Would he get "canceled"? Or would other journalists suddenly feel they had cover & could "safely" write about Israeli terrorism?
For ex: Would Tom Friedman, who covered several car bombings in the 1980s (when he got his Pulitzer!) that Bergman revealed in 2018 were covertly conducted by Israel suddenly find these revelations newsworthy/ suddenly find the courage to write about this?
I did a Thread about whether censorship & self-censorship may explain absolute silence of US media about these revelations. I am starting to think that no US media outlet will dare touch this topic UNTIL Bergman himself decides to write / talk about it ...
10/01/1981: 40 years ago TODAY: Massive car bomb explodes in front of PLO offices in Beirut. 83 are killed. The street is mangled with body parts. Other bombs are defused. A mysterious group called the Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners claims responsibility 1/
This is just the latest in series of extraordinarily deadly car bombings that started 2 weeks earlier. Hundreds of Palestinian & Lebanese civilians are killed. At the time, it is the deadliest car bombing campaign in history. All are claimed by that mysterious group, the FLLF 2/
At the time, Palestinians & many Lebanese people insist that Israel is behind FLLF, that it is a fictitious group created by Israel to hide its role in this #terrorist campaign. Media often report these accusations. Israel insists this is a form fo "Arab on Arab" violence 3/
40 years ago today. Sept 29, 1981. The Washington Post: "Another Car Bomb Explosion in Lebanon Kills 15." It is the latest explosion in a deadly terrorist campaign that started 2 weeks earlier. A mysterious group, the FLLF, has being claiming responsibility for these attacks 1/
In 1980, the FLLF claimed responsibility for an assassination attempt vs the US Ambassador in Lebanon. Palestinians and others in Lebanon insist that the FLLF is merely a cover for Israeli agents acting covertly. Western intelligence sources aren't sure. 2/
In 2018, Ronen Bergman (journo for @nytimes & @YediotAhronot ) confirmed that the Palestinians had been right all along: senior IDF officers did indeed create & run the FLLF. Since 2018 US media has remained completely SILENT about these revelations: