Hamas are not terrorists, EU Court said

It is ok to support the resistance!

The US president calls Hamas terrorists, and agrees with Netanyahu that they must be defeated. That is powertalk that will lead to thousands more Palestinian children losing their limbs or their lives. For this genocide to end, we need to support the legal resistance against the illegal occupier. The EU Court declared in 2014 that there is no reason for the EU terror-listing of Hamas - other than the fact that the USA and England had done so.

Things are going from very bad to worse in Palestine. It can turn really crazy if Israel moves forward on the threat of demolishing the most sacred places for Palestinians and all the Muslims – the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Here the Dome. (Photo: Marianne Bergvall).

We who are desperate for Israels’ slaughter to end, must step up our game. It’s not enough to call for ceasefire and free Palestine. We must do more to get there. It’s time to defend the resistance in the public debate. The EU Court Second Chamber has ruled that Hamas are not terrorists – not even their armed branch.

It’s Israel that has been terrorizing Palestinians - for more than seventy years.

The US and a line of Western countries are supplying Israel with the arsenal they need to carry out their massacres on thousands of children. The only way to a normal world is for voters in the West to demand decency from our politicians. We need to grow in numbers. For that to happen, we need to reject the propaganda that defines the Palestinian armed resistance as terrorism. The perception of Palestinians in general and Hamas in particular as evil terrorists bent on Israels’ destruction is deeply rooted in the Western society. But that is because we have been lied to for decades. 

The Green Line is the internationally recognized border between Israel and Palestine. Israel started building the «Security wall» in 2000 – on the pretense of protecting Israelis against Palestinian resistance. Instead of building it on the Green Line, they built it inside Palestine. (Symbols: Green is the Green Line, Red is the wall, built and planned). Map: Stop the wall.org and Israels’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The biggest obstacle

Both the Democrats and the Republicans view Hamas as a terrorist organization, that needs to be wiped out before there can be any peace.

Since that is both wrong and impossible, those words mean that both parties want an eternal war. It will mean endless more suffering for the Palestinians. How it will end for Israel, we cannot foresee, but it will not be as a celebrated conqueror.

Twenty years ago, I interviewed the former Prime Minister of Norway, Kaare Willoch, about the Israel-Palestine conflict. He was an expert on the Middle East, and a strong supporter of the Palestinians’ right to their own sovereign state. In 2004 it was Netanyahu’s twin-soul Ariel Sharon who was Prime Minister – and eager for the destruction of Palestine. Willoch gave a clear warning:

"The US are supporting Ariel Sharon's plan to annex large parts of the West Bank. With sleepwalking determination, the US are pushing Israel towards the cliff. Peace can never come from this. Israel must end the occupation of Palestine, or it could mean the end of the state of Israel».

So what can we do?

Kaare Willoch was a conservative politician, not at all a leftie in any way. But he had a clear sense of justice and knew right from wrong. His first trip to the West Bank was in 1977. What he saw there of Israels’ brutal occupation and the colonization, shocked him to the core. He was never again in any doubt of what was happening.

His words are even more today a beacon of light. He was an outspoken defender of the resistance:

"Israel has robbed Palestinian land and built settlements for years, in flagrant opposition to international law. The Palestinians are conducting a struggle of resistance that is their absolute right as an occupied people. And no-one can demand of the Palestinians that they should contribute to peace by giving up the resistance".

Many people today think that peace will come if only Hamas would lay down their arms. That is a huge misunderstanding of the realities, and would only mean the end of Palestine.

"Those who demand that the Palestinians should give up their fight, must point exactly to how they otherwise should reach their goal of a free and sovereign state. Those who want victory over terror without addressing the reasons for it, want a war with no end".

Willoch meant that the occupying power has no right to defend itself by attacking the occupied:

"The fact that the Palestinians are resisting the occupation, cannot be used as an excuse to continue it".

And he was disgusted by Israel’s attempts at stealing the Palestinians’ land:

 «And now the Israelis think that they should be rewarded for their war crimes by winning more of the occupied land. It is so crude that no civilized people can ever accept it".

Hamas vital for a just peace

Many influential people have said over years that there can be no peace without Hamas, like president Jimmy Carter said about Israels’ war on Gaza in 2014.

Henry Siegman, Executive Director of the American Jewish Congress from 1978-1994, was another. For years he made his point that there could be no just and lasting peace without Hamas – and that the US policy towards Hamas was blocking peace in the Middle East.

The Israel-Palestine conflict has been called “the mother of all conflicts”, since it’s the most unfair fight in history. Israeli propaganda has turned realities upside down, subjecting the Palestinians to a brutal oppression, while portraying them as the aggressor. The rockets fired into Israel by the resistance, has mainly had a symbolic effect. From 2004 to 2014, rockets from Gaza killed a total of 27 Israeli civilians. In the same period, Israel killed and maimed thousands of Gazans. Nevertheless, Israel has used this as an excuse to brutally attack Gaza over and over again.

Israel has demonized Hamas for one reason: the group will never accept Israeli occupation, and will resist until it’s over. With that position, Hamas is the one factor that stands in the way of Israel’s illegal territorial goals. For decades Israel has successfully covered up the truth, by claiming that Hamas wants to destroy the state of Israel, out of bloodlust and hate against Jews. That narrative has become a universal truth in the West. And as long as that is the general idea, people will indifferently or regretfully accept that Israel needs to bomb Gaza to pieces, to secure their own existence.

It is of the utmost importance for the genocide to end that we counter this prevailing opinion. Hamas is a broad organization with different branches, and part of it is surely no Sunday school. But we should bear in mind that there is a brutal war going on. Hamas are defending Palestine against a foe who is acting on the goal to exterminate them, and take over all of the Palestinian land. Israel wages a genocidal war unconstrained by any moral whatsoever, as they apparently don’t have any.

The information war

Rumor has it that IDF has 300 Public Relations-people – of world class, of course. Netanyahu and his crowd has plenty, as have the military. Sheryl Sandberg who presented Israel’s lies about the October 7 rapes to the UN, is the one that brought Facebook from millions to billions. Her lies on Israels’ huge paycheck have been debunked by everybody who counts.

Add to that the US set of spin doctors, and the largest US news media. They print everything they are given without question – and forward to the rest of the West, who do the same. The difference in Israel’s and Hamas’ ability to influence world opinion equals their inequality in the battle. Willoch said 20 years ago that the fight was like the elephant and the mouse, and to this day, nothing has changed:

"It's a gigantic misunderstanding that this is a war between two equal parties. The losses and damages on the Palestinian side are overwhelmingly larger than on the Israeli side. It is completely meaningless to accept that an occupying power attacks a civilian population with tanks, bombs and war-helicopters, and then call the resistance terrorism". 

The legal resistance

Resistance against illegal occupation is a right of the occupied people – including armed struggle. The United Nations has made that clear on many occasions, like in resoution 38/17 in 1983.

Hamas and other resistance groups in Palestine still has a bad reputation from acts of suicide bombs against Israelis in the early years, before they became a political party and later declared that they had totally ended those operations as a means of resistance.

The United Nations goes very far – not in accepting, but in understanding, how even the most extreme means can be used by the oppressed people, like resorting to suicide attacks, or a substantial one-time attack, like October 7. In 1985, in session 40/61, the UN were discussing the reasons for terrorism. There the UN put the blame for the downtroddens’ most extreme measures exactly where it belongs, on the illegal oppressor.

Not terrorists, EU Court finds

In 2010 the Hamas by then leader Khaled Mishal raised a case against the European Union to be taken off the EU terror-list, which they had been on since 2003. The EU General Court Second Chamber spent four years investigating the case. The verdict has 147 paragraphs, and concludes that Hamas, including their military branch, are not terrorists. There was no doubt that they had committed acts of terrorism, and they admitted as much for the court. But the Court stated that the EU had not presented any evidence that Hamas as such were terrorists.

Not only that – the Court writes that the EU has not offered any proof based on their own investigations – they have submitted clips from press and internet. The Court concludes that there is no reason for the EU’s terror-listing of Hamas in 2003 – other than the fact that the USA and England had done so.

Daud Abdullah, the editor of Middle East Monitor, writes in the book «The making of Hamas’ foreign policy» that the victory in the EU-Court was short-lived. The EU Council appealed, and the highest EU Court overruled the verdict in a second. They gave no explanation, probably because there were none - at least none that is fit for writing down and making public. The highest EU Court went along with the leading politicians who are now supporting genocide by supplying Israel with bombs. They don’t explain too much of their decisions either.

The suicide attack era

In 2006 Hamas’ political party won the first election in Palestine. Before they evolved into a political party, they were not mainly a resistance group. Their most important raison d’être from the start, was to be of service to society in Gaza. This is one reason why a majority of Palestinians have trusted them – and still do. But from 1988, Hamas also joined in the throwing of stones against Israeli tanks.

From 1989, four different groups in Palestine carried out suicide attacks in Israel. They got a lot of attention mediawise, but the numbers of civilian deaths were very limited, compared to Palestinians killed by Israel. And by November 1998, it was over. There was still sporadic resistance, but there were no suicide bombs – or martyr operations, as the resistance called it.

In the year 2000, September 28, the then Defense Minister Ariel Sharon entered the Palestinians’ most holy ground in East Jerusalem: the mound of the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock – the one with the golden top. This area is sacred for all Muslims.

The Al Aqsa Mosque is the building in front – the third most holy place for all Muslims. Further behind is the Dome of the Rock – a world famous landmark. The Israeli government is now threatening to tear down these holy places and build a synagogue in their place.

Sharon entered with a thousand heavy armed guards, and the only reason was to provoke. It worked. The popular uprising began immediately, mainly consisting of throwing stones. The resistance groups resumed their armed struggle. They still had no advanced equipment, like the home-made rockets that came later. A series of suicide attacks started in November 2000. Over the next six months 14 Israelis were killed in 14 attacks. It did nothing good for the Palestinians, as the outcome was instead devastating: Sharon became Prime Minister the next year, and started building the Separation Wall inside the West Bank – on the disguise of needing to protect the Israelis from terrorists entering Israel.

In 2004, Kaare Willoch said:

“If the Israelis wanted peace and secure borders, they could have built the wall on the Green Line – which is the internationally recognized border between Israel and Palestine. They would have had the support of the whole world for it”.

Israel could have pulled out their forces from the occupied territories, and there would have been peace in the Middle East. The Palestinians would have a state, consisting of Gaza and The West Bank, with East Jerusalem as their capital.

But Israel never wanted peace. So, Sharon built the wall inside the Palestinian territory. This is classic neighbor dispute: if a property owner wants to build a fence between himself and his neighbor, that is his right. He may have free-ranging hens and wants to protect them from in-walking foxes. But he has no right to build a fence in the middle of his neighbor’s garden. If he did that, everybody would side with the neighbor – including the courts.

The International Court of Justice ruled in 2004 that the Wall was illegal and should be dismantled. To no avail, since the US supports Israels illegal actions at every turn.

The Israeli Separation Wall cuts through Palestinian territory, crisscrossing through the landscape. When the occupation is over, people will come from all over the world to tear down the wall. (Photo: Marianne Bergvall).

Resolution 242 solves it all

The Resolution 242 called for a just and thereby lasting peace. For that to happen, Kaare Willoch said there should be no negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Those who insist that a solution must be achieved through negotiations, are siding with the strong party:

"It is out of the question that the Palestinians can achieve a just peace if the borders are to be determined by negotiations. This is a conflict between two of the world’s most powerful military nations on one side, and a destitute people who has been robbed of everything on the other. With 242 the UN has decided how this conflict is to be solved. The borders of 1967 are very fortunate for Israel, compared to 1947. To interpret 242 to mean that Israel can have even more, is to provoke all those who feel that Israel has already gotten too much".

Palestinian land loss: The UN divided the Palestinian territory in 1947 ca. 50-50 for an Israeli and a Palestinian state. After the war in 1949, Israel ended up with 78% of the Palestinian land. In 1967 Israel occupied all the Palestinian territories, and has stated clearly that they want it all. As long as that is their intent, there will be resistance, and rightly so.

Willoch pointed to the Arab peace initiative of 2002, where all the Arab countries offered peace and relations with Israel, in return for Israel withdrawing from the occupied territories. Even Iran signed on to the deal in 2003. Willoch was convinced that the Arab neighbors would never let Palestine down:

"Israel and the US now think that 22 Arab nations will condone an obvious war crime, just because it's been going on for so long. It is completely unrealistic, and it will never happen".

With the Abraham Accords, several Arab nations have entered into relations with Israel – without demanding any end to the occupation. That is deeply disappointing for the Palestinians, and for all who support them.

Now the Israeli government has declared that they intend to demolish the Palestinians holiest places in East Jerusalem, and build a synagogue there instead. The Norwegian Foreign Minister has warned Israel against this provocation to all Muslims. A settler group has posted an AI-video on X where the Dome of the Rock is engulfed in flames.

Kaare Willoch concluded with a stern warning. He said:

“The people who call themselves friends of Israel, should be concerned about how Israel is exposing the Jews all over the world to hatred from millions of people. There may come a time when not even the support of the USA can keep Israel safe”.

Israel is provoking the Palestinians to no end, and the resistance groups’ restraint is beyond comprehension. Every day Palestinian civilians help in the search for parts of children in the rubble. Every day children lose their arms and legs – and their lives. Are the Israelis hoping for the resistance to lose control of all feelings and blow up a bus in Tel Aviv? If the world got to see Israelis picking up pieces of their children in plastic bags, that could move support back in Israels’ corner. Since October 7 the Palestinians have had to pick up hands and feet and heads on a daily basis. But just one suicide attack killing Israelis could be devastating for the hope of a future Palestinian state. That may very well be the reason for the extreme provocations that the daily bombardments create.

It can also be that the Israelis are intent on provoking the whole Muslim world, by blowing up one of their most symbolic and sacred mosques. That would finally get them the regional war they want. Whatever their insane reasons may be - how to stop this madness, when none of our politicians will?

It has to be the voters in the West that changes everything for the better. We can start by stating that the goal of defeating Hamas is a recipe for endless murder, and demand decency of our politicians. It has to be us.

“Make love not wall”. “Hi World! I’m a suicide-wall, all out of bombs - Bomb me!” Miles and miles of creative grafitti on the Separation wall, also called the Apartheid wall. (Photo: Marianne Bergvall).

“The USA is pushing Israel towards the abyss” was the title of the interview with Kaare Willoch. Bergens Tidende, May 7 2004.

Read also: Israel’s wars are mentally deranged. Israel is re-enacting every atrocity that Hitler did to the Jews during World War II. Without the world stopping Israel, they will push on to the final solution: the extermination of their chosen victim. In the process, Netanyahu buys weapons from notorious holocaust-profiteering companies.

Read also: Israel has no reason to defend itself Hamas has accepted the two-state solution as far back as 1988. All the Arab and Muslim nations have offered peace, trade and recognition when Israel ends the occupation - since 2002. Iran joined in 2003. The whole world wants peace in the Middle East - except for Israel and the US.