(Feb. 6, 2012 - Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territory - Members of Al-Qassam Brigades take part in a funeral for Hamas fighter in Gaza City, on Feb, 06. 2012. Photo by Mohammed Asad, Alamy)
On 7th October, fighters of Palestinian organisation Hamas conducted a terrorist attack from Gaza against Israel and killed over 1,200 people. Despite the clear political violence of Hamas, many people have declined to label the attack “terrorism” or Hamas a “terrorist” group.
The BBC has not described the attacks by Hamas as “terrorism” and not described the group as “terrorists”. BBC editorial guidelines state that:
Terrorism is a difficult and emotive subject with significant political overtones and care is required in the use of language that carries value judgements. We should not use the term ‘terrorist’ without attribution.
The word ‘terrorist’ itself can be a barrier rather than an aid to understanding. We should convey to our audience the full consequences of the act by describing what happened. We should use words which specifically describe the perpetrator such as ‘bomber’, ‘attacker’, ‘gunman’, ‘kidnapper’, ‘insurgent’ and ‘militant’.
A BBC spokesman said that “Anyone watching or listening to our coverage will hear the word 'terrorist' used many times - we attribute it to those who are using it, for example, the UK Government.” Veteran BBC foreign correspondent John Simpson said on X (Twitter) that "Calling someone a terrorist means you're taking sides and ceasing to treat the situation with due impartiality. The BBC's job is to place the facts before its audience and let them decide what they think, honestly and without ranting."
The approach taken by the BBC of refusing to label the Hamas attack as “terrorism” has led to significant criticism, notably by UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps who has said that "They [Hamas] are not freedom fighters, they are not militants, they are pure and simple terrorists and it's remarkable to go to the BBC website and still see them talking about gunmen and militants and not calling them terrorists.”
“Terrorism” has always been difficult to define and there is no single widely accepted definition. However, terrorism is widely accepted as violent acts that are against the law, and hence it is also criminal. Terrorism can, and has been, defined.
Defining Terrorism
Terrorism evokes emotive responses because of the harm done to people and the polarising nature of the related political divisions. There is not a ‘correct’ definition of terrorism and there is also no ‘wrong’ definition, but there are definitions that have a degree of acceptance. Terrorism is form of political violence, and as has been pointed out by other writers violence may occur without terror, but not terror without violence.
Terrorism is fundamentally a criminal activity and so a working definition is necessary in order to prosecute individuals who carry out terrorist acts. If terrorists were not subject to criminal prosecutions, then states risk pursuing them using methods of violence that have historically been intended for use against other states (for instance war).
States claim a monopoly on violence, whether against other states, the citizens of other states, or against their citizens of their own state, and terrorism is hence considered by states as an illegitimate form of violence. Because of this, violence by Hamas is considered as terrorism but violence by the Israeli military is not as long as it is conducted within certain legal boundaries.
A definition of ‘terrorism’ is hampered by the difficulty, or to some people impossibility, of reaching a broad consensus. Acts of terrorism are emotive and rooted in political aims, which ensures that there are differences of interpretation. ‘Terrorism’ is subject to numerous definitions, including in many criminal laws, but no single universally accepted one.
There is a well-established and strong basis in research of terrorism that has led to numerous useful definitions. Terrorism research at the Centre for Study of Terrorism & Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews involves a structured systematic approach, is fact based, and results in output that contributes to understanding and solving the problem of terrorism. The late Paul Wilkinson, founder of the Centre for Study of Terrorism & Political Violence, wrote that “Terrorism is the systematic use of coercive intimidation, usually to service political ends.”
A too simplistic lens to assess violence as possible terrorism is to consider acts in relation to the cause. This is usually expressed as “one man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter”. This slogan is not helpful as a freedom fighter can commit violent acts that are terrorism, and a terrorist can also be a freedom fighter.
For instance, the Jewish group Irgun conducted violent operations against British police and military forces as well as against Arabs in Palestine during the British Mandate period in the 1930s to 1940s. Irgun used terrorism for specific political objectives. The leaders of Irgun believed that only the use of brutal terrorist tactics could end British rule in Palestine and also defeat and prevent Arab violence against Jews. Terrorist attacks by Irgun were planned, well executed, and ultimately successful in achieving the objectives of the leadership. The outcome of the Irgun terrorist campaign was not only the departure of British forces from Palestine but also the defeat of Palestinian Arabs and the establishment of Jewish authority. The terrorist concepts developed by Menachin Begin, leader of the Irgun during the height of the group’s activity, may also have influenced future military and intelligence theory regarding the proactive use of force to deter aggression against Israel. To many Jewish organisations and people, Irgun was a militia, an underground movement, and a resistance group fighting for a Jewish homeland, but the violence of Irgun was clearly terrorism.
Hamas – A charity, religious group, government, political party…and terrorists
Hamas is a complex and multi-faceted organization. Hamas, an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (“Islamic Resistance Movement”), was founded by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a Palestinian cleric who was active in the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. After the first Intifada Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, Yassin formed Hamas in 1987 as a political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza.
Hamas is essentially a religious organisation, and its outlook is grounded in Islam. This is in contrast to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), which is essentially a secular organisation dedicated to securing an independent Palestinian homeland. The 1988 ‘Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement’ published by Hamas illustrates key principles of the organisation that underline its attachment to violence.
The Introduction states that “Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious.” Article Seven states that “The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the links in the chain of the struggle against the Zionist invaders”, and quotes the Prophet saying "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews."
Article Fifteen is titled “The Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine is an Individual Duty” and states that “In face of the Jews' usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised.”
Article Twenty Eight states that “Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people. "May the cowards never sleep."
Hamas published a slicker “Document of General Principles & Policies” in 2017, which states that “The establishment of “Israel” is entirely illegal and contravenes the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people…There shall be no recognition of the legitimacy of the Zionist entity.”
In 2019, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a video of Fathi Hamad, who was the Hamas minister of interior and national security in Gaza from 2009 to 2014, openly calling for the mass-murder of Jews through suicide bombings. Hamad reportedly says in a translation of his speech on the video recording that “We must attack every Jew on the face of the earth, to slaughter and kill them, with the help of Allah.” He goes on to say that “Our men are ready to breach the fence [between Gaza and Israel]” and that “We were born here, in Gaza, to put an end to the Zionist entity.” There are many other similar publicly available video recordings of senior Hamas leaders calling for attacks against Jews and the state of Israel.
It is clear from the Hamas documents as well as the myriad of public comments from Hamas leaders that they are not only antisemitic but also have the objective to end the state of Israel using violence. This leads to politically (and religious) inspired violence by Hamas, which is terrorism.
The notable tactics of Hamas terror attacks are rockets fired from Gaza (from civilian areas) into Israel and also suicide bomb attacks. The Jewish Virtual Library lists over 140 terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas from 1999 to 2023, leading thousands and Israelis killed or wounded. The attacks included rockets fired from Gaza, suicide bombs, car bombs, mortars, grenade attacks, and shootings. The list is a record of the systematic and sustained violence conducted by Hamas against Israel and Jews with the aim of creating terror.
The U.S., the U.K., the European Union, Canada and many other countries have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. The US Government has classified Hamas as a “Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization” since 1997. The UK Government states that “Its main aims are to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation, the establishment of an Islamic state under Sharia law and the destruction of Israel (although Hamas no longer demands the destruction of Israel in its Covenant)…Hamas IDQ was proscribed by the UK in March 2001. At the time it was HM government’s assessment that there was a sufficient distinction between the so called political and military wings of Hamas, such that they should be treated as different organisations, and that only the military wing was concerned in terrorism. The government now assess that the approach of distinguishing between the various parts of Hamas is artificial. Hamas is a complex but single terrorist organisation.”
* * *
The attack on Israel in October 2023 could be a ‘9/11 moment’ for Hamas. The attacks are not similar at all, but the aims are. In 2001, Osama Bin Laden and Aymen Al Zawahiri of Al Qaeda planned the 9/11 attacks to provoke the USA into a military conflict in a Muslim country which would be a driver for support from Muslims around the world. Similarly, Hamas has conducted a terrorist attack on Israel of such scale and horror with the aim of provoking the Israeli government into highly destructive revenge attacks in Gaza and in doing so reinvigorate wider Arab Muslim as well as international support for the Palestinian cause. Both of these attacks aim to cause terror.
Hamas may well be a local government, a Palestinian self-help organization, an Islamic group, and a political party, but its leaders espouse terrorism and its members conduct terrorist attacks. We should be clear to call Hamas a terrorist organization and its members terrorists.