Douglas Murray suggests Hamas supporters should be treated 'like ISIS supporters': 'You should be deported'
British author Douglas Murray told an audience in London, England, earlier this week — then reiterated in a related piece for the Spectator Thursday — that Western nations should tolerate neither violent rhetoric against Jews nor open declarations of support for Hamas, the terrorist organization that has in recent days massacred over 1,300 Israelis and at least 27 Americans.
While there are already laws on the books to deal with incitements to violence and support for terrorist organizations, Murray, the founder of the Center for Social Cohesion, thinks jail time is not enough. Instead, he has recommended that his country, home to at least 6.1 million non-citizens, exile for the guilty parties.
While Israel sees to its defense, Murray suggested that "what we can do here in Britain is to keep our own house in order. And our own house in Britain is in disarray. It is not acceptable. It should not be acceptable that the Jewish community among all the communities of this country, in this diverse country, should be the one community expected to accept with equanimity those who cheer on the murder of Jews and those who support the murder of Jews."
In the wake of the terror attacks waged by Hamas on Israel over the weekend, pro-Palestine protests cropped up across the Western world on the streets and online. In many cases, where pro-Palestinian calls for "resistance" went, anti-Semitic and pro-Hamas sentiments followed.
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters took part Sunday in a New York City rally organized by the Democratic Socialists of America, which saw the Israel flag burned, a swastika flashed, and signs raised that read "any means necessary" and "resistance is justified," reported the New York Post.
The Indianapolis Star indicated that Palestinian protestors chanted Thursday night, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."
This chant was also popular at the anti-Israel rally in Toronto, Ontario, following the Hamas terror attacks.
British Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who has encountered the same chant across the Atlantic, suggested it "should be understood as an expression of a violent desire to see Israel erased from the world," reported the Guardian.
Protesters on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in Australia reportedly chanted "gas the Jews."
London, where at least 22% of the population are non-citizens, was no exception.
In the Spectator, Murray noted, "Within hours of the slaughter, people in London were driving around flying Palestinian flags and blaring their horns in celebration of the massacre. In Manchester the president of the local 'Friends of Palestine,' Dana Abuqamar, told Sky News, 'We’re really full of joy, full of pride at what has happened.' At a Free Palestine rally in Brighton one speaker who claimed she was a Palestinian said: 'Yesterday was a victory.' She described the massacres in Israel as 'so beautiful and inspiring to see.'"
"These people were not protesting against the Israeli counter-measures. They hadn't even had any counter-measures. They were protesting because Jews by the hundreds had been slaughtered in Israel and they wanted to wound us more," Murray told the London crowd.
"If you stand in Britain with the Hamas flag, you should not be allowed to be free in Britain. You should have your citizenship withdrawn. You should have your passport withdrawn. You should be deported," continued Murray.
Britain, like the United States and Europe, has long recognized Hamas as a terrorist organization. Accordingly, those found supporting or inviting support to the group can be jailed under the Terrorism Act for up to 14 years.
Whereas flying the Palestinian flag remains lawful, flying the Hamas flag is a criminal offense in the U.K., as one 22-year-old woman discovered Sunday in Brighton, England, reported France24.
Braverman told chief police constables in a letter early this week that they should clamp down on flags, songs, and other efforts to intimidate members of the Jewish community. Just last month, she noted that "uncontrolled immigration, inadequate integration, and a misguided dogma of multiculturalism have proven a toxic combination" for the West.
"It is Britain that has harbored Iranian Revolutionaries, Hamas supporters and others for decades. It is Britain who in the name of liberal democracy and 'tolerance' have given these people rights they would never give us in return," Murray wrote. "It is Britain who have been played for fools. Hamas is a proscribed terror organisation in this country. Expressing support for Hamas is expressing support for a terrorist group — a crime in the UK."
The author doubled down on his previous comments, challenging the British prime minister and home secretary to "[t]reat these people as we did the supporters of ISIS. Take their passports, strip their citizenship, forcibly remove them from this country. Britain and the West writ large neither want nor need them. They can take their chances in Gaza. The 'peace rave' is over."
It is against international law for a government to render a person stateless, but the U.K. has on a number of occasions made do. For instance, it managed to give an ISIS terrorist with dual citizenship the boot, making him once again Canada's problem.
Douglas Murray: ‘Treat UK Hamas supporters like Isis supporters’youtu.be
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