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Israel asks UK to ban Hamas, BDS

July 2, 2019 at 2:00 pm

UK home secretary Sajid Javid shakes hands with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu [Twitter]

Israel has asked the UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid to outlaw Hamas and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Channel 7 reported.

Sajid, who is in Israel at the moment, met with Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan yesterday in Tel Aviv before going on to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In 2001 the UK proscribed Hamas’ military wing, the Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, as a “terrorist organisation” however recognises its political arm as the body which governs the besieged Gaza Strip.

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During his two-day trip to Israel, Javid visited the Western Wall (Al-Buraq Wall) in occupied East Jerusalem and placed a note between its stones. He also made a “deeply moving and emotional” visit to the national Holocaust memorial and museum at Yad Vashem.

He also became the first UK cabinet minister to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.

He said: “Freedom of religion and belief is a non-negotiable right for all peoples, and the UK government is committed to tackling anti-Muslim hatred, anti-Semitism, the persecution of Christians and any other impediments to this right both in the UK and around the world.”

He also met with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and UN Middle East envoy Nicoklay Mladenov, when he reaffirmed that the UK “remains committed to making progress towards a two-state solution… with Jerusalem as a shared capital”.