On 19 December 2014, the London Al-Hiwar TV channel featured an episode of its Palestinian Panorama program that illustrates the key role played by the Global Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas in the EU court ruling which could conceivably lead to Hamas being removed from the EU list of terrorist organizations. The participants in the program discussed, among other things, the recent decision by the General Court of the European Union (EGC) to remove Hamas from the EU terror list. The guest in the studio was Khaled Al-Shouli, identified as a French lawyer of Palestinian descent and a member of the group of lawyers charged with presenting the Hamas case to the EU authorities. The following is a summary of Mr. Al-Shouli’s comments based on a GMBDW translation of the broadcast:
- In 2010, a group of lawyers which cooperates on various Palestinian issues was commissioned by Hamas’s politburo to attempt to remove the EU terrorism listing of Hamas’s political wing. The group was headed by the French attorney Liliane Glock, a specialist in criminal law from Nancy who previously led several successful cases related to Palestinian issues. In her most recent case, the Jewish umbrella organisation CRIF paid damages for defamation of the Comité de Bienfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens (CBSP) after publishing an article which claimed that the CBSP was raising funds for Hamas. Khaled Al-Shouli assisted Glock in Hamas’s EU terrorist designation case.
- Another member of the above group is Philippe Favre, described as Secretary-General of One Justice Organization, a top lawyer in the International Coalition for Trying Israeli War Criminals , and former chairman of the Belgian Human Rights League (LDHB). Other group members include the French attorney Gilles Devers, best known for filing a court case to the ICC against Israel concerning the 2008-2009 Gaza conflict, and and possibly Belgian Benoit Van Der Meerschen, current chair of the LDHB.
- Khaled Al-Shouli is encouraged by the fact that the legal system focuses on human and individual rights — especially the right of self-defense. Part of their current work is based on the principle of “lack of justice”. The lawyers are ready for a long-term legal battle in case Israel and the ‘Zionist lobby’ attempt to press individual charges or build broader files against Hamas; they have also prepared their own files on Israeli officials.
On 24 December 2014, the Palestinian news portal Dunya al-Watan reported that Hamas’s Gaza legislator Dr. Ahmad Bahr sent a letter to Liliane Glock and Khaled al-Shouli to thank them for the role they played in removing Hamas from the terror list and also thanked Khaled al-Shouli in a phone call. Hamas’s Legislative Council also sent explanatory memos regarding the decision to the European Parliament and the European Council. The Council urged both increasing the European judicial role in this regard and better implementation of European and international laws on human rights concerning Palestinian resistance [muqawama]groups which defend its people in accordance with humanitarian and human rights laws and UN decisions.
On 30 December 2014, an Islamist news source close to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood reported information further supporting the above account:
Politicians and lawyers have called for the adoption of a European Union court decision which removed Hamas from the terrorist black list.
In a meeting organised by the International Relation Council in Gaza, speakers called for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to adopt the decision, using it to support Palestinian interests.
The speakers also said that the three months left for the appeal against the decision should be used to double efforts across legal, political and public relations spheres in-order to make the courts withdrawal of the decision impossible.
French lawyer of Palestinian descent Khalid al-Sholi, who is following up the issue with Liliane Glock, the Palestinian Islamist group’s lawyer, stressed the importance of the dissemination of information in the Arab region in order to shed light on the significance of this decision.
Al-Sholi called on Hamas and other factions to review some of the political views voiced to mass media regarding Palestinian resistance.
Khaled Al Shouli is the long time leader of the Comité de Bienfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens (CBSP), the French member of the Union of Good, the Hamas fundraising organization headed by Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi. Mr Al-Shouli also heads the Association De Secours Palestinien, (ASP) the Swiss counterpart of the CBSP and also a member of the UOG. Mr. In addition, he is also known to have been the legal network coordinator of the Partners For Peace And Development For Palestinians (PPDP), a Palestinian NGO known to be tied to both Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Mr. Al-Shouli is also the head of the One Justice Organization, identified above and described in a 2009 Israeli report as follows:
One Justice Organization is an organization including a group of lawyers from 30 countries, including the United States, France and the Arab countries, with branches in Paris and Geneva. It operates to prosecute Israel, its government and military commanders for so-called “war crimes.” Its secretary general is Philippe Favre, one of the top lawyers in a group called the International Coalition to Try Israel for War Crimes. The organization’s website is under construction and its logo shows the scales of justice superimposed a column painted in the colors of the Palestinian flag. One of its lawyers in Geneva (Rida Ajami) is counsel for Hani Ramadan, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Switzerland.
In December 2014, the GMBDW reported that Hamas had won a court ruling that could conceivably lead to it being removed from the EU list of terrorist organizations. Additionally, former FBI analyst Mat Levitt has noted that Qatar may have played a role in the Hamas appeal. According to his report, a document on the EU website identifies Qatar in a section entitled “Procedural Analysis Information.”
For the EU court ruling, go here.
For an analysis of the court ruling, go here.
For a profile of Hamas, go here.
