Riverway Law sunk: Attempt to overturn Hamas proscription dismissed by Home Office

An attempt by Hamas to overturn its designation as a terrorist organisation in the UK has reportedly failed, with the Home Office believed to have dismissed a legal challenge claiming that proscription of the group breached the European Convention on Human Rights.

As reported by The Times, Hamas will now have the opportunity to appeal to the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission. Only a handful of organisations have ever successfully contested their proscription.

In April, Riverway Law, led by solicitor Fahad Ansari, brought the application attempting to legalise Hamas. The case was supported pro bono by Franck Magennis, a barrister at Garden Court Chambers. Later that month, following complaints by the Campaign Against Antisemitism and others into Ansari’s conduct, the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority opened a case into Riverway Law, which has since ceased trading. However, this week the firm announced it had relaunched itself as Riverway to the Sea – understood to be a reference to the “from the river to the sea” chant often used by pro-Palestinian protestors, and seen by many pro-Israelis as a call for Israel’s complete destruction. The relaunched firm, to be led by Ansari and Magennis, described itself as “dedicated to understanding and confronting the racist ideology of Zionism” through “strategic litigation”.

The Home Office said: “The government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under regular review. While we do not routinely comment on individual groups proscribed, we can confirm that Harakat al-Muqawamah (Hamas) is still listed as a proscribed organisation.”

Both Magennis and Ansari continue to make highly inflammatory statements relating to the current conflict. Last weekend Magennis was reported to have told a crowd at the Socialist Workers Party’s annual Marxism festival that “Zionism was dying…it looks like it is not long for the world, but that doesn’t mean that we can be complacent. We must assure that we kick it to death. It must not be allowed to survive this crisis.” Earlier this week, Ansari responded to reports of a number of IDF casualties by tweeting “the IDF took one hell of a beating last night. Zionist accounts crying, people of conscience celebrating.” In response to reports that 888 Israelis soldiers had fallen in battle since 7 October 2023, Ansari tweeted “888 reasons to be happy”.

Responding to news of the Home Office decision, the Campaign Against Antisemitism confirmed that “Hamas can now appeal to the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission. As we have said before, we will never allow Hamas to be de-proscribed in the UK, and will fight in court if necessary.”