UK only labeled Hamas as a terror organization because Hamas didn’t reconcile with Fatah, says PA daily

Excerpt of an op-ed by Fatah Syria Branch Secretary Aws Abu Ata

Headline: “Hamas and the Palestinian umbrella of legitimacy”

“Everyone knows how the Palestinian diplomatic system has made frantic and uncompromising efforts at the UN General Assembly, according to direct instructions from His Honor [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas, to prevent Hamas from being put on the list of terror organizations.

In the same period, many Palestinian voices have risen demanding that Hamas seize the moment and act seriously and sincerely to realize the Palestinian national reconciliation and implement the latest Cairo agreement, which was signed in 2017 [between Fatah and Hamas]. But Hamas attacked President Mahmoud Abbas and took a position against his historic  speeches at the UN. It continued and still continues to oppose the legal Palestinian government and the independent Palestinian national decision making…

We think that British Secretary [of State for the] Home [Department] Priti Patel’s decision [on Nov. 19, 2021] to define the Hamas Movement – including the political wing – as a terror organization is a biased decision that completely adopts the Israeli position and turns a blind eye at the Israeli crimes in the occupied territories. It will not contribute to the two-state solution or establishing peace in our region in any way…

In conclusion, the question remains: Would it not have been difficult for Britain or any other state to define all of Hamas as a terror organization if it had abandoned the goal of taking control of the PLO – the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian people, agreed to implement the PLO’s fundamentals in accordance which the agreements that it has signed since 2011, implemented the reconciliation agreement, and helped to advance the national interests instead of narrow partisan interests?”