\n<\/p>\n
The U.K. Foreign Office held a seminar where officials were instructed not to call Hamas \u201cterrorists,\u201d according to a report from the Jewish Chronicle<\/a>.<\/p>\n Martin Hetherington from the Foreign Office organized the event, titled, \u201cIsrael\/Gaza: What next for Hamas.\u201d Four academics led the seminar, with one suggesting there could be \u201cno future without Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n Calling Hamas a terrorist organization is an \u201cobstacle to peace,\u201d according to the speakers. One speaker noted that applying the \u201cterrorist label\u201d to Hamas is \u201cunhelpful.\u201d<\/p>\n Another lecturer, Dr. Tristan Dunning, suggested that Israel was a \u201cwhite, settler\u201d nation.<\/p>\n \u201cI know all about white, settler colonialism and stealing land from the native population,\u201d Dunning stated.<\/p>\n Following the seminar, a Foreign Office spokesperson said, \u201cThe UK Government\u2019s position is unequivocal that Hamas is a terrorist organisation. Many of the views expressed by the academics in the seminar were wrong and contrary to the government\u2019s position,\u201d adding, \u201cWe have a zero-tolerance approach to any form of discrimination, including antisemitism. We are reviewing guidance on internal seminars to ensure speakers invited are appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n Similarly, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said<\/a> that Hamas is a \u201cpolitical movement.\u201d<\/p>\n An anchor with Sky News asked, \u201cIn terms of Israel\u2019s plans to eliminate Hamas and have them never be part of any future negotiation when it comes to Gaza, do you think that\u2019s realistic?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s very difficult, and as you say, I\u2019ve worked with many, many, many different terrorist and insurgent groups,\u201d Griffiths responded. \u201cHamas is not a terrorist group for us, of course, as you know. It\u2019s a political movement.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\n