“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”  (Isaiah 5:20)

Last Wednesday, the General Court of the European Union, the EU’s second highest court, ruled on a technicality that it is illegal to keep Hamas on a list of terrorist organizations.

The Court argued that the original decision that ruled Hamas is a terrorist organization was not based on the opinion of competent authorities, but on Internet and media reports.  

A statement released in conjunction with the decision says in part, “The court stresses that those annulments, on fundamental procedural grounds, do not imply any substantive assessment of the question of the classification of Hamas as a terrorist group.”

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini tried to reassure the Jewish community, saying that the international organization upholds the “Quartet principles,” that bans engagement with Hamas until it renounces terrorism.
Mogherini heads the EU External Action Service, from which she issued the following statement:

“This legal ruling is clearly based on procedural grounds and it does not imply any assessment by the Court of the substantive reasons for the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization.  It is a legal ruling of a court, not a political decision taken by the EU governments.”  (JPost)

Speaking at a Hanukkah reception given by the European Commission in Brussels, Mogherini said that there is need to fight anti-Semitism and that the world needs to learn from the Maccabees.

Two hanukkiahs glow in the darkness.

At the reception, she expressed her concern to Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the Director General of the European Jewish Association that the Court’s decision could damage the Jewish community.  The rabbi said that Mogherini assured him that the EU would appeal the court’s decision and make sure that Hamas remain on the list.  (Times of Israel)

“The burden of proof is on the EU and we expect them to immediately return Hamas to the list where everyone realizes they should be,” Netanyahu responded from Jerusalem.  “Hamas is a murderous terrorist organization whose charter says that its aim is to destroy Israel.”

He added, “It seems that too many in Europe, on whose soil six million Jews were slaughtered, have learned nothing.  But we in Israel, we’ve learned.  We’ll continue to defend our people and our state against the forces of terror and tyranny and hypocrisy.”

The Court has allowed a three-month period of appeals before officially legitimizing Hamas and unfreezing its assets in the EU.