Hamas Could Gain Legitimacy in Australia

You couldn’t make this up, Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe’s uncle, Robbie Thorpe, has taken the Australian government to court, demanding that Hamas be stripped of its terrorist designation, calling the listing “unlawful.”

Hamas was formally designated a terrorist organization by the Coalition Government in 2021. This is the same group responsible for the atrocities of October 7, 2023, when 1,200 people were brutally murdered and 251 taken hostage, the deadliest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust. This is the same organization that seized Gaza in 2007, slaughtering leaders of the rival Fatah party, indoctrinating children in schools to aspire to carry out terrorist attacks again Israelis and become martyrs, and whose charter explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel.

Robbie Thorpe, like his niece Lidia, has a long record of extreme anti-Israel rhetoric. He has infamously declared, “All of Australia is the West Bank.” In a March 2024 interview, he said:

“If you have a look at the histories of Israel and Australia … we’re talking about occupied land and genocidal oppression and propaganda at the highest level… We have had three times as long a Nakba compared to Palestine. … All of Australia is the West Bank.”

He adds:

“This land is our land. We have never ceded our sovereign rights. … We will continue to protest until we get some resolution around who’s land this is.”

Robbie Thorpe repeatedly draws parallels between Australia’s colonization of Indigenous land and Israel’s control of Palestinian territories, framing both as systems of occupation. His rhetoric often veers into anti-Australian sentiment, portraying the nation as inherently oppressive and illegitimate.

The historical reality tells a very different story. Jewish ties to the land of Israel stretch back over 3,500 years. From the covenant of Abraham and Sarah to the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, archaeology confirms the unbroken presence of Jews through exile, destruction, and eventual return. The Romans attempted to erase Jewish identity by renaming Judea to “Syria Palaestina,” but the Jewish people persisted. Modern Palestinians, as a national identity, only emerged in 1964 under the leadership of Yasser Arafat, himself not originally Palestinian. Today, their movement carries the legacy of anti-Jewish ideology rather than historical sovereignty.

Senator Lidia Thorpe has consistently aligned herself with the Palestinian cause, often invoking slogans like “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” In a Senate speech in August 2023, she demanded that the Australian government:

“recognize sovereignty abroad and at home, recognize the sovereignty of the Palestinian people over all the land taken since 1967 and call for the Israeli government to end the illegal occupation.”

Her statements have been inconsistent, shifting between 1948 and 1967 as the starting point of alleged oppression. In November 2023, she wrote to Foreign Minister Penny Wong claiming:

“Israel has illegally occupied Palestinian territories for 75 years, and its ongoing oppression and attempted genocide of the Palestinian people is now culminating in the direct and deliberate killing of innocent civilians in the current war.”

Thorpe has also made provocative statements about Australia itself. At a Melbourne rally marking the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks, she said:

“So we stand with you every day … And we will turn up every day, and if I have to burn down Parliament House to make a point … I am not there to make friends. I am there to get justice for our people and I am there to free Palestine from the river to the sea.”

Though she later claimed these were metaphors, Thorpe has previously celebrated actual acts of protest against Australian institutions. On 21 December 2021, when a fire was lit at the entrance of Old Parliament House in Canberra, she retweeted a video and added:

“Seems like the colonial system is burning down. Happy New Year everyone.”

The tweet was widely condemned and subsequently deleted.

Together, Lidia and Robbie Thorpe embrace a radical ideology that conflates colonialism, occupation, and white privilege, often extending it to critique the Australian state itself. While Israel was established as a decolonized, sovereign state in 1948, following the UN Partition Plan of 1947, Arab leaders rejected the plan and repeatedly waged war to eliminate it. Meanwhile, the Jewish population of Israel is highly diverse, including communities expelled from countries such as Morocco, Yemen, Iran and Iraq in 1948, contradicting Thorpe’s simplistic narratives of “white” colonialism.

If Thorpe and her allies had actually visited Israel rather than calling for its destruction, they would see the reality on the ground: a thriving, diverse society where Jews, Arabs, and Indigenous Jews coexist, debate, and work together. Other Indigenous leaders, such as Warren Mundine and Nova Peris, have visited Israel and spoken positively about what they observed. Peris reflected that seeing Israel firsthand opened her eyes to the complexity of the situation, noting that “you can’t understand a country by only hearing about it from one side.” Unlike Thorpe, these leaders demonstrate that engagement and firsthand experience can lead to a more nuanced perspective, rather than reducing complex histories to slogans and rhetoric.

Imagine for a moment if the Supreme Court overturned the terrorist designation. We could have a Hamas political party in Australia with millions of supporters. Given enough influence, they could introduce Sharia law, stripping women of basic rights. Just look at Afghanistan under the Taliban. Released hostages have reported that Hamas told them that once they finish with Israel, they plan to target France and the UK. Australia would not be immune. It would be naïve to think otherwise. In simple terms, Shariah law and pronouns don’t work together at all. I am sure the 3,000 unvetted Gazans this current government allowed into Australia on ‘tourist’ visas would love the opportunity to democratically elect Hamas in Australia.

Given Hamas meets the widely recognized definition of a terrorist organization, responsible for mass killings, hostage-taking, and systematic indoctrination of violence, there is no legitimate reason to overturn its designation. Doing so would not only undermine Australia’s national security but also legitimize Hamas in public discourse, amplify antisemitic rhetoric, and embolden radical elements. This situation could have been mitigated if the Albanese government had taken a firm, principled stand against these demonstrations and shown moral leadership. Failing to do so signals tolerance for extremism and erodes Australia’s institutional credibility.

Australia, like Israel, must remain vigilant. Hamas is not a distant problem. Its ideology, tactics, and threats are global. Those who romanticize it, or dismiss it as merely a political grievance, risk bringing its extremism into the heart of Australian society. The court should reject this challenge, and Australia must reaffirm its commitment to protecting its citizens and democratic values against terrorist influence.