British members of parliament and United Kingdom Jewish organizations have criticized and in some cases, called for the disbarment of the attorneys who, on Wednesday, at the behest of Hamas, applied to remove the Palestinian group from the country's list of proscribed terrorist organizations.
Conservative shadow justice secretary and Newark MP Robert Jenrick said on social media on Sunday that he had reported Riverway law attorney Fahad Ansari for his support of Hamas and jihad, in addition to the firm's potential breach of sanctions regulations. He noted that Ansari had been reported to counter-terrorism police on six occasions.
"They need to investigate urgently and strike them off if in breach. The legal profession is being damaged by ideologues exploiting their status to platform extremism." Jenrick said on X. "This isn’t about free speech. It’s about a man who repeatedly crosses the line into open support for terrorism – all while the authorities look away."
'Public sympathy for terrorists'
Jenrick noted past comments by Ansari that indicated the attorney's "public sympathy for terrorists, from Hamas to the Taliban," including a 2024 social media post in which Ansari described Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin as a "symbol for Palestinian resistance and for Islamic movements around the world."
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin became and remains a symbol for Palestinian resistance and for Islamic movements around the world. Despite his being an orphan, a refugee, a paraplegic, and a torture survivor, he demonstrated through his determination and resilience how anyone with strong… pic.twitter.com/0OrtiaJlfp
— Fahad Ansari (Stop the Gaza genocide) (@fahadansari) March 22, 2024
"His legacy lives on in the Palestinian resistance today, which is by no means limited to Hamas," the attorney said last March.
In another social media post shared by Jenrick, Ansari said on March 24 that "The time for peaceful means of protest ended a long time ago" and that "Only violent armed resistance to Israel’s genocide can save the Palestinians from extermination."
Life has lost all meaning. Only violent armed resistance to Israel’s genocide can save the Palestinians from extermination. Every single individual with a conscience should be courageous enough to call for this. The time for peaceful means of protest ended a long time ago. Israel…
— Fahad Ansari (Stop the Gaza genocide) (@fahadansari) March 24, 2025
Riverway Law responded to Jenrick on Sunday, suggesting that his position on the matter was informed by racism and his support for Israel. The firm retorted that it was utilizing a pathway for deproscription, and as an attorney and shadow justice secretary he should respect due process. The firm further implied on X that Jenrick had likely not read the filing to the Home Office, and didn't address any of the arguments.
In response to Jenrick's suggestions that the firm may have violated sanctions regulations, Riverway Law said that its team and witnesses had not received any payment "reflecting a collective desire to find a way forward out of the darkness we are all witnessing."
"Mr. Jenrick has suggested that by both bringing this application on behalf of Hamas, and doing so in a public manner, we have brought the reputation of the profession into disrepute. On the contrary, the feedback that we have received from people both within the UK and overseas, suggests that the reputation of the legal profession was in tatters with most members of the professions being viewed as remaining silent about the genocide or supportive of it," said Riverway Law. "This application has helped to improve its reputation for those seeking an end to the slaughter recognizing the importance of sitting around a table with those you do not like."
Conservative Party Shadow Foreign Secretary and Witham MP Priti Patel responded to the Wednesday application by decrying Hamas as an "evil Iranian-backed terrorist organization" that had also murdered British nationals.
"They pose an ongoing threat to our security and to the peace and stability of the Middle East and have weapons and training facilities that put lives at risk and threaten our interests," Patel said in a Wednesday statement. "Those campaigning to end the proscription of Hamas fail to understand the seriousness of the threats this terrorist organization pose."
Riverway Law dismissed Patel as the former home secretary that had banned the political wing of Hamas in 2021, and questioned her "political integrity" on the matter because she resigned in 2020 due to a controversy over secret meetings with Israeli officials.
Independent Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe noted on Wednesday that he would go further than current anti-terrorism laws, and would deport "any foreign national found supporting these monstrous terrorists."
The Board of Deputies of British Jews told the Times on Thursday that the campaign of deproscription of as a "deeply misconceived challenge" that showed the "addiction" of large segments of the UK pro-Palestinian movement to Hamas.
"The firm and other assisting them in bringing this case for Hamas should be ashamed of their support for a proscribed terrorist organization," the board said Thursday.
Campaign Against Antisemitism also said on Thursday that it would be contacting the Solicitors Regulation Authority about Ansari's support for Hamas prior to the legal application.
The antisemitism watchdog dismissed the case as a "bad-faith attempt to mainstream genocidal antisemitism," on X rejecting one of the filing's main theories, that proscription had a chilling effect on political engagement, because it was possible to campaign for Palestinian rights, criticize Israel, or support a two-state solution without promoting Hamas and terrorism.
CAA also countered arguments that the proscribing Hamas was disproportionate because the terrorist group didn't pose a threat to Britons by highlighting how British nationals were murdered and taken hostage during the indiscriminate October 7 Massacre. CAA also categorized claims that Hamas wasn't antisemitic as "absurd," highlighting the organization's charter calling for the murder of Jews.
Riverway Law's filing on behalf of Hamas senior official Dr Mousa Abu Marzouk had argued that Hamas's armed violence was legitimate in response to alleged colonization, occupation, apartheid, and genocide. Contemporary British support was collaboration in the supposed crimes.
