A collection of student bodies from universities across England and Wales have expressed support for the ongoing legal application to deproscribe Hamas.
In joint statement, eighteen student groups described what they see as the “chilling effect of the current proscription on academic inquiry and political expression,” particularly in relation to Palestine advocacy on campus.
Citing recent incidents involving student suspensions, visa removals, and police intervention, the statement situates the legal challenge within a broader concern about the narrowing of civic and intellectual space in UK universities.
Riverway Law grabbed worldwide attention last week after announcing they were representing Hamas in a legal bid to get the Palestinian armed group de-proscribed from the UK’s terror organisation list.
Hamas was added to the UK’s list of proscribed organisations in its entirety in
November 2021 by then Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Prior to 2021, only Hamas’s military wing – the al-Qassam Brigades – had been proscribed since 2001.
Expressing support, being a member of or trying to recruit people to join a proscribed group is against the law and carries a lengthy jail sentence if an offender is found guilty.
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The current application is being made under Section 4 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which allows banned groups or affected individuals to request that an organisation be removed from the proscribed list.
The application attempts to argue that proscription of Hamas “unlawfully infringes fundamental rights, such as a disproportionate impact on freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, as protected by Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights” including open debate and political expression.
The application also seeks to assert that proscription undermines the possibility of a peaceful settlement and draws historical analogies in that regard with South Africa and Ireland.
Full statement
“We, the undersigned student bodies, express our support for Riverway Law’s legal submission to deproscribe Hamas under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Over 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel. Gaza now has the highest number of child amputees in the world. Israel has eliminated every aspect of Palestinian life, including the education sector, with universities bombed, students killed and imprisoned, and academic infrastructure systematically destroyed. This is not only a humanitarian crisis; it is a genocide.
The proscription of Hamas lies at the heart of this chilling effect.
While the law claims to target one group, its application is far broader. Under section 12 of the Terrorism Act, individuals can be criminalised simply for expressing certain views, attending events, or participating in discourse that could be interpreted as “support”—however academic, critical, or solution-focused it may be.
This creates an atmosphere where Palestine advocacy becomes a legal risk. Cases like the SOAS 2, the Essex 6, and Dana Abu Qamar—whose visa was stripped for expressing solidarity with Gaza—show how this law is being used to punish dissent. These incidents are not outliers; they reveal a wider strategy of suppression targeting students, especially Muslims and Palestinians.
Riverway Law’s legal submission challenges this misuse of proscription. It defends the right of students, academics, and communities to think freely, speak openly, and organise without fear of being criminalised.
We see ourselves in the legacy of that tradition.
We therefore stand in support of Riverway Law’s application to deproscribe Hamas—not as an endorsement of any group—but to protect the civic space essential for academic freedom and open inquiry.”
Student freedoms under threat?
UK students have complained about a intolerant climate of censorship amid widespread protests over the genocide in Gaza.
Student groups and university leadership have been engaging in tense standoffs over student rights to protest as pro-Israel groups complain that criticism of Israel can be forms of extremism or anti-Semitism.
In a recent example, a group of students at the University of Essex faced potential expulsion after sharing a series of social media posts, including a video published by Middle East Eye marking the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Last August, the University of Essex Students’ Union informed the university’s Palestine Solidarity Society that it may have breached the student conduct code for allegedly “supporting a proscribed group”.
Following a lengthy process the university dropped the case against six students. The university did not respond to media requests for comment on the case’s conclusion despite the stress it caused for the students involved.
The University of Cambridge has been condemned by activists and rights groups for obtaining a High Court injunction that effectively bans pro-Palestinian protests on its campus until 26 July, in what critics have described as a chilling attack on free speech.
The ruling, coinciding with the final graduation ceremony of the academic year, was issued by Mr. Justice Soole, sparking widespread condemnation among activists and human rights groups.
The university had initially sought a more long-term injunction, requesting a five-year order to block protests related to the Israel-Palestine conflict on its grounds.
However, last month a judge rejected this bid, citing its overreach. In a second attempt, Cambridge University returned to court in mid-March, to seek a four-month order to prevent disruptions during key graduation events.
In 2024, Palestinian student, Dana Abu Qamar, who was stripped of her student visa after remarks she made about the Israel-Gaza war, won a human rights appeal against the Home Office’s decision after a tense legal battle.
The Home Office failed to demonstrate that the presence of Dana Abu Qamar, 20, was “not conducive to public good” after the law student’s visa was revoked in December 2023, according to a tribunal ruling.
Her case raised serious alarm bells about the amount of effort the British state is willing to invest in trying to expel or silence criticism of Israel among students.
List of signatories:
2. Aston for Palestine
3. Aston Palestine Society
4. Bangor for Liberation
5. Birmingham Liberated Zone
6. City Action for Palestine
7. Edinburgh University Justice for Palestine Society
8. Lighthouse Advocacy
9. LSE Liberated Zone
10. Leeds Students Against Apartheid Coalition
11. Newcastle Apartheid Off Campus
12. Newcastle Muslims for Palestine
13. Northumbria University Students for Palestine
14. Open University Friends of Palestine
15. Royal Holloway Friends of Palestine
16. UCL Stands for Justice
17. University of Birmingham Friends of Palestine
18. University of West England Islamic Society
