A man from Birmingham has been found guilty of supporting Hamas after he wore a green headband with the shahada on it during a pro-Palestine demonstration in London.
Khaled Hajsaad, 24, wore the item in Trafalgar Square on November 25 and told police the headband was “an item of Saudi Arabia” and the shahada was a “statement of my faith.”
Hajsaad, an asylum seeker from Tunisia who arrived in the UK a year ago, said: “I don’t care about (Hamas). I don’t support (the group) and I have never supported (them). I came here to live in safety.”
5Pillars has compared the headband he wore with headbands worn by Hamas fighters and members and has concluded that while it does resemble Hamas headbands it is definitely not the same because official Hamas headbands contain other emblems and writings apart from the shahada.
Nevertheless, Hajsaad was found guilty at the City of London Magistrates’ Court of wearing the item “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion” he was supporting Hamas – an illegal act in the UK where it is designated a terrorist group.
Defence counsel argued that there was “no evidence of harm being caused, no evidence of distress to anybody by having seen the defendant wearing this item of clothing. This is not a factor the crown can rely on, or that the court can take into consideration.”
But the prosecutor asked the judge to consider the “distress” caused by Hajsaad’s headband and referred to the atrocities against Israel civilians on October 7.
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He said: “November 25th was the day in question and so it must be that the defendants actions lent support to a terrorist organisation very soon after acts by that terrorist organisation on the 7 October, which would have been extremely fresh and raw in the minds of very many people.
“Therefore causing distress, significant distress, to those who were targeted by that organisation both directly and in the wider sense. Images of those very high profile protests would have been broadcast worldwide.”
District Judge Nina Tempia concluded: “I have to decide whether he was wearing it in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he was a supporter of that proscribed organisation. I am satisfied that the Crown have proved their case to the criminal standard.
“Hamas is the most notable Palestinian group associated with the colour green and given the context of where the defendant was, wearing the headband on a pro-Palestine march, there would be no reason for someone to wear a headband of a Saudi flag.
“It clearly did not have the Saudi sword on it. I find the defendant guilty of the offence. I am satisfied so I am sure that the defendant wore an item of clothing, a green headband in such circumstances to arouse reasonable suspicion that he was a supporter of a proscribed terrorist organisation, namely Hamas.”
Judge Tempia added: “I do find that the harm is serious and I have to agree that the nature of the offence when it happened, soon after the incident of 7 October, would have made significant distress to those who were observing the demonstration.”
Nick Price, Head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: “By wearing the green headband in the context of a pro-Palestine protest in central London, Khaled Hajsaad aroused suspicion that he was supporting Hamas – a proscribed terrorist organisation. Wearing such items in public creates a risk of encouraging others to support Hamas.
“When people break the law – whether by hateful speech, supporting proscribed organisations or by threatening public order – we prosecute swiftly and independently.
“We have already prosecuted a string of offences linked to events in the Middle East and we are working closely with the police to make sure our approach commands public confidence.”
Hajsaad is due to be sentenced on June 21 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
