Hamas took the unprecedented step on March 13 to address the Western public opinion in English on social media websites by using the hashtag #AskHamas. The campaign lasted for five days.
Hamas media adviser Taher al-Nunu told Al-Monitor, “The campaign was launched as the deadline to appeal the EU court ruling taking Hamas off its terror list approached [March 18]. The campaign targeted the Western public, with the objective of delivering messages expressing Hamas’ ideas, to the effect that Hamas is not a terrorist group but a national liberation movement, and that the Israeli occupation is the real terrorist.”