JUST JOURNALISM
Fri. 29 Jul. 2011 @ 13.06 –
Hamas foreign minister reiterates Hamas’ rejection of two-state solution and commitment to gaining ‘Palestine in its entirety’ by force.
Hamas’ foreign minister, Mahmoud Al-Zahar, recently conducted a television interview in which he once more set out Hamas’ rejection of Israel’s right to exist. According to Memri, Al-Zahar used the interview, from 21 July, to argue that ‘Palestine in its entirety is Islamic waqf land, which cannot be relinquished’:
‘At this moment in time, we say to you, first of all: We want Palestine in its entirety – so there will not be any misunderstandings. If our generation is unable to achieve this, the next one will, and we are raising our children on this. Palestine means Palestine in its entirety, and Israel cannot exist in our midst.’
Al-Zahar also declared that Hamas would view any Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, or a compromise agreement with the Palestinian Authority, as only a ‘first stage’ towards the destruction of Israel in its entirety. He asserted that this was the key difference between Hamas and their secular rivals, Fatah.
‘Let me explain to you the difference between Fatah and us on this issue. We talk about the liberation of the pre-1967 territories, but we do not recognize Israel on a single inch of our land. In other words, this land will remain ours, and when the balance of power changes, we will regain it. We will regain the land, even if we have to do so inch by inch.’
Al-Zahar further stated that it was Hamas’ intent to ‘conduct resistance in the West Bank,’ but that this was being prevented by the PA’s security cooperation with Israel.
See below for the original interview clip:
The explicit claim by Hamas’ foreign minister that he regards all of Israel as Palestinian land is only the latest in a series of rejectionist statements from the Islamist group. These comments come barely a month after a similar interview in which Al-Zahar also outlined Hamas’ opposition to Israel’s existence and its rejection of any compromise solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
In May, Osama Hamdan, head of Hamas’ international relations department, stated that ‘armed confrontation’ would remain ‘the backbone of the resistance’. Earlier that month, Ismail Haniyeh, de-facto prime minister of Gaza, argued that ‘the Zionist project in Palestine must end’, while a Hamas cleric claimed that:
‘In just a few years, all the Zionists and the settlers will realize that their arrival in Palestine was for the purpose of the great massacre, by means of which Allah wants to relieve humanity of their evil.’
and, also on "Just Journalism" (read below):
Muslim Brotherhood: Egyptian ‘resistance’ conference attended by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah
Thurs. 28 Jul. 2011 @ 14.03 –
Representatives from Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah present at Cairo ‘resistance’ conference this week.
Senior figures from the Muslim Brotherhood attended Cairo’s ‘Founding Conference of the Arab-Islamic Gathering to Support the Option of Resistance’, alongside members of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, according to the Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. They were joined at the conference, which was held on Sunday and Monday, by representatives from 14 Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Morocco, Sudan and Jordan.
In a speech at the conference, the head of Hamas’ international relations department, Osama Hamdan, reiterated that the Islamist group would never recognize Israel:
‘[T]he [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict will never end unless Israel cease[s] to exist’
This is not the first recorded instance of Hamdan’s belligerency towards the Jewish state. As Just Journalism reported in May, Hamdan, who had a comment piece in The Guardian in January, gave a television interview following the signing of the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation deal where he described the form of ‘resistance’ he envisioned:
‘[T]he armed confrontation will continue to be the main effort and the backbone of the resistance, until the liberation of Palestine.’
As well as Hamdan, the leader of Gaza’s Islamic Jihad also spoke at the conference, where he expressed his desire to see the expulsion of the Jews from Israel. Khaled Al-Batch’s comments in Cairo are quoted on the website of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the official military wing of Hamas:
‘Those who expelled us are the ones who will be kicked out, and we believe that God will bestow victory upon us.’
Earlier this month, Just Journalism highlighted al-Batch’s belief that all Israeli civilians are ‘valid targets’, when the Egyptian daily Al Masry Al Youm reported that Islamic Jihad, Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza were preparing for a third intifada.
Note:
With daily evidence of the resistance by Hamas./Fatah to recognize the State of Israel and its right to exist among nations, would someone please explain to me how Israel can be expected to "negotiate" for peace with these terrorists? .... Just wondering ....!!
Simply present the United Nations with this most recent REJECTIONS by the Foreign Minister of Hamas and have the UN RECOGNIZE that there can be no negotiations with Fatah/Hamas until the Arab Palestinians are willing to negotiate for peace.
As for Israel "occupying" her own land - so difficult to understand how the world refuses to reject the lies and propaganda of these Arab Palestinians, formerly the PLO/Arafat terrorist organization and now, the "new" PLO Fatah-Hamas terrorist organization.
