Hamas Rejects Power, Islamic Jihad Doesn’t Need Al-Qaeda

The founder and spiritual leader of Hamas Sheikh Yaseen said that the organization would continue its struggle against Israel regardless of anything. In an interview to Al-Kads newspaper Yaseen derided the leakage of information in Israel where it is regularly reported that Hamas plans to oust the incumbent Palestinian leadership and to take its place. Yaseen says that Hamas doesn’t need power, and even declares that “if Hamas were offered the power, we would reject it immediately.”

“Hamas’ objectives are quite different from the desire to gain authority in the autonomy. First of all, we plan to continue the resistance and struggle against Israel’s colonization of the Palestinian territories.” In the words of Yaseen, the top priority objective of Hamas is to establish a political dialogue, but this is the dialogue not with Israel, but with political organizations in the Palestinian authority. As the Sheikh says, the organization offers other groups to “put the national interests beyond all other ideas.”

The resistance won’t die away within the nearest weeks, because Yaseen says that “the temporal freezing” of operations against Israel will play into Sharon’s hands during his pre-election campaign. However, to all appearances, Palestinian groups are currently disputing whether it is expedient to organize terrorism acts in Israel before elections. Yaseen says: “Our brothers in the Palestinian authority think that suspension of the resistance operations will help the Labor Party, but we look at the things at a different angle.” Hamas fears that if the “struggle” stops, Ariel Sharon will say to the voters: “Look, we defeated them”, after that his popularity will gain force. Sheikh Yaseen thinks that the resistance may stop in one case only: when Palestinians decide that the opposition is expedient and advantageous in the struggle for “freedom, independence and state system.”

Yasin forecasts that “a conflict with Zionists” will be long and violent; it will require “much patience, strength of mind, solidarity and unity.” The leader of Hamas declared that Palestinians have only one way out which is “struggle and victory.”

At the same time, another opposition group, “Islamic Jihad” violently denies its connection with al-Qaeda. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz being in Washington mentioned that this connection actually existed. He said that al-Qaeda groups were operating in the Gaza Strip, but the statement wasn’t confirmed with any facts at all. The defense minister expected that those words would attract attention of Americans. But Palestinian groups will hardly like if the USA start verification of this information.

“Islamic Jihad” political leader Muhammad al-Hindi called the declaration by Mofaz “fudged”, unfounded statements. In his words, “Islamic Jihad” also pursues “limited” objectives: struggle with “occupation and colonization.” There are no more objectives of the organization, al-Hindi says. Thus, as he concluded, there is not a jot of truth in the words of Mofaz.

Al-Hindi blamed Israelis for taking much efforts to “discover connections between the Palestinian resistance groups and al-Qaeda” in order to justify the repressions against Palestinians. Moreover, it is reported that the other day police of the Palestinian authority captured “a group of Israeli agents.” The agents allegedly confessed that they had been sent from Israel to set up an al-Qaeda nest on the Palestinian territories.

It is not clear whether there are bin Laden’s people on the Palestinian territories. However, the opposition groups make Israelis understand that they shouldn’t expect to live peacefully before elections. And what will be after elections?

Sergey Borisov PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Maria Gousseva

Read the original in Russian: https://www.pravda.ru/world/8826-hamas/

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