The spiritual leader and founder of Hamas said Monday that his militant organization might seek to be part of any government ruling the Gaza Strip if Israel follows through with its proposal to remove its settlements and military outposts there. Sheik Ahmed Yassin told Knight Ridder in an exclusive interview that his group might lay down its arms and participate in elections. The statements were unusual because Hamas has rejected any role in a Palestinian government that negotiates with Israel, given its charter to annihilate the Jewish nation. Yassin made his statements the same day that Hamas' armed wing distributed a videotape claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing last April at a pub in Tel Aviv, Israel.
| So all this is for western consumption. |
"In the event of a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Hamas will possibly take part in the (Palestinian) Authority through elections and national consensus" on developments after the withdrawal, the cleric said, sitting at home in his wheelchair and draped in an Egyptian-woven gold-and-black scarf.
"Jes as long as I can keep sending splodydopes to their deaths martyrs to their reward!" |
Yassin's comments came at a time when Palestinian leaders are scrambling to deal with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plans to pull out of Gaza unilaterally in hopes of improving Israel's security by establishing more defensible borders. His comments also suggested that Hamas may seek to fill any vacuum created by the growing weakness of Yasser Arafat's secular Palestinian Authority, which has been undermined by economic stagnation, rising crime and long-standing allegations of corruption.
Yassin has been targeted in those strikes. Last Sept. 6, an Israeli warplane dropped a 550-pound bomb on a Gaza City apartment building where he was meeting with other Hamas leaders. Yassin, a paraplegic, escaped with a minor injury and largely has been in a spiderhole hiding ever since. "There is no doubt that Israel is materially strong, but this power hasn't worked to break down our will," he said. He pointed to the fierce resistance his gunmen offered Sunday when Israeli troops invaded two Gaza refugee camps in a five-hour firefight that killed 15 Palestinians.
| Yup, they fought brave and they died. They're still dead, too, wanna see? |
Yassin said Hamas was meeting with other Palestinian factions to discuss what should be done with the settlements and military outposts that Israel would abandon. In his view, the families of those killed or injured in fighting Israel should have first priority.| Assuming the Israelis don't raze them prior to exiting. |
Hamas will consider a hiatus from attacking Israel if it fully withdraws, Yassin said. That includes the almost daily firing of crude rockets from Gaza into Jewish towns inside and outside the strip. "We might stop the resistance for a while in Gaza until we see what Israelis do in the West Bank and in Jerusalem," he said. "But if the occupation continues, the resistance will not stop."
| "I mean, a man's gotta have a reason to jihad! Well, no he don't, but we'll have one anyways!" |
Israeli officials view Hamas members as terrorists who've killed hundreds of Israelis over the years. "They really don't want to take over things in Gaza because they don't really want to deal with the dire and real responsibility. ... They are simply examining all the ways they can remain relevant," an Israeli Foreign Ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official said Hamas would lose its reason to exist if it stopped fighting Israel.
| Wonder if John Kerry understands that? |
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