"The Palestinian reproduction machine works 24 hours a day," Hamas' political leader Khaled Mashaal declared this week during his daughter's wedding in Syria. London-based newspaper al-Hayat reported extensively Sunday on the wedding of Mashaal's daughter, Fatma to Tarek Irshid, a Palestinian residing in Syria. The event, which was schedule to take place in Damascus, was moved to a secret location at the last minute due to security concerns. The wedding was reportedly attended by many high-ranking Syrian officials, including Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, senior army officers, head of the Palestinian factions residing in Damascus, Islamic Jihad head Ramadan Salah and Arab countries' ambassadors.
According to al-Hayat, the bride's happy father entertained his guests with a "cheerful and amusing" speech. The Hamas leader claimed that the fact that his daughter, the offspring of 1967 refugees, was marrying his brother-in-law Tarek, whose family left Israel in 1948, meant that their children would be able to return to Israel, because "the sacred right of return includes the return of refugees to all the territories occupied in 1948."
Mashaal also expressed his hope that the couple would soon create a "new generation of liberation" that would succeed the old "generation of resistance." The "Palestinian reproduction machine," Mashaal continued, "works 24 hours a day." To prove his point, he noted that he himself had seven children, while Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh had no fewer than 18 children, "who could form a government all of their own."
Mashaal also used the festive opportunity to thank Syria for continuing to stand by the Palestinians and support their struggle.