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| Middle East |
| Khaled Meshaal condones killing of all Israelis |
| 2002-05-03 |
| Challenging the legitimacy of Israel’s existence altogether in the Middle East, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal suspects Palestinian suicide attacks against Israeli targets will pick up again. "It is unfair," he told The Daily Star in an interview conducted in Damascus, "to demand that our people abandon their only effective weapon (against Israel)  namely, martyrdom operations." He "suspects" that, does he?... Meshaal, who chairs the politburo of Hamas, says the only difference between the lands on which Israel was set up in 1948 and those the Jewish state occupied in the 1967 War is "one of timespan," which doesn’t give any legitimacy to occupation. The illegitimate state argument... The Daily Star: Did Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon use Hamas’ attack on Netanya to justify launching his military offensive on the Palestinian territories and bypass the Arab Peace Initiative announced at the Arab summit in Beirut? Meshaal: Some people believe that our military operations are designed with a short-term goal in mind, that they are only launched to achieve a political goal or to derail the peace process. I want to state categorically that the timings of attacks carried out by Hamas are never determined by political events. They are determined by the circumstances on the ground as assessed by the "Izzeddeen al-Qassam Brigades," the military arm of Hamas. In other words, they'll carry out attacks whenever they think they can get away with them. On the other hand, the timing of the attacks — they're predictable depending on how close Israel might be to working out an understanding with Yasser — says he's a liar. Q. Is it your aim to derail the peace process? A. Resistance is the rule, while the peace process was an exception. The recent past has demonstrated that the peace process has failed miserably, and that resistance is the only available means to get rid of Israeli occupation. The peace process failed miserably with Hamas' enthusiastic help. Q. Hamas is being criticized for stopping suicide operations. Critics say that you gave the Israelis an excuse to invade, and then decided to sit back. A. It is only natural that a period of calm should follow Israel’s invasion and crimes. The resistance has sustained heavy losses; its leaderships, cadres and equipment have been hit hard. Sharon’s invasion of Palestinian lands has been unprecedented in scope. It involved 40,000 troops, thousands of tanks and scores of warplanes and helicopter gunships. The resistance is now in a self-defense mode; it is licking its wounds and preparing to seize the initiative once again. The Palestinian resistance has a great capacity for steadfastness, and is able to regroup and resume its activities. What took place at the Jenin refugee camp was a victory for us. Jenin was different from Sabra and Shatila. In Jenin, the massacres happened against the backdrop of a Palestinian victory that lifted the morale of our people. No connection there between cause and effect, reality and fantasy. The Palestinian "victory" consisted of not being kicked out of the area, and that was only because Morocco wouldn't take them. Q. What would you say to those who criticize Hamas for targeting Israeli civilians? A. There are several ways of looking at this issue. Let’s begin with the intellectual rationale: we must agree first of all on what constitutes a military target and what defines a civilian target. The term "civilian" refers to noncombatants in a conflict between two regular armies. The two belligerents agree not to target such civilians. The term also applies to acts of resistance outside the territory under dispute. In Palestine, however, the situation is different: We were on our native land, and an invader came along and occupied it. We do not recognize either the occupation, or the existence of Israel or the legitimacy of the occupation. To us, all Israelis are occupiers, whether they are civilians, soldiers, or settlers. Basically that's a statement that "the rules don't apply to us, because we say so." If the Palestinians are on their native land, so are the Israelis. Civilians still remain civilians. And the Palestinians are quick to point out civilian casualties, even when they don't exist. Pfui. Q. But Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have succeeded in winning some sympathy and support by addressing world public opinion. A. The PA did rely on public opinion, but did that help it in its time of crisis? The international community only supports the strong; only the weak take refuge in the law. We will not beg others for what is rightfully ours; we will take it with our own hands. Rights are acquired, not granted. That International Community® is the only reason Yasser wasn't shot. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |