It
is widely recognised that the Palestinians are among the most
politicised and educated peoples in the world. When they went to the
polls last Wednesday they were well aware of what was on offer and
those who voted for Hamas knew what it stood for. They chose Hamas
because of its pledge never to give up the legitimate rights of the
Palestinian people and its promise to embark on a programme of reform.
There were voices warning them, locally and internationally, not to
vote for an organisation branded by the US and EU as terrorist because
such a democratically exercised right would cost them the financial aid
provided by foreign donors.
The
day Hamas won the Palestinian democratic elections the world's leading
democracies failed the test of democracy. Rather than recognise the
legitimacy of Hamas as a freely elected representative of the
Palestinian people, seize the opportunity created by the result to
support the development of good governance in Palestine and search for
a means of ending the bloodshed, the US and EU threatened the
Palestinian people with collective punishment for exercising their
right to choose their parliamentary representatives.
We are being
punished simply for resisting oppression and striving for justice.
Those who threaten to impose sanctions on our people are the same
powers that initiated our suffering and continue to support our
oppressors almost unconditionally. We, the victims, are being penalised
while our oppressors are pampered. The US and EU could have used the
success of Hamas to open a new chapter in their relations with the
Palestinians, the Arabs and the Muslims and to understand better a
movement that has so far been seen largely through the eyes of the
Zionist occupiers of our land.
Our message to the US and EU
governments is this: your attempt to force us to give up our principles
or our struggle is in vain. Our people who gave thousands of martyrs,
the millions of refugees who have waited for nearly 60 years to return
home and our 9,000 political and war prisoners in Israeli jails have
not made those sacrifices in order to settle for close to nothing.
Hamas
has been elected mainly because of its immovable faith in the
inevitability of victory; and Hamas is immune to bribery, intimidation
and blackmail. While we are keen on having friendly relations with all
nations we shall not seek friendships at the expense of our legitimate
rights. We have seen how other nations, including the peoples of
Vietnam and South Africa, persisted in their struggle until their quest
for freedom and justice was accomplished. We are no different, our
cause is no less worthy, our determination is no less profound and our
patience is no less abundant.
Our message to the Muslim and Arab
nations is this: you have a responsibility to stand by your Palestinian
brothers and sisters whose sacrifices are made on behalf of all of you.
Our people in Palestine should not need to wait for any aid from
countries that attach humiliating conditions to every dollar or euro
they pay despite their historical and moral responsibility for our
plight. We expect you to step in and compensate the Palestinian people
for any loss of aid and we demand you lift all restrictions on civil
society institutions that wish to fundraise for the Palestinian cause.
Our
message to the Palestinians is this: our people are not only those who
live under siege in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip but also the
millions languishing in refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria and
the millions spread around the world unable to return home. We promise
you that nothing in the world will deter us from pursuing our goal of
liberation and return. We shall spare no effort to work with all
factions and institutions in order to put our Palestinian house in
order. Having won the parliamentary elections, our medium-term
objective is to reform the PLO in order to revive its role as a true
representative of all the Palestinian people, without exception or
discrimination.
Our message to the Israelis is this: we do not
fight you because you belong to a certain faith or culture. Jews have
lived in the Muslim world for 13 centuries in peace and harmony; they
are in our religion "the people of the book" who have a covenant from
God and His Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him) to be respected and
protected. Our conflict with you is not religious but political. We
have no problem with Jews who have not attacked us - our problem is
with those who came to our land, imposed themselves on us by force,
destroyed our society and banished our people.
We shall never
recognise the right of any power to rob us of our land and deny us our
national rights. We shall never recognise the legitimacy of a Zionist
state created on our soil in order to atone for somebody else's sins or
solve somebody else's problem. But if you are willing to accept the
principle of a long-term truce, we are prepared to negotiate the terms.
Hamas is extending a hand of peace to those who are truly interested in
a peace based on justice.
· Khalid Mish'al is head of the political bureau of Hamas
What Hamas Is Seeking
By Mousa Abu Marzook
Tuesday, January 31, 2006; Washington Post A17: DAMASCUS,
Syria -- A new era in the struggle for Palestinian liberation is upon
us. Through historic fair and free elections, the Palestinian people
have spoken.
Accordingly, America's long-standing tradition of
supporting the oppressed's rights to self-determination should not
waver. The United States, the European Union and the rest of the world
should welcome the unfolding of the democratic process, and the
commitment to aid should not falter. Last week's victory of the Change
and Reform Party in the Palestinian legislative elections signals a new
hope for an occupied people.
The results of these elections
reflect a need for change from the corruption and intransigence of the
past government. Since its creation 10 years ago, the Palestinian
Legislative Council has been unsuccessful in addressing the needs of
the people. As the occupation solidified its grip under the auspices of
"peace agreements," quality of life deteriorated for Palestinians in
the occupied territories. Poverty levels soared, unemployment rates
reached uncharted heights and the lack of basic security approached
unbearable depths. A grass-roots alternative grew out of the urgency of
this situation. Through its legacy of social work and involvement in
the needs of the Palestinian people, the Islamic Resistance Movement
(Hamas) flourished as a positive social force striving for the welfare
of all Palestinians. Alleviating the debilitative conditions of
occupation, and not an Islamic state, is at the heart of our mandate
(with reform and change as its lifeblood).
Despite the pressures
of occupation and corrupt self-rule, Palestinian civil society has
demonstrated its resilience in the face of repressive conditions.
Social institutions can now be given new life under a reformed
government that embraces the empowerment of the people, facilitates
freedoms and protects civil rights.
Our society has always
celebrated pluralism in keeping with the unique history and traditions
of the Holy Land. In recognizing Judeo-Christian traditions, Muslims
nobly vie for and have the greatest incentive and stake in preserving
the Holy Land for all three Abrahamic faiths. In addition, fair
governance demands that the Palestinian nation be represented in a
pluralistic environment. A new breed of Islamic leadership is ready to
put into practice faith-based principles in a setting of tolerance and
unity.
In that vein, Hamas has pledged transparency in
government. Honest leadership will result from the accountability of
its public servants. Hamas has elected 15 female legislators poised to
play a significant role in public life. The movement has forged genuine
and lasting relationships with Christian candidates.
As we embark
on a new phase in the struggle to liberate Palestine, we recognize the
recent elections as a vote against the failures of the current process.
A new "road map" is needed to lead us away from the path of checkpoints
and walls and onto the path of freedom and justice. The past decade's
"peace process" has led to a dramatic rise in the expansion of illegal
settlements and land confiscation. The realities of occupation include
humiliating checkpoints, home demolitions, open-ended administrative
detentions, extrajudicial killings and thousands of dead civilians.
The
Islamic Resistance Movement was elected to protect the Palestinians
from the abuses of occupation, based on its history of sacrifice for
the cause of liberty. It would be a mistake to view the collective will
of the Palestinian people in electing Hamas in fair and free elections
under occupation as a threat. For meaningful dialogue to occur there
should be no prejudgments or preconditions. And we do desire dialogue.
The terms of the dialogue should be premised on justice, mutual respect
and integrity of the parties.
As the Israelis value their own
security, Palestinians are entitled to their fundamental rights to live
in dignity and security. We ask them to reflect on the peace that our
peoples once enjoyed and the protection that Muslims gave the Jewish
community worldwide. We will exert good-faith efforts to remove the
bitterness that Israel's occupation has succeeded in creating,
alienating a generation of Palestinians. We call on them not to condemn
posterity to endless bloodshed and a conflict in which dominance is
illusory. There must come a day when we will live together, side by
side once again.
The failed policies of the U.S. administration
are the result of the inherent contradiction in its position as
Israel's strongest ally and an "honest broker" in the conflict. World
nations have condemned the brutal Israeli occupation. For the sake of
peace, the United States must abandon its position of isolation and
join the rest of the world in calling for an end to the occupation,
assuring the Palestinians their right to self-determination.
We
appeal to the American people's sense of fairness to judge this
conflict in light of the great thoughts, principles and ideals you hold
dear in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the
democracy you have built. It is not unreasonable to expect America to
practice abroad what it preaches at home. We can but sincerely hope
that you use your honest judgment and the blessings of ascendancy God
has given you to demand an end to the occupation. Meaningful democracy
cannot flourish as long as an external force maintains the balance of
power. It is the right of all people to pursue their own destiny.
The
writer is deputy political bureau chief of the Islamic Resistance
Movement (Hamas). He has a U.S. doctorate in engineering and was
indicted in the United States in 2004 as a co-conspirator on
racketeering and money-laundering charges in connection with activities
on behalf of Hamas dating to the early 1990s, before the organization
was placed on the list of terrorist groups. He was deported to Jordan
in 1997.
