Hamas Spokesman Says Goal to End “Occupation” Not “to Annihilate Israel”

Text of report by Israeli NRG Ma’ariv website on 29 May

[Report by London-based correspondent Ya'el Arava on interview with Palestinian Government Spokesman Ghazi Hamad in London "over the past weekend": "'You Will Not Overcome Us With Military Means'"]

“If Prime Minister Olmert calls PNA Chairman Yasir Arafat and accepts a total cease-fire, it will be possible to return to the negotiating table at once,” Dr Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas member and Palestinian Government spokesman said in a special interview with NRG Ma’ariv in the course of a tour of Britain. He claims that his organization’s goal is not to annihilate Israel but to put an end to the occupation and that if a political solution is found, there will not be violent resistance.

Hamad arrived in Britain over the past weekend to participate in the Hay literature festival in Wales, where he stated that it is necessary to strive for a political solution. Meanwhile, however, the escalation in the Gaza Strip continued, when another Israeli was killed in a Qassam attack on Sederot and the IDF Air Force and ground units continued to operate inside the Strip. Upon his arrival in London, Hamad made time for an interview with NRG Ma’ariv on the current situation and the future of relations between Israel and the Palestinians.

“You cannot achieve victory with military means and we have means to activate against the Israelis,” said Hamad. “If Israel pursues its military operations, the situation will become more complicated. Yet if Israel says it wants a cease-fire, Hamas and Fatah will meet in Cairo and discuss it. If Olmert calls Abu-Mazin [Mahmud Abbas] and says he is ready for a comprehensive cease-fire, the Palestinian side will accept this.”

Hamad explained that Hamas has no objection to a comprehensive cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank, “but so far we have not received a positive response from the Israeli side.” He also dismisses the Israeli contention that the Qassam firing is the main problem. “Missiles, missiles! Why, since the beginning of the year, maybe one or two Israelis have been killed by missiles, whereas in Gaza more than 400 have been killed and many houses and shops were destroyed,” he said.

“No One Talks About the Dejection of Gaza”

According to Hamad, Israel is wrong in separating Gaza from the West Bank. “Israel does not understand that we are one nation; the West Bank and Gaza are one entity – there is Hamas in Nablus and there is Hamas is Gaza,” he explained. “There is no difference between them.”

“The situation in Gaza is very difficult. People are suffering a lot. Gaza is one big jailhouse, with Israel keeping the Rafah border crossing closed so it is impossible to transfer medical cases to Egypt for treatment,” he complained. “People live in extremely dire conditions, they are desperate and have no hope. A moment before I arrived in London, two missiles were fired at the Palestinian Police right near my house. We hear explosions on Gaza’s streets all day. Everyone talks about the problem of terrorism, but no one talks about Gaza’s dejection.”

Hamad described what he sees as the main problem in the situation: “The occupation is like cancer and it must be rooted from the source,” he said. “The attacks and the missile firing in Gaza today are merely the symptom of the disease, not the disease itself. In medicine, you don’t treat the symptoms or take an aspirin to say everything will be alright.”

“We’re Not Against Jews”

Although he believes the solution should be political, Hamad expresses great doubt that it could be achieved anytime soon because meanwhile the situation is only growing worse. Sometimes it appears to him attainable, but then doubts creep. “I do not believe Israel wants to reach a situation in which it will say ‘We want to put an end to the occupation, we want to get out of Palestine, we don’t want to rule over the Palestinians,’” he said.

“Hamas today has one goal, and it is not to destroy Israel and its allies, but only to establish a Palestinian state. If there is a political solution, there will not be violent resistance, but there are no guarantees for such a solution,” he explained. “We are not against Jews simply because they are Jews, we have no objection to any religion; we oppose the occupation. People in the world don’t understand this, they think we want to kill civilians.”

He repeats statements made by Palestinian Prime Minister Isma’il Haniyah, according to which Hamas is prepared to accept a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders, but clarifies that the main problem is the occupation, not the international demand for recognition of Israel. When asked whether they would be prepared to accept the principles set forth by the Quartet, Hamad replies that previous Palestinian governments have already accepted the principles, but nothing has come out of them, and wondered: “If we accept them – what then?”

“Israel Must State That It Is Ending the Occupation”

“Arafat accepted the principles. He signed the agreements, and what happened then? They said Arafat was no partner, neither is Abu- Mazin, and neither are Hamas or Fatah. Where will you get a partner, then? It is difficult and unacceptable,” he said. “The PLO is the ‘political mother’ in Palestine and the PLO has recognized Israel. Why are you asking every subsequent government to recognize Israel as well? President Abu-Mazin recognizes Israel, is this not enough for you?”

Hamad pointed to the Israeli Government as placing obstacles. “If you go to Olmert and ask him what Israel’s borders are, he doesn’t have an answer,” he said. “Nor does Amir Peretz have an answer, or Tzipi Livni. He cannot tell us that the 1967 borders are the borders of Palestine. I have heard both Olmert and Tzipi Livni say we are not returning to the 1967 borders, we are not getting out of the settlements in the West Bank, we are not forgoing the border or Jerusalem. So what are we left with to negotiate over? How should we have faith in Israel?”

Hamad then presents what he regards as the called-for solution: “Israel must say: ‘We want to put an end to the occupation. We want to leave the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and say that we want to give the Palestinian state a chance,’ and then we will say: Dismantle all your settlements, get out of our land, pull your soldiers back, and go back to the 1967 borders.” According to Hamad, the Palestinians will allow such a move to be executed within a year.

“Maybe Shalit Has Blood on His Hands”

Referring to the issue of kidnapped soldier Gil’ad Shalit, Hamad said he knows he is still alive and that he has not undergone torture; furthermore, it may be possible that the International Committee of the Red Cross would have access to visit him. At the same time, according to Hamad, the ball is currently in the Israeli Government’s court before it is possible to bring about the release of the soldier.

“We have no problem freeing Gil’ad Shalit, but Israel must bear in mind that we have tends of thousands of ‘Gil’ad Shalits’ in its jails. There are people who have been kept in prison for 20 or 15 years and no one talks about it and no one deals with it. There are many mothers who weep for their sons,” he said.

Hamad rejects Israel’s objection to the release of prisoners with “blood on their hands.”"When the deal was struck with Hezbollah, many prisoners who had killed Jews were released; in the Jibril exchange in 1985, too, people who had killed Jews were released. So don’t come now and say ‘They have blood on their hands!’ Each one of your soldiers has blood on their hands, maybe Gil’ad Shalit has blood on his hands. This is the key problem. If Israel agrees to let prisoners go, including Marwan al-Barghuthi, I think we will reach a solution soon. We are approaching the first anniversary of Shalit’s abduction. If Olmert is strong, he can make the decision to release the prisoners.”

He claimed there has been progress in the negotiations towards the release of the prisoners, and an agreement was even reached on the numbers. “Now it’s a war on the names,” he said. “If they agree, the exchange could take place in the near future.”

“Hamas Is a Model for Me”

Hamad, a 42-year old veterinary surgeon, was born in Gaza City, the son of a family of refugees from Yavne. His father and uncle were killed by the Israeli Army in 1967.

At only 15, he joined the Muslim Brotherhood, and when Hamas was established in 1987, he joined it and even served a five-year prison term in an Israeli jail on charges of belonging to Hamas.

“Ever since I was young I have had thoughts about the homeland, the Palestinian flag, my people, and liberation from the religious point of view. I found these people to be a model for me,” he related, noting that Hamas members were good people, loyal to their nation and the notion of Palestine, uninterested in personal gains, money, or corruption.”

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Middle East. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.