We are not very wrong if we say that the Palestinian issue is currently going through one of its worst stages since the occupation of Palestine in 1948, in light of the decline in regional and international interest in it at the official and popular level in light of the growing country crises, and the state of abandonment by some Arab and Islamic regimes towards the normalization of relations With the Israeli occupation.
On the other hand, the occupation army continues to swallow Palestinian lands and build more settlement units, to impose on the ground its vision of the conflict, whether internally or externally, by implementing the policies of the right.
All of this comes with a steadily expanding erosion of the margins of the Palestinian struggle in light of the continuing Palestinian division between the Fatah and Hamas movements, with the consequent narrowing of the resistance action in the West Bank and the occupied territories, in addition to the continuation of the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, which has been controlled by Hamas since 2007. It affected all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip and stifled resistance there.
That is why we went to "
Maidan
" for an interview with one of the most prominent leaders of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, a member of its political office, and its most powerful interior minister.
Fathi Hammad, in order to ask a group of urgent questions divided into two axes, internal and external, to listen to a side of Hamas’s vision and position on these issues.
Fathi Hammad
Maidan: How does Hamas view the collapse of the Arab political position on the Palestinian issue, and the start of the Arab normalization train, which was launched by the UAE, followed by Bahrain, then Sudan and Morocco, with indications of the possibility of other countries becoming involved in normalization, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia?
The main goal behind the crime of normalization with the Zionist occupation is satisfaction with it is a fait accompli of the Arab and Islamic peoples and generations, on the basis that coexisting with the Zionist occupation is easier and better than fighting it, and that as Arabs and Muslims we cannot confront the great power of it, and that we were wrong in the past. Our hostility to him.
It is true that the Zionist occupation has political, economic, media and cultural goals behind this sinister normalization, but it is also looking forward to something deeper than that, that is, it seeks to change the reality and essence of the conflict, as an entity alien to this region.
We are disappointed with the Arab regimes scrambling towards normalization, and we view this crime with great danger, for which they have woven arguments such as fighting terrorism and the growing power of some countries in the region, in addition to demonizing some regional powers, and directing hostility to them instead of the Zionist entity, and this is the chord that The colonial powers play on him in controlling the positions of states and peoples' destinies.
Undoubtedly, we cannot overlook the fact that the countries that have recently normalized with the Zionist enemy were neither the choice of their people nor in their interest, but rather contradicts their long-standing policies, and we are confident that this normalization results from an emergency situation due to the imbalance of the balance of power and justice.
We are also confident that the current wave of normalization will lead to a decline and then a breakdown, followed by a retreat with the help of God, and this is what happened with the previous waves, as the blessed Al-Aqsa intifada and the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their resistance in the Al-Furqan war in late 2008 forced a number of normalized parties to retreat from their relationship with the entity, We are also confident that the normalization steps will ultimately fail through what we perceive of popular rejection despite the restriction on freedom of opinion, as was evident in our brothers in Sudan, Bahrain and Morocco.
Hamas trusts and relies on the people of our Arab and Islamic nation that it will not stand idly by in the face of the failure of some regimes and their eagerness towards the Zionist occupation, and the movement also trusts that these peoples will inevitably win the battle of awareness and its realization that defending the cause of the Palestinian people is not only for the sake of Palestine as the cause of the Arabs and Muslims The first is because Palestine is the first blockade in the face of the Zionist occupation's ambitions to control the nation's wealth and capabilities.
But what makes us truly disappointed is that some of the components of the Arab and Islamic nations have taken a weak stance towards the normalization of their regimes, and it makes us feel deeply disappointed by the involvement of our brothers in Moroccan justice and development in the normalization process, and their taking a position that justifies and defends the decision, and here I wonder:
Is not this position considered to be contrary to the justifications for the brotherly Moroccan people's escalation of justice and development in the first place, and that any movement that enjoys the support of peoples is supposed to reflect the pulse of these peoples in their decisions and positions?
Maidan: We understand these feelings of disappointment, but on the other hand, do you not see that the Palestinian division, of which you are a part, contributed to facilitating the process of normalization, and what are your actual efforts to obstruct the endeavors of Arab-Israeli normalization?
First of all, the idea of normalization with the Zionist occupation is not a product of the moment, and division is not the main reason for it, as normalization, as an idea, began early in the seventies of the last century, and at that time the normalization states faced an official and popular anger that limited the ability of other regimes that they wished from the beginning. Opening a clear relationship with the Zionist enemy, but the moment at the time did not allow them, and then it was not long before they opened secret paths for the forbidden relationship with the Zionist enemy in the hope of preserving their chairs, and the relationship was kept secret and under the table for many years, in which the Palestinian resistance was stabbed and behind it peoples The nation because of this normalization many times.
Today, the need of the leaders of the Zionist enemy to achieve external political gains coincides with the need of these confused regimes to consolidate their foundations in light of the battle of consciousness raging in the nation;
Those regimes began publicly normalizing steps, citing the Palestinian division as a flimsy justification for this integral crime that Hamas never wanted to be a part of.
But I do not deny that the position of some Palestinian parties contributed to facilitating the passage of the normalization process, specifically what resulted from the Palestinian Authority’s position in returning to security coordination with the Israeli occupation authorities, which will remain a black page in the history of the Oslo Authority and its cronies.
Maidan: Well, let us turn to the Palestinian division from the inside, where the Palestinian citizen now feels inside and outside Palestine the loss of confidence in the Palestinian parties, especially Fatah and Hamas, with their inability to achieve Palestinian reconciliation and end the division, in addition to representing the desires and hopes of the Palestinian people, are there any developments Genuine Palestinian reconciliation in light of this reality in which Palestinian rapprochement has become a necessity?
What is the vision of Hamas to get out of the Palestinian national impasse?
In fact, and for history, the entire Palestinian society, even if it has been marred over the years of the intifada, has been marred by some disagreements and conflicts over the mechanisms of resistance work.
The constants of the Palestinian people, the principles of the revolution, the slogans of struggle and freedom have always been the subject of unanimity and the people and its various factions have united in the path of armed resistance and under the umbrella of the inclusive Palestinian flag to emancipate from the Zionist occupation, but since the decision of the Liberation Organization and Fatah movement was stolen and deviated from the path of the revolution;
The split occurred.
This was the first sign of it, and the diversity of the factions and their political differences had never weakened their position in the face of the Zionist occupation, but the Palestinian situation today is weak due to the presence of a Palestinian party that considered security coordination sacred and closer to it than reconciliation with its own people, and considers that the relationship with the Americans and the occupation is more important than the bet on the Palestinian people. This was clearly evident in the correspondence of a member of the Fatah Center, Hussein al-Sheikh, recently to an officer in the Israeli Ministry of War to request the return of security coordination a month before the US elections.
Despite all of this, Hamas has always been keen on the unity and cohesion of the Palestinian people, and for the sake of that it has made many sacrifices and bitten on wounds. The brothers in the Fatah movement repeatedly called us to achieve reconciliation and end the division, and we went with them to all Arab, Islamic and international capitals for the sake of We have reached an end to the division, and we have done everything we can to overcome this stage, but the stumbling block is that our brothers in the Fatah movement have internal and external political calculations that prevent them from reaching real reconciliation.
Therefore, they called on us with all factions of national action to make the reconciliation collective between all Palestinians and not between two factions only.
We recently stressed the need to implement what was reached in the meeting of secretaries-general and the meetings of Turkey and Cairo, and to start directly implementing what was agreed upon in terms of the presidential decree for the legislative and presidential elections and the National Council through a single presidential decree and an agreed time schedule between the factions, but the Palestinian Authority's return to security coordination, and its insistence on Asynchronous elections hampered these endeavors.
Maidan: Let's move to a more specific context that directly affects Hamas.
After nearly a decade and a half have passed since Hamas’s experience in marrying government and resistance, and with the continued siege of the Gaza Strip and the worsening of the humanitarian crisis that hit the walks of life in the Strip, where did you succeed and where did you fail?
Will you give up one day to preserve the other?
We are a national liberation movement that pursues resistance in all its forms to liberate Palestine, and we have taken upon ourselves to carry the concerns of our Palestinian people everywhere, internally and externally, as the Hamas project is the project of the Palestinian people, emancipation from the Zionist occupation and the liberation of their entire occupied land.
We are well aware that the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip since the movement came to power through free legislative elections in 2006 was its first goal to disperse people from the resistance project and make it ostracized by the Palestinian people.
Hamas has tried with all its might, through the relations it has woven with countries friendly to the Palestinian people, to preserve the resistance project, and to establish its foundations as the only choice of the Palestinian people in facing the occupation.
Hamas knocked on the doors of all the countries that support us and that do not, and Hamas’s main concern was to maintain the popular incubator for the resistance.
Our Palestinian people, through this difficult period of wars and siege, have proven that they cannot be broken in the face of these large and successive conspiracies.
As for governance, Hamas married the two concepts of resistance and governance as a precedent in history. It is true that our general performance was marred by some mistakes. We are human beings and we make mistakes, but we calculated that we do not leave a mistake.
The movement is in a permanent correction of the tracks, and a continuous evaluation of any errors, whether in the movement or government work in general.
And through my experience as Minister of Interior for 5 years in the Gaza Strip, the public's satisfaction with the security performance of the government was no less than 80%, according to reliable opinion polls. Gaza today does not witness a mess of arms, although it has a lot of weapons due to its resilient nature. There is organized crime in it despite the state of poverty.
For us, resistance is a strategic choice, and we entered the government to protect the back of the resistance, and governance in itself is not an end for us, and Hamas is an integral part of the Palestinian people, and we came to power by his decision, and we will continue to serve our people, whether we are in power or elsewhere, and not What is important is the position of Hamas in the equation of government, but what is always important is that our supreme Palestinian goals be achieved by liberating our land and our sanctities and liberating from this unjust occupation.
Maidan: There are frequent conversations that Hamas was subjugated and its resistance work was restricted. Has this led to changes in Hamas’s philosophy and its determinants in managing the conflict with the Israeli occupation?
Hamas, since its inception, has adopted a clear approach in dealing with the Zionist enemy and managing the conflict with it, as the occupation knows very well that the resistance in Gaza is strong with its creed and its popular support, and it also realizes that Hamas every day prepares the equipment that will surprise the friend before the enemy in any upcoming confrontation with the occupation.
We are well aware that we do not have a power comparable to the occupying power, which surpasses us in all material capabilities and international support from oppressive regimes, but we are stronger in our right and our creed. We fight on our land and between our people and our people, and we know well how to suffer it and make it obey our demands, and we have every right to use all methods And struggle tools in managing the conflict with the occupation.
The whole world saw how our people excelled in launching the Great Return Marches that confused the calculations of the enemy and those who supported him, and through which our people were able to restore compass anew towards the principles of the Palestinian people and their just cause.
Hamas has constants that do not retreat, such as the land, the people, Jerusalem, and return, so there is no relinquishment of Palestine from its sea to its river, and there is no return to the right of return, and Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Palestinian people.
Medan: The scene of resistance in the West Bank has become dependent on individual operations that are seldom attributed to a faction. Is this evidence of the decline in the potential of resistance movements and their popularity among Palestinian youth?
Resistance in all its forms is the right of the Palestinian people as long as the Zionist occupation remains.
The reality in the West Bank is complicated by the presence of a tight security grip by the Israeli occupation, and the existence of security coordination between the authority and the occupation, which increases the difficulty and challenges of the work of the resistance and impedes its movement.
Let us not forget that there are many operations that were thwarted, and the reason for this was the pursuit of the Fatah authority and its arrest of the planning and implementation cells.
The enemy is well aware of the importance of security coordination with the authority that facilitates the movement of settlers in the West Bank and suppresses resistance in all its forms, and we believe that if the security grip of the authority in the West Bank is lifted from the resistance, the occupation will see the specific operations that the occupation and its settlers fear.
Moreover, the daily arrests by the Zionist occupation complicated the resistance work in the West Bank and reduced the ability of the resistance to find and build resistant cells so that they operate within organized hierarchical structures.
As for the individual operations that happen, they are the result of the general direction by the resistance in the field of all components of the Palestinian people that are able to move against the occupation, and I believe that the operations that took place in the West Bank in recent years are clear evidence that our Palestinian people in the West Bank still bear The spirit of resistance is igniting under the ashes left by the violation of the rights of our Palestinian people, peace projects, domestication and housing programs through years of miserable security coordination.
Maidan: After the arrival of the emerging "Covid-19" virus to the Gaza Strip, months after its arrival, citizens feel the absence of a clear strategy to deal with this health and economic crisis, so what is the reality of the crisis in the Strip?
What are your mechanisms for dealing with this situation?
Everyone knows that the Gaza Strip is a small geographical area, crowded with two million Palestinian citizens, without the basic necessities of life. The United Nations said that it will not be viable for life by the year 2020 AD, and it is still suffering from the longest and most severe blockade in the modern era, even if it was imposed on the greatest countries To break it and destroy its will, but Gaza’s violence and resistance and the whipping of its people succeeded in confronting all the wars and crises that afflicted the Strip, not the last of which was this epidemic, which did not affect Gaza alone, as it engulfed the entire world and formed an unprecedented crisis and challenge for all countries, and health systems collapsed in large countries. It has a long history and a great deal in fighting diseases and epidemics.
In the leadership of the movement, we realized early on the seriousness of this epidemic, as we applied precautionary measures that helped delay the arrival of the epidemic to the sector for several months, until the health and field work systems were prepared and prepared to confront it with all available capabilities, and the delay plans have already succeeded in delaying the arrival of the epidemic for a period of more than seven Months during which the virus had killed most countries of the world.
During this period, the movement sent a set of urgent messages to all friendly countries of the need to support the sector in facing the pandemic, and this is what actually happened.
Qatar and Turkey made a great effort in this matter, and we also sent a message to the Zionist enemy through mediators that all the equipment and devices needed in the besieged Gaza Strip should be brought in to improve our ability to confront the epidemic, and we threatened the occupation that our people and their resistance will not be patient until the epidemic enters Gaza, and that he must enter the necessary devices and equipment to protect our people in the face of this epidemic, otherwise Gaza will not die alone.
As for the entry of the epidemic to Gaza, plans to deal with it were ready by all governmental and movement systems of work, and this was evident in the flattening of the curves of injuries and deaths for a long time, although we have recently entered a difficult phase that led to an increase in the number of injuries, and I ask God. To help us deal with this pandemic, and to be kind to our people and humanity at large.
Maidan: The movement’s relationship with Iran has been a subject of ongoing controversy. How do you see your relationship with Iran at this time?
And has the support it provides to you damaged in light of the tightening of the siege on you?
Iran is a state that has always supported the right of the Palestinian people to gain their freedom, and Iran has been and is still distinguished by its support for the Palestinian people with arms and money, and it has clearly announced this, and this is something Hamas appreciates.
We know that one aspect of the intense hostility to Iran is its standing with the people and the Palestinian resistance.
Therefore, we appreciate this position in support of the Palestinian people and their armed resistance, knowing that the Iranian support that the resistance receives was not conditional, but was affected by the dispute over the Syrian crisis, but the relationship has returned to normal after the 2014 aggression on the Gaza Strip, and it is now at an advanced level.
And Hamas today thanks all the countries that have provided and provide support to our Palestinian people of all kinds and forms, on top of these countries Iran, Qatar, Turkey and all friendly countries, while some regimes are pursuing the movement and working to dry up its financial resources and the ways of supplying weapons to the resistance, and the supporters of the movement in Prisons.
Maidan: The administration of US President Donald Trump has presented its vision for peace in the Middle East, which is called the deal of the century, and the movement described it as a scheme to liquidate the Palestinian cause, so do you think that the victory of the American president-elect Biden will positively affect Hamas and the Palestinian cause?
We declared our rejection of the deal of the century before it was proposed, in light of our appreciation for its content before its publication, and our assessment of the movement was very accurate about its details, and about what Trump and Netanyahu intend to do to settle the issue by wrapping this project in the form of a "peace initiative", and in any case we rejected it, and we rejected any Deal with it, and history will record all those who cooperated with the US administration in order to settle the case.
The American elections are not only an internal American affair, but their results affect most countries of the world, and we believe that the Palestinian issue has been greatly damaged over the past years as a result of the American position that is completely biased towards the Zionist enemy.
In Hamas, we do not count on the incoming US administration, as it is also biased towards the Israeli occupation, but we renew our call to them not to repeat the mistakes of previous US administrations in absolute support for the Zionist occupation, and to stop at the rights of the Palestinian people, which were guaranteed to them by all heavenly and earthly laws.
Medan: There is increasing talk about the possibility of a new Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip. Do you expect a war on the Strip soon?
What has the Palestinian resistance prepared for any upcoming confrontation?
The Zionist occupation is accustomed to breaking covenants, covenants and agreements, and based on this understanding, the movement prepares every day and prepares to confront the Zionist occupation.
The aim of the movement during this period is to spare our people in the Strip the war plans that the Zionists are weaving every day, but if the occupation thinks and miscalculates the strength of the resistance;
We have many unexpected surprises that we have prepared for them for a long time, and are preparing them for the next confrontation, and we are working around the clock without tirelessness to destroy the ego of the Zionist occupation.
And the resistance will respond directly to any Zionist aggression against our people and will not allow it to violate our land, and what the occupation has seen in previous rounds of escalation will see the same and many times more in every city of occupied Palestine in any upcoming confrontation.
Maidan: There are cyber wars and security wars waged by the occupation forces on everything related to the Palestinian resistance, so how does Hamas deal with these threats?
Hamas realizes that the Zionist occupation is striving to use all capabilities to control the resistance and thwart the operations before they take place, and this is an open war of minds and a raging conflict of wills between us.
During the past years, the Palestinian resistance was able to penetrate many of the secret Zionist systems, and to direct security strikes under the belt of the security work circles of the Zionist occupation, and the war is a hoax, and the days are debated between us, and I am not indicative of the size of the security strikes that the Zionist enemy received during the last period and the extent of their impact on his work. The intelligence and security forces who pushed him with his most important special operations units to infiltrate into Gaza to plant listening devices inside the Strip, but the watchful eye of resistance thwarted his plan and severed his long arm that was extending anywhere he wanted in the world and carried out his dirty work and returned peacefully without anyone knowing about it.
Medan: In conclusion, what is your strategy for the Palestinian cause in the coming years?
Today, the Palestinian issue is going through a difficult juncture in light of the weakness or failure of the ruling regimes in our Arab and Islamic countries, the preoccupation of the defeated peoples in their internal problems, the intensification of the occupation in the West Bank, the Judaization of Jerusalem, and the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip for more than 13 years.
In light of all this, Hamas looks at the future of the Palestinian cause with the eyes of hope emanating from faith in God Almighty first, then the rights of our Palestinian people and their just causes, the will of our people and the sons of our Arab and Islamic nation, and the free world, and looks forward to managing the conflict with the Zionist occupier according to the following strategies:
First:
Closing ranks and uniting behind a national program agreed upon by all patriots by adopting a clear strategy to resist the occupation and agreeing on the forms of the Palestinian struggle.
Second:
Preserving the popular incubator and working to strengthen it in the West Bank, Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and all areas of the Palestinian people’s existence.
Third: The
material, military and moral preparation to repel the occupation attacks in the Gaza Strip, and we are keen to have surprises for the Zionist occupation.
Fourth:
Activating military action in the West Bank and expelling settlers from the West Bank.
Fifth:
Openness to our Arab and Islamic depths and mobilizing these peoples to support the Palestinian cause.
Sixth:
Confronting the current wave of normalization with the occupation and exposing their plans.