Hamas spox advises Saudi Arabia to leave Israel’s side

Hamas spokesman has stated that the normalization of relations with Israel harms the leadership in countries that back this process, advising Saudi Arabia not to stand on the enemies’ side.
In a recent interview, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem stats
that the resistance movement intends to strengthen the Arab position and not to
cause the undermining thereof.
He underlined that the establishment of normal ties with
Israel “harms the leadership of countries that support this process.”
“We call on Saudi Arabia not to submit to pressure and it
must not stand on the enemies’ side, and we hope that Saudis stand beside the
Palestinian people and cause,” Qassem remarked.
The following is the entire text of the interview conducted
and published by the Tehran Times:
“Q: What were the motives that pushed some Arab regimes in
the Persian Gulf to rush to normalize ties with Israel?
A: The process of normalization of ties with Israel, which
began with the UAE signing a normalization and cooperation agreement with the
Zionist regime, then Bahrain joined it, and then Sudan, is considered a stab in
the back of the Palestinian cause and a victory for the Zionist narrative and
the right-wing discourse, especially by Netanyahu.
The normalization of ties with such a brutal regime not only
is against the Palestinian cause, Arab interests, and stability in the region
but also didn’t help Trump in his election campaign.
This won’t save Netanyahu in his internal crises.
These agreements represent a political sin par excellence
that helps the expansionist Zionist approach to continue its plan in the region
and expresses the efforts of some regimes to reinforce their position at the
expense of Arab interests and the Palestinian cause.
Parties to the Abraham Accord must withdraw from it because
of the great damage it inflicts on the Palestinian cause. These agreements
encourage the Israelis to continue the aggression against the Palestinian
people.
Since the accord was signed, we have noticed escalating
aggression against the Palestinian people, whether in Jerusalem, the West Bank,
or Gaza.
The settlement has doubled, and this indicates the deception
practiced by the countries that signed peace agreements with Israel when they
claimed that these agreements would prevent annexation while the Israeli plan
to annex the West Bank is taking place on the ground step by step. Therefore,
we see that these agreements are very harmful and dangerous.
The Arab world, including peoples and movements, are against
this plan, but some regimes try to move along this path to gain the support of
Israel and the United States in their regional conflicts, and this is also a
strategic mistake that could add fuel to the fire of differences in the region
in favor of the United States by increasing tension, plundering the wealth of
the Islamic nations and selling more arms to the Arab countries.
Q: Are there any differences inside Israel or between Israel
and its allies regarding the implementation of the annexation project?
A: The colonial annexation plan is one of the pillars of the
Zionist right-wing vision, which believes that it should include the largest
areas in the West Bank including the Jordan Valley and East and West Jerusalem
with the exception of the population blocs inside the West Bank.
This is the vision of the biblical right-wing, and this is
the position of the Zionist right-wing movement since its inception.
Consequently, there are historical and biblical ambitions in addition to the
strategic importance of the West Bank that provides Israel a deep defense that
it lacks because of its geographical composition in the occupied Palestinian
territories. It is also an expression of the expansionist tendency that does
not stop at the Zionist project and tries to expand in any area it can and as
Israel occupied large parts of the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, southern
Lebanon, and Jordan.
Israel occupies where it can because its project is based on
an aggressive expansionist basis, while it is supported by the arrogant powers,
especially the United States.
The American support also increased Israel's motivation to
take the annexation decision, amid the state of international neglect of the
Palestinian situation, and the weakness of the European Union’s stance as well
as the differences in the Arab world; and the fabricated intra-regional
conflicts altogether provided a better environment for the Zionist regime to
dare to take such an adventurous decision.
Also, the behavior of some states in the region especially
those which follow the orders of the United States, including the countries
that signed peace agreements with Israel, encourage the Zionist regime to
complete the annexation plan.
The Israelis are negotiating in their government about the
scope of this annexation.
They prefer not to announce the exact area of annexation
because there are differences between them over the spaces, mechanisms, and the
extent of coordination with the international powers, especially with the
United States. In general, there is an agreement within the Zionist regime that
the issue of annexation is a strategic plan for them.
Q: How do you assess the reaction of the Arab peoples to the
normalization of ties with Israel?
A: According to what we monitor as a Palestinian people,
parties, factions and based on indicators monitored through opinion polls
published in think tank centers, and from what we hear in the media, the Arab
people still believe that Palestine is the central cause.
Each Arab country may have its own priorities, but in all
around the Arab region, Palestine is present and is in peoples’ hearts and
consciousness. The Arab nations still consider Israel an occupying regime and
an enemy, while the polls reveal that the overwhelming majority in the Arab
world reject the plan of normalization with Israel.
Nationalist parties, besides the Islamic movements, express
their rejection of this project. However, there are efforts by some regimes to
integrate Israel into the region through their media outlets and to frustrate
the Arab and Palestinian people by spreading rumors, lies, and misinformation.
They claim that the Palestinian people are the ones who
forgot their cause and the Palestinian leadership has failed to follow its
goals. These media accuse the Islamic Resistance of not serving the Palestinian
people. However, we are confident that the Arab peoples support the Palestinian
cause, and the Palestine map is present in the consciousness and heart of all Arabs.
All Palestinian forces must move and raise their voice in rejecting the
normalization of ties with Israel.
Q: How did the Palestinian people react to Bahrain and the
UAE which have normalized ties with Israel?
A: The Palestinians expressed their severe anger and great
condemnation about the normalization of relations with Israel. These countries
(the Emirates and Bahrain, etc.) were expected to provide Palestine with
financial, military, and political support so that our people could face the
Zionist aggression and be able to defend their land and sanctities in
Jerusalem, but they stab us in the back by signing the Abraham Accord.
There is a vast consensus at the political level between
parties, factions, and the political elites that this normalization is a
political crime against the Palestinian people, and Israel won’t stop its
occupation plan. It was a free gift for Israel to continue its aggression
against the Palestinian people.
Q: What is the role of Hamas in unifying the Palestinian
forces to confront the challenges?
A: Hamas, based on its national, moral, and religious
responsibilities, moved from the beginning to unify “the Palestinian groups to
face the challenges, especially the “deal of the century” supported by the
American administration.
We contacted with all Palestinian factions in order to unify
the Palestinian policies and succeeded in providing a positive atmosphere that
was reflected in the West Bank in a joint press conference between Sheikh
Al-Arouri, deputy head of the political office of Hamas, and Major General
Jibril Rajoub, Secretary of the Central Committee of Fatah.
There is a process launched by the Palestinian parties to
unify the policies and visions to counter the challenges, whether they are
political, such as the “deal of the century, normalization of ties with Israel
and the annexation plan, or the health crisis emerging with the breakout of the
Corona pandemic.
These contacts are continuous and strenuous, and there is a
positive atmosphere surrounding these contacts, and we will work with full
force to push it forward so that we reach a state of unification, ending rifts,
and restore credibility of the Palestinian groups by representing everyone and
activating popular resistance in all places where the Palestinian people are,
especially in the West Bank.
We will continue these efforts until it succeeds with all we
can and with full force because we believe that we can only face these
challenges through unity and harmony.
These challenges make a real threat to entire Palestine and
not to one group or party, and it is an existential danger.
Q: What is your comment on the Saudi desire and support for
the process of normalizing ties with Israel?
A: After the UAE, Bahrain, and then Sudan signed the
normalization deal with Israel, we heard a lot from the U.S. administration
that there are countries seeking normalization with Israel, including Saudi
Arabia, and we heard similar statements from the head of Mossad, and Trump
spoke about five or more countries that welcome normalization with Israel.
We call on Saudi Arabia not to be dragged into this trap
that is harmful to the Palestinian cause and dangerous for Arab national
interests and destructive to the national interests of all these countries.
The relationship with the Zionist regime harms the
leadership of countries that support this process, while we want to strengthen
the Arab position and not to dismantle it. We call on Saudi Arabia not to
submit to pressure and it must not stand on the enemies’ side, and we hope that
Saudis stand beside the Palestinian people and cause.”
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