By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, Palestinian Media Watch, December 12,
2005.
In a new Hamas pre-election video, the terror organization again declares that it
will not give up its armed struggle until Israel is destroyed.
The Hamas message likewise celebrates its love of death as superior to the
Israeli love of life. It also expresses support for those Israeli Arabs that wish to
destroy Israel “from the interior.” Hamas looks forward to a day when its flag
will fly over not only Jerusalem, but over all Israeli cities, including Acre and
Haifa.
The release of the new video on the Hamas website, reiterating its goal of
destroying Israel, coincides with two polls this week showing Hamas turning
into a major political force, with between 32% and 45% of Palestinians saying
they will vote for Hamas in January’s parliamentary elections.
What are the implications for peace, should nearly 50% of the
Palestinian Authority parliament be open supporters of Israel’s destruction?
It will be interesting to see if the continuing Hamas election campaign calling for
Israel’s destruction will prompt a change in United States or European Union
policy. The US State Department has made clear that while it continues to
transfer hundreds of millions of dollars of support to the PA, it will make no
demands on it to prevent the Hamas from participating in the upcoming
elections. The EU and United Nations have also agreed that Hamas can
participate in the elections.
The following are the words on the new Hamas video:
“We succeeded, with Allah’s grace, to raise an ideological generation that loves
death like our enemies love life. We will not abandon the way of Jihad and
Shahada as long as one inch of our holy land is in the hands of the
Jews.
“Congratulations to our people of 1948 on the liberation of Gaza.
You wish to destroy them from the interior. We will never forget
you, and never leave you. A day will come when our flag will fly above all the
quarters of our land. Our flag will fly on the minarets of Jerusalem, and the
walls of Acre, and the quarters of Haifa.”
