'Hamas reserves the right to resist'

By Graham Usher

An elderly Palestinian man warmly greets Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin at a rally held recently in Gaza to weclome his return after a four-month tour of Arab and Muslim states aimed at gaining support for the Palestinian cause (photo: AFP)

Your recent tour drew mixed reactions among Palestinians. Some say it was a personal triumph, since it garnered for Hamas new political legitimacy and prominence at the expense of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Others say it was divisive. What is your opinion?
The main purpose of my trip was medical. I was given a permit by the PA to travel to Egypt and Saudi Arabia to receive medical treatment. But I received official invitations from political leaders to visit Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Syria and Sudan. Was I supposed to refuse these invitations?

Everyone has an opinion about the aim of the tour. But it was not at the expense of the PA. Nor was I opposing the PA. I said and did nothing that should make the PA nervous. I spoke only about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. And my aim was to strengthen the Palestinians and the PA in this conflict...

...and to strengthen Hamas...?
Why should I not strengthen Hamas? Is Hamas not part of the Palestinian people?

You have made it clear that Hamas is not interested in joining the current PA cabinet reshuffle. But would Hamas join a new united Palestinian leadership, if Yasser Arafat were to declare a Palestinian state in May 1999?
Hamas supports all moves that enhance unity among the Palestinians. It is the conspirators in the US and Israel who wish to undermine Palestinian unity. They whisper to us that the PA is out to destroy Hamas. They say to the PA that Hamas seeks to usurp its authority. The aim of these conspirators is clear: they want to cause conflict and bloodshed between the Palestinians. But Hamas wants unity.

We also want a Palestinian state. But it must be a real state, free from Israeli occupation. If the Palestinian leadership decides to resist the occupation and free the land, of course we would support it. These are our aims and we are with anyone who shares them.

Do you think it is possible for Hamas to reach an understanding with the PA? Some Palestinian commentators have spoken of an unofficial agreement between Hamas and the PA whereby Hamas will suspend its military operations so as not to give Netanyahu any pretext for stopping the peace process...
There have been no military operations by Hamas for nine months. And there has been no movement in the peace process. Netanyahu doesn't require a pretext. He is defying the whole world and I expect his intransigence to continue for 100 years. He doesn't even respect agreements he has signed. It was not Hamas' military operations that destroyed the peace process. It is Israel's policies of settlement, land confiscation, house demolition, imprisonment and separation of Gaza from the West Bank that destroyed it.

I believe there is a law. This law says where there is occupation, there is resistance. Resistance is the hope of the Palestinian people and, without it, we will achieve nothing. We will not destroy this hope.

But Hamas' military operations have undermined the unity that you say you seek with the PA.

It was not Hamas who destroyed Palestinian unity. It was the Oslo agreements. All of the Palestinian factions now oppose these agreements. We opposed them because the solution they offer is neither right nor just to the Palestinians. If we refuse these agreements, how can we be expected to adhere to them? The Oslo agreements were and are a failure. Their sole aims are to create greater Israeli control over the Palestinian people and greater influence in the Middle East and the world. Hamas will let the PA pursue the Oslo process without fighting it. But Hamas reserves the right to resist occupation.

What is the purpose of Hamas' military operations against Israel? Hamas' military arm (Izzadin Al-Qassam) determines military actions according to its own plans and circumstances. But there are two kinds of military operations. First, there is the military struggle against the occupation and settlements. This is a struggle that will not be stopped. Second, there are military actions which are in response to Israeli attacks on our civilians. Hamas has long made it clear that it will stop attacking Israeli civilians once Israel stops attacking Palestinian civilians.

But how do you define attacks on Palestinian civilians? Is it when Israel kills Palestinians, or does it also include actions like house demolition, settlement construction and land confiscation?
Of course these are attacks on Palestinian civilians. But, for the moment, Hamas is not responding to them. In the future, it might respond. In the meantime, it would be wise for the world to pressure Israel to halt these kinds of attacks.