Hamas’ new leader in Gaza, Yahya al-Sinwar is a veteran of armed resistance and has spent many decades in Israeli dungeons. Under his leadership, the resistance front is expected to be re-activated after a period of quietude.
Has Hamas leadership realized the errors of its policy in aligning itself with oppressive Arabian regimes and abandoning the Islamic Republic, the one true friend of the Palestinian people? Recent statements by Hamas officials gives cause for guarded optimism.
Decisions carry consequences; and faulty decisions will lead to negative consequences as the Hamas leadership has found to its cost.
For 18 months my people in Ghazzah have been under siege, incarcerated inside the world’s biggest prison, sealed off from land, air and sea, caged and starved, denied even medication for our sick. After the slow death policy came the bombardment. In this most densely populated of places, nothing has been spared Israel’s warplanes, from government buildings to homes, mosques, hospitals, schools and markets.
Khalid Misha’al is Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, the main Palestinian Islamic movement. He represented Hamas at the International Conference on the Palestinian Intifada in Tehran last month as Hamas leader Shaikh Ahmad Yasin was unable to travel to Iran from Occupied Ghazzah. Here we present an excerpt of his address to the conference.
