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Hamas Leader: Peace Process Is Futile. There Is Only Jihad, Sacrifice, and Blood.

Martyrs, said Khaled Meshal, ‘are the most exalted and the noblest of people’

by
Jonathan Zalman
December 16, 2015
Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images
Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal speaks at political conference on Palestine in Cairo, Egypt, April 4, 2013. Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images
Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images
Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal speaks at political conference on Palestine in Cairo, Egypt, April 4, 2013. Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images

Khaled Meshal believes that neither negotiations with Israel nor working with the UN can lift the Palestinians from their situation—that “2,000 verbal “rockets” do not compare to a single rocket made of iron.” This was the message of from Meshal, who lives in exile in Qatar, to the Palestinian youth in the West Bank who have “absorbed” this concept: violence works, like “knives and cars with which to run over over the enemies.” Of course, this is exactly what has been happening in Israel during a recent fever of violence. From afar, Meshal and other Palestinian leaders are calling for an “intifada.”

“The so-called peace process is futile,” said Meshal. “There is no peace. Only the path of Jihad, sacrifice, and blood (will bear fruit).”

“The children and youth of the West Bank have absorbed the message: Weapons like Kalashnikovs or missiles are not at hand, but there are knives and cars with which to run over the enemies. By God, after the knives used by the people of the West Bank and Jerusalem—can anyone possibly have an excuse to abandon the path of Jihad? Nobody can have such an excuse. Our Lord says: “Allah does not impose upon anyone a duty but to the extent of his ability.” He also said: “Prepare for them what you can.” Therefore, the young man who puts his life on the line and the heroic sister, with nothing but a knife at hand, are justified, and Allah accepts them. This is up to Allah, but He accepts their Jihad and their martyrdom. By God, they are the most exalted and the noblest of people.”

An edited clip of Meshal’s speech in Malaysia last Thursday was recently published on the website of MEMRI, a Washington, D.C.-based Middle East research group, and can seen here.

Jonathan Zalman is a writer and teacher based in Brooklyn.