'Hamas not to blame for Gaza war'

Dubai: Gulf News spoke candidly with Hamas strongman Musher Al Masry on contemporary issues that Hamas faces in the aftermath of the Gaza war. Al Masry stressed that Hamas was not to blame for the latest war on Gaza, which claimed more than 1,300 lives, and said as long as Israeli occupation continues there will be resistance.

Gulf News: Let's start from the year 2006. Hamas won the legislative election fair and square. Why do you think the other parties didn't accept to participate in the government, and why didn't the international community comply with commitments to that government?

Musher Al Masry: The election that took place in 2006 was one of the most transparent elections in the Middle East, as all the supervisors declared, but it seems as though if the results aren't as the Americans and Israelis desire, they will not accept them. The US administration is trying to ignore the fair results that the Palestinian election provided while accepting the last Israeli election, which brought in an extremist government.

Gilad Shalit wasn't the only Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants, so why is the focus on him? Why has there not yet been a prisoner exchange?

Unfortunately, in the story of Gilad Shalit the Western media have focused only on him and not on the 12,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including members of parliament. We believe that kidnapping Israeli soldiers is a legal action and the main element of resistance that must be taken into consideration to free our prisoners from Israeli jails.

Some people say that the Palestinians paid a heavy price for the capture of Shalit. What is your response?

The problem isn't Shalit, the problem is the Israeli occupation that has lasted for more than 60 years. Crimes and terrorism against our people persist. Life was not better before the kidnapping of Shalit and even the situation in the West Bank is deteriorating. As long as Israel occupies our land the situation will remain a tense one.

The year 2007 was marked by civil war between the Palestinians. Do you think that this division is damaging the Palestinian cause?

The division isn't serving the Palestinian cause. We are in a liberating period and we need unity these days, more than in any time before. We in Hamas have called for unity since day one and we believe that the rift can be healed at the negotiation table.

In a poll last March, about 71 per cent of Palestinians said they were not optimistic that negotiations on unity would succeed. What are your comments?

They have the right not to be optimistic, due to what happened during reconciliation talks. We hope that what comes next will be better than what happened before. The last meetings went in the wrong direction.

Some people blame Hamas for the Gaza war, saying that Hamas could have avoided this war by accepting a ceasefire agreement or at least not firing rockets at Israel.

Firstly, I think it is wrong to compare a criminal to a victim. We are the victims of the occupation. We are resisting against this occupation, which is permitted under international law.

Also, the war was clearly prepared beforehand and not as a response to Hamas attacks, as the Israelis claim. Lastly, we are defending our people. We didn't occupy the land of Israel, but they occupied ours. They also turned down a request to renew the ceasefire, so only Israel can be held responsible for the crimes committed against the women and children of Gaza.

Three months have passed since the war on Gaza. What has changed?

I think that all the efforts to remove or isolate Hamas politically by Israel and America, or even by Palestinian groups, have failed.

Hamas proved that it is a strong politically and military and enjoys increased popularity.

What do you think of the new American administration?

We were waiting for a new policy and strategies, but unfortunately we haven't seen anything new from this administration. All the messages we have received are negative so far. What we ask the new administration to do is to correct the wrongs of the past American administration and to take the middle ground between the Palestinians and Israelis. Also, they have to respect the choice of the Palestinians and their representatives.

What is your opinion on the current rift between Hezbollah and Egypt?

This is a sensitive crisis that we hope will be resolved soon. Some tried to involve us in this crisis, but we have nothing to do with it. We believe that Egypt and the Arab world must support the resistance and not oppose it.

What is the real relationship between Hamas and Iran? Can we say that you are allies?

It is true that Iran is supporting the resistance and this is something in common between us. But this relationship is no different than our relations with the rest of the Arab and Islamic world. We are not allies, but there might be an agreement on the resistance - and our decisions are independent.

Will the heavy price paid by the Palestinians in the Gaza War affect Hamas' role in the next Palestinian legislative elections?

Hamas will participate in the next elections and will win. Hamas has sacrificed the most. It lost the most numbers during the war and it will never leave its people.