Hamas: We Are No Al Qaeda

In a statement to Ikhwanweb, Hamas spokesperson Mr. Samy Abu Zehry, rejected Mr. Bin Laden’s statements in reference to Hamas participation in legislative councils and running for elections “Hamas has its own agenda that is not compatible with Al Qaeda’s. Hamas is a political movement serving the Palestinian people but meanwhile resisting an occupation and will only work within these boundaries”. Abu Zehry added “We certainly differ from Al Qaeda. Hamas believes in political participation and democracy and sees no contradiction with Islam in this regard”


In his comments about Mr. Bin Laden’s description of the west cutting aid to Palestinians as “the new Crusade”, Mr. Abu Zehry stated that Hamas, indeed, has always warned the western governments against just that “We said before that supporting the Israeli occupation and suffocating Hamas government economically through extremely harsh measures will only play for the benefit of the extremists and might be perceived by some as a religious war or “Crusade”. We at Hamas are keen to have good relations with the west. However, imposing a siege on Hamas will embolden Mr. Bin Laden’s ideas”


Abu Zehry also denied any presence for Al Qaeda in the Palestinian territories “these are only reports circulated by the media. Every Palestinian is resisting the Israeli occupation some way or another and there is no room for Al Qaeda in Palestine”