Israeli Hamas groupies get a pat on the back - from Hamas

Ismail Haniyeh declared to Israeli and other activists that they strengthen Hamas in its struggle to implement its program. The Hamas program as stated in their charter is the "liberation" of all of "Palestine" (Israel) and the annihilation of the Jewish people.

 

 

Last update - 16:55 31/12/2009       
Hamas leader to Israeli activists: You strengthen us
By DPA

 

Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh on Thursday told activists gathered on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides of the Gaza Strip border that residents of the besieged territory had not given up hope and would never stop fighting for a state, with Jerusalem as its capital.

 

"Because of international solidarity and your support, we have become stronger," Haniyeh declared. "The Palestinian nation will never give up its national aspirations or its right to Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine and the Islamic people."

 

Some 1,000 people, among them all of Israel's Arab MKs and community leaders, gathered at the Israeli side of the Erez border crossing to express solidarity with the residents of Gaza, one year after Israel's offensive there. MK Taleb A-Sana relayed Haniyeh's message to the Israeli side via a mobile phone.
 

 

On the Gaza side of the border, nearly 100 international activists joined about 500 Palestinians, chanting and carrying signs denouncing the blockade.

 

During the rally, Israeli Arab MK Jamal Zahalka directed harsh criticism at Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who he said enjoys "classical music and killing children in Gaza."

 

The terror emerging from the Gaza Strip was a result of Israel's actions against Palestinians, Zahalka told the protesters, who had convened to mark one year since Operation Cast Lead.

 

The Israeli Arab protesters waved the flag of the Palestine Liberation organization as they rallied against Israel's continued blockade of Gaza, accusing Israel of starving the Palestinian people.

 

The 86 international activists began touring the Gaza Strip on Thursday, in an expression of solidarity with Palestinians living there under the Israeli blockade.

 

Their visit, which coincides with one year since Israel's offensive against militants in the Strip, will see them meet with officials from the Islamist Hamas movement, which administers the salien.

 

They will also tour areas hit in the Israeli bombardments, visit Shifa hospital, and meet with community leaders, said Hamdi Shaath, the head of the pro-Hamas Committee to Defeat the Blockade.

 

The 86, part of a much large group of 1,300 activists, arrived in the Strip on Wednesday night, after spending several days in Cairo waiting for Egyptian authorities to allow them to cross into the enclave via the Rafah crossing point.

 

Tighe Berry, the spokesman of the group, said Hedy Epstein, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, had remained behind in Cairo