Hamas urges Arab hackers to expand cyberwar on Israeli occupation

[ 08/01/2012 - 10:42 AM ]



GAZA, (PIC)– Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri hailed the anonymous Arab hackers who managed to penetrate credit cards of Israelis and expose their details as a creative work and a new means of resistance against the occupation.

“We, in Hamas, bless this effort and urge the Arab youth to activate and develop it; we consider that this effort has the same value as any kind of resistance means used by the Palestinian young men in the land of Palestine,” spokesman Abu Zuhri stated in a press release.

“We stress our solidarity with the Arab hackers in the face of the Zionist threats and call upon the Arab youth not to pay any attention to these cowardly threats and to use all possible means through the virtual space to confront the Zionist crimes,” the spokesman added.

The Israeli foreign ministry had threatened to respond to any attempt targeting its websites on the Internet.
Deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon said in a speech in a symposium held in Beersheba on Saturday that any act against Israel’s cyberspace is a declaration of war and would be retaliated to.

He warned that Israel would follow the US strategy in this regard and would use its missile power, if necessary, to address these attacks.

Source and more at the Palestinian Information Center

Hamas: Peaceful resistance not applicable to Gaza

Published yesterday (updated) 04/01/2012 10:01

 

Palestinian and left-wing Israeli demonstrators face tear gas fired by Israeli
forces during clashes at a protest against a nearby settlement, in Nabi Saleh
village, near Ramallah, on Dec. 16, 2011. (Reuters/Darren Whiteside)

 

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar has cast doubt his party will take up peaceful resistance against Israel as advocated by former rivals Fatah.

Under a reconciliation deal between the factions signed in May, officials called for a unified "national strategy," and Fatah officials say that Hamas chief-in-exile Khalid Mashaal agreed to adopt non-violent popular action in favor of armed struggle.

But in comments to Ma'an late Monday, senior Hamas official in Gaza Zahhar stressed the situation in the Gaza Strip is different to the occupied West Bank.

"Against whom could we demonstrate in the Gaza Strip? When Gaza was occupied, that model was applicable," Zahhar said.

Israeli forces withdrew from the coastal strip in 2005, and imposed a crippling land and sea blockade after Hamas took power in 2007.

Zahhar said that no program of peaceful resistance had been agreed with Fatah. "We only discussed that as a slogan," he said, without elaborating.

The mass popular protests of the Arab Spring are not applicable to Palestinians' opposition to Israeli occupation, he added.

"We can't use the same means seen in Egypt, Syria, and Tunisia because they are inappropriate in the West Bank. Egypt got rid of the British occupation with arms, and since we are resisting occupation, we should use all means including armed resistance."

But Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad told Ma'an that Fatah chief President Mahmoud Abbas and Mashaal agreed at their Nov. 24 meeting to adopt peaceful resistance and to increase its scale both in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank.

Suggesting that agreement was still pending, Zahhar said: "The most important thing is to have a united political agenda. We should agree on whether we want all kinds of resistance, or just limit it to rallies and waving flags?"

The May deal aimed to end four years of division between the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas-led Gaza administration, which split after fighting between the factions exploded in 2007.

Hamas will be ready to step down in the Gaza Strip if another party wins elections, Zahhar said, "however, elections must be honorable."

Differences between the parties' strategy was again highlighted on Monday, when Hamas slammed Fatah officials' participation in talks with Israeli and Quartet envoys in Jordan this week, saying such meetings were "reproducing a failed policy."

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=449619

Is Hamas a Mean-minded Christmas Scrooge?

16:45 01/01/2012 


By Stuart Littlewood

Phoebe Greenwood, writing from Gaza City in The Guardian on 23 December reported:

'There hasn't been a Christmas tree in Gaza City's main square since Hamas pushed the Palestinian Authority out of Gaza in 2007 and Christmas is no longer a public holiday.'

The headline said Hamas had “cancelled Christmas”. Could this possibly be true?

When I visited Gaza in late 2007 Fr Manuel Mussallam, the feisty old priest in charge of the Catholic community, took me and others to meet Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and some of his colleagues. Relations between Christian and Muslim - or at least between the Catholic community and the Hamas government - seemed strong enough and friendly enough for Christmas celebrations to be left undisturbed.

The very idea of a ban actually makes me smile because Scotland, a Christian country of course, saw Christmas as a papist festival and for centuries discouraged it. When I lived there it wasn't even a public holiday.

But back to the Strip… Is Hamas being beastly to Gaza’s Christians? Has Phoebe Greenwood got her story straight? I wrote to her at The Guardian, pointing out that revelations of this kind in the popular British press undo the hard work activists put in to help the Palestinian cause. Could she please throw more light onto it? I've had no reply.

I’m in England and unable to contact Hamas. Phoebe Greenwood is on the spot. Shouldn’t someone from Mr Haniyeh's office be given a chance to comment?

As for Fr Manuel, he has finally retired and left Gaza. The school he ran there, part-funded by the Vatican, had 1200 pupils. About 1000 were Muslim and some of these the children of Hamas leaders.

The relationship between Muslim and Christian in the Holy Land, and the potential for friction, is frequently poked and prodded simply to make mischief.

Archbishop Theodosius Hanna (Greek Orthodox Church), on a visit to Ireland a year ago, told politicians: "The problem in Palestine has nothing to do with religion – it is not a religious issue. It is not a conflict of Christians, Muslims and Jewish people. It is a conflict between those who are the holders of a rightful cause and those who took away that right by military might.

“Palestinian people as a whole, including Christians and Muslims, have said repeatedly that what they want is peace. We want two states that live together in peace. However, the reality on the ground is that we are extremely far away from that goal because Israel does not want peace."

Fr Manuel, who accompanied the Archbishop, told his listeners what happened when the Christian school in Gaza was targeted.

“Five Hamas ministers visited the school after it was attacked and promised they would repair the damage… A Hamas minister, a Muslim, picked up the Holy Bible thrown on the ground, kissed it and put it back on the altar. He said Muslims were forbidden to do such things to the Bible. Hamas paid more than $122,000 to repair all the damage caused.

“Afterwards I met the Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh. When he embraced me he said this, and we believed it. He said: “Go to your family, but be assured that Hamas will employ weapons against Muslims to protect Christians in Gaza.” This is the reality. Christians in Palestine are not suffering persecution, because we are not considered to be a religious community, but rather the people of Palestine. We have the same rights and the same obligations.”

It is hardly surprising that Israeli oppression aided and endorsed by western Christendom, and the grinding poverty this evil alliance creates in the occupied territories, drives some Muslims into the arms of Islamic extremism. Hamas insists that extremist acts are incidents not policy.

Fr Manuel went on to tell the Irish what things were really like under military occupation. "We have spoken to Israel for more than18 years and the result has been zero. We have signed agreements here and there at various times and then when there is a change in the government of Israel we have to start again from the beginning. We ask for our life and to be given back our Jerusalem, to be given our state and for enough water to drink. We want to be given more opportunity to reach Jerusalem. I have not seen Jerusalem since 1990."

He described the nightmarish system of entry and exit permits, which Israel invariably refused. "We want to see an end to this occupation, and please do not ask us to protect those who are occupying our territory."
A week ago, on Christmas Day, the Voice of Palestine website ran this news item:

"DAMASCUS - Hamas Movement have offered its best wishes to all Palestinian Christians in occupied Palestine, and other countries on the occasion of Prophet Jesus' birth and wished them a happy holiday.

"'On the occasion of rejoicing the birth of Prophet Jesus peace of God be upon him, the Islamic Movement of Hamas extends its sincere wishes to all our fellow Christians in their homeland Palestine, the cradle of prophecies and the land of divine messages, as well as to the Palestinian Christians in the Arab and Islamic countries and the whole world,' Hamas said in a press release on Saturday.
"Hamas wished this occasion to be an opportunity for uniting the Palestinian people and pooling the efforts of the world's free people to support the Palestinian cause and protect the Islamic and Christian holy sites."

In the past Hamas has shown great respect for the Christian tradition of Christmas and, I hear, Hamas officials in Bethlehem used to dress up as Santa Claus to distribute gifts to Christian children. So the question remains: has Hamas really become such a Scrooge as to torpedo Christmas with a tree ban?

If so, it’s a sure-fire way to lose friends and alienate people.

- Stuart Littlewood's book Radio Free Palestine can now be read on the internet by visiting www.radiofreepalestine.org.uk. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=17359#.TwG9aNHZIEk.facebook

Hamas will focus on popular protests in struggle with Israel, group chief says

• Published 15:46 23.12.11 Latest update 15:46 23.12.11

Speaking with AP, Khaled Meshal says unarmed protests have 'the power of a tsunami,' although indicates Hamas will not renounce violence against Israel; Israel: Hamas seeks Israel's destruction.

By The Associated Press and Haaretz 

Hamas will focus on popular protests to unify Palestinians while not renouncing the use of violence against Israel, the Islamic group's leader, Khaled Meshal said in an interview late Thursday, adding that group would be willing to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 lines. 

	Khaled Meshal
	Photo by: AP

Meshal was in Cairo for reconciliation talks with Hamas' rival, President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. 

The sides agreed that Hamas would join the Palestine Liberation Organization, led by Abbas, and allow elections to go ahead in Gaza and the West Bank in 2012. 

Popular protests have "the power of a tsunami," Meshal told the Asscoiated Press, pointing to the recent waves of demonstrations across the Arab world. 

"Now we have a common ground that we can work on … the popular resistance, which presents the power of people," he said. The idea for the protests originated with the Palestinians themselves and the uprising they launched against Israel in 1987, he said, typified by crowds of rock-throwing Palestinian youths confronting heavily armed Israeli soldiers. 

Meshal also gave rare Hamas public support to the idea of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Hamas ideology does not accept the presence of a Jewish state in an Islamic Middle East. 

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev dismissed Meshal's statements, noting Friday that Hamas has repeatedly said it seeks Israel's destruction. 

"Hamas is very open and public about its position … it believes the Jewish state should be obliterated, it fundamentally opposes peace and reconciliation, and it sees every Israeli civilian as a legitimate target," he said. "One cannot build policy upon wishful thinking." 

During the AP interview in Cairo after his meeting with Abbas, Meshal said Hamas would not renounce its own armed fight against Israel. The group has killed hundreds of Israelis, most of them civilians, in suicide bombings, shootings and rocket attacks since the Islamist group was formed in 1987. 

"As long as there is an occupation on our land, we have the right to defend our land by all means, including military resistance," he said. 

Israel holds Hamas responsible for Gaza militants firing hundreds of rockets at Israel in recent months, as Hamas rules Gaza. Hamas blames splinter groups for the rocket attacks and has mostly kept a cease-fire that followed a three-week war three years ago, an Israeli attempt to stop the rocket barrages. 

Hamas considers all of Israel to be occupied land. Abbas and his Palestinian Authority, in contrast, say they would accept a Palestinian state alongside Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, inside what are known as the "1967 borders." 

Meshal told the AP his group, too, would be prepared to accept those borders. 

"We have political differences, but the common ground is the state on the '67 borders. Why don't we work in this common area," he said. 

Hamas has said in the past that it would accept such a state as a temporary measure as a stage toward destroying Israel, which remains the group's stated goal. Meshal did not repeat that in the interview.
The split between Hamas and Fatah, he said, "is not a normal thing, and it should be ended and will be ended." 

"The nation is bigger than the party," he said. 

The two Palestinian factions have been at odds since Hamas won Palestinian elections in 2006, defeating Fatah. The differences spiraled into violence that claimed hundreds of lives and resulted in Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza in 2007. 

That left Abbas in charge only in the West Bank, where he governs Palestinian cities under Israel's overall security control. 

Hamas is considered by the U.S. and EU to be a terror organization. Abbas' Palestinian Authority is funded largely by Western countries, including the U.S., and has close security ties with Israel. 

Meshal's comments came after, speaking with the Egypt Independent newspaper on Thursday, a top Hamas official indicated that the group could shift to non-violent struggle in order to garner international backing for its fight with Israel. 

Ahmed Youssef, a political adviser to Hamas' Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said that the group had to "create popular resistance that draws the world to our struggle, and that doesn’t give the Israelis the justification to hit us hard." 

"The non-violent approach is part of a strategy for our present situation to draw world sympathy to our cause,” the top aide said adding that the possible change in strategy was also a result of Hamas' “vulnerable situation against the Israelis, who have a huge propaganda machine.”

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-will-focus-on-popular-protests-in-struggle-with-israel-group-chief-says-1.403208

Hamas moves to join Palestine Liberation Organization

• Published 14:10 22.12.11 Latest update 14:10 22.12.11

Khaled Meshal joins committee that will prepare for elections to the PLO leadership, AP reports.

By The Associated Press and Zvi Bar'el 

Hamas has moved to join the Palestine Liberation Organization - a key step toward unifying the long-divided Palestinian leadership, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

	Khaled Meshal, political leader of Hamas, left, meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo Egypt, December 21, 2011.
	Photo by: AP

Hamas' leader Khaled Meshal on Thursday joined a committee that will prepare for elections to the PLO leadership, according to AP.

Those elections are likely years away but Meshal's move means he will work with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, head of the rival Fatah party.

The PLO is the umbrella group of the Palestinian independence movement. Should Hamas join the PLO, it would have to accept all of the PLO’s commitments, including those toward Israel.
In the Palestinian elections due to take place in the West Bank and Gaza, Hamas and Fatah will run separately.

Thursday's development is an important step toward reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah - which have been split since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

Members of several Palestinian factions met in Cairo on Thursday as part of reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas.

Intensive talks have been taking place in recent days in Cairo, leading up to Thursday’s meeting that addressed the issue of elections and the restructuring of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Israel has rejected the reconciliation efforts, refusing to negotiate with a government including Hamas, whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/hamas-moves-to-join-palestine-liberation-organization-1.402931

Report: Hamas agrees to join PLO

Published yesterday (updated) 22/12/2011 21:49

 

 

 

CAIRO (Ma'an) -- Hamas has agreed to join the Palestine Liberation Organization in a move intended to bolster Palestinian reconciliation, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

There was no immediate confirmation, but officials in Cairo said Hamas and Islamic Jihad expressed flexibility and indicated they would accept the PLO's legitimacy.

The report came after President Mahmoud Abbas met Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Cairo to put "final touches" on an agreement to reconcile the leaders' rival factions.

Officials from Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian National Initiative said late Thursday that they had accepted positions on an "interim leadership" of the PLO.

Ayed Yaghi, a PNI leader, said the small faction joined the PLO and that it was a natural position to take.

Head of the PNI Mustafa Barghouthi called it "a historic day in the lives of the Palestinian people with the development of a united national leadership as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the PNI joined the PLO’s leadership framework."

An Islamic Jihad leader, however, said that joining the "interim leadership framework" of the PLO did not necessarily mean it had formally accepted membership in the Palestinian body.

Khaled Al-Batsh told Ma’an that joining the organization requires a clear framework for how the PLO will be restructured.

He added that if there was an agreement concerning these issues, Islamic Jihad would become a member in the organization. However, if there was not, the group said it was still willing to contribute.

“We’re now in the phase of national dialogue," he said. "We’re in the interim leadership framework, which will handle restructuring the PLO, and we hope to succeed.”

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=447131

Gaza celebrates the 24th Anniversary of Hamas foundation – in pictures

 December 14, 2011 by occupiedpalestine 

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14-12-2011,10:52  – Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades

Al Qassam website – Gaza – Palestinian people is marking the twenty-fourth anniversary of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, foundation to affirm that it will continue all forms of resistance against the Israeli occupation until liberation, independence and the return of the Palestinian refugees.

Hamas in press statement said “On this day in the year 1987, our people started their revolution against the Israeli occupation, and made thousands of sacrifices for the sake of their land and holy sites,” Hamas’ statement reads, “Our people are still steadfast, determined to achieve full unity, and despite Israel’s excessive use of force, and bombardment, they are determined to achieve liberation, and to establish their independent state.”

The movement further stated that the Palestinian people, wherever their reside, share the strongest ties to their land and their identity, “…and will always remain united and determined to liberate Palestine and its holy sites.”

It also stated that all Arab and Muslim nations support the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people, despite the idleness of the international community, and the military and financial support the United States and other Western countries provide Israel with to maintain its illegal occupation of Palestine.

More than 1,500 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli forces during the first Intifada, while at least 120,000 were injured. Israel also arrested a total of 120,000 Palestinians and displaced more than 150,000.

The Ministry of Information in Gaza reported that the number of Palestinians who were killed since the beginning of the Al Aqsa Intifada in late September 2000 until now, arrived at more than 7,404, including at least 1,859 children, and more than 800 women. The number of wounded Palestinians exceeded 42,400.

Source and more at the  Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades.

Pictures

Palestinians gather near a poster of late Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin during celebrations for the 24th anniversary of the foundation of the Islamist movement in Gaza City on December 14, 2011. AFP PHOTO/MARCO LONGARI

Hamas 24 Year Anniversary, Celebrations in Gaza – Dec 14, 2011 – Photo via Paltoday.com

Hamas 24 Year Anniversary, Celebrations in Gaza – Dec 14, 2011 – Photo via Paltoday.com

Hamas 24 Year Anniversary, Celebrations in Gaza – Dec 14, 2011 – Photo via Paltoday.com

Hamas 24 Year Anniversary, Celebrations in Gaza – Dec 14, 2011 – Photo via Paltoday.com

Hamas 24 Year Anniversary, Celebrations in Gaza – Dec 14, 2011 – Photo via Paltoday.com

Hamas 24 Year Anniversary, Celebrations in Gaza – Dec 14, 2011 – Photo via Paltoday.com

Hamas 24 Year Anniversary, Celebrations in Gaza – Dec 14, 2011 – Photo via Paltoday.com

Hamas 24 Year Anniversary, Celebrations in Gaza – Dec 14, 2011 – Photo via Paltoday.com

Hamas 24 Year Anniversary, Celebrations in Gaza – Dec 14, 2011 – Photo via Paltoday.com

Hamas 24 Year Anniversary, Celebrations in Gaza – Dec 14, 2011 – Photo via Paltoday.com

A Palestinian man waves a green Hamas party flag as tens of thousands of supporters of the Islamist movement gather in Gaza City to celebrate the 24th anniversary of its founding. AFP PHOTO/MARCO LONGARI

A Palestinian man stands outside the square where tens of thousands of supporters of the Islamist movement Hamas are gathered in Gaza City to celebrate the 24th anniversary of its founding. AFP PHOTO/MARCO LONGARI

Hamas 24 Year Anniversary, Celebrations in Gaza – Dec 14, 2011 – Photo via Paltoday.com

Hamas 24 Year Anniversary, Celebrations in Gaza – Dec 14, 2011 – Photo via Paltoday.com

http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/gaza-people-celebrates-24th-anniversary-of-hamas-foundation/