In a June 9, 2009 interview on Al-Jazeera TV, Al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid stated that Hamas and Al-Qaeda "share the same ideology and the same doctrine." This statement is very different senior Al-Qaeda leaders' usual statements about Hamas; these tend to be critical, particularly since Hamas' participation in the Palestinian general elections, and even more so since its 2007 takeover of Gaza, which, to Al-Qaeda's chagrin, was not followed by the enforcement of Islamic law there. Because it comes from a prominent Al-Qaeda commander, this statement may reflect a decision by Al-Qaeda to take a less confrontational approach towards Hamas, for reasons which are not yet clear. This assumption is reinforced by the August 3, 2009 message by Al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, in which he harshly criticized Fatah but took a relatively favorable tone towards Hamas. Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid's conciliatory tone towards Hamas evoked harsh criticism among members of Islamist forums, as well as a response from prominent Salafi-jihadi scholar Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, who said decisively: "We [i.e. the Salafi-jihadis] and Hamas share neither ideology nor doctrine." In a June 22, 2009 article, Al-Maqdisi reviewed Hamas statements and policies, and pointed out the discrepancies between the underlying ideology of Hamas and that of the Salafi-jihadis." Following are excerpts from Al-Maqdisi's article:
...The full text of this post is available to subscribers.
Please login or register to request subscription information from MEMRI
