Subscribe Today
Request a Clip
Following are excerpts from an interview with Fatah spokesman Ahmad Assaf, which aired on Palestinian Authority TV on June 11, 2014:
Ahmad Assaf: The Hamas government, or the Hamas leaders in Gaza, think that the government of Dr. Rami Hamdallah operates like they do. Dr. Hamdallah was a university president. He respects the law. He has gained the trust of President Abbas, of Fatah, and of the Palestinians. He does not obey the orders of your local mosque sheik, who issues a fatwa-on-demand legitimizing killing Fatah members, another fatwa justifying your coup, yet another, supporting reconciliation, a fatwa in support of the elections, and another banning the elections… Dr. Hamdallah doesn't work that way.
[…]
Hamas's gang of riff-raff, thugs, and delinquents, who call themselves "police," bust into banks, prevent people from collecting their salaries, and they impede people from earning their daily bread. They do this following the orders of the Hamas leaders. This is not how responsible people who care about the Palestinian's interest behave.
[…]
[Money] is the only thing they hold sacred, and that's why they demand to [unite] the finance ministries. But they expect the interior ministry to continue to obey the orders of the robe-wearing sheik at their local mosque. But this money came as a result of the Oslo Accords. It's haram. This is the same money we got from America and Europe. We "sold out" Palestine for this money, didn't we? You condemn us 24/7 for accepting this aid for the Palestinians, but all of a sudden this money has become the most holy thing around.
You have reduced the Palestinian cause to the dimensions of Gaza. You turned it into a humanitarian issue, into an electricity shortage, and today you are reducing our reconciliation to the size of an ATM card. Is this all that our homeland and our national unity mean to you?!
[…]
Do you expect us to finance your security control over the Gaza Strip, and in return, witness the humiliation of our people in Gaza? We won't have this. We saw people who were attacked. We saw the people ending up in hospitals. What crime did they commit? They went to pick up their salary. By what law does Hamas consider this a crime? Is this a police force? This is a bunch of criminals. They will be held accountable, along with all the people who committed crimes in the Gaza Strip. Before Hamas demands to form a unified finance ministry, it must abide by the law and comply with our national principles and moral values.
[…]
In what capacity does Ismail Haniya deliver a Friday sermon every week? Who is he? If you really want to become a sheik, resign your political post. These mosques are sacred. They are intended for the worship of Allah, not for sowing discord and hatching conspiracies.
[…]
We know that Iran pays you on a monthly basis. The international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood invests in you. You are its spearhead. That's how you gained access to all the Arab countries. Allah be praised, Hamas has collected billions of dollars. On your collection box at the mosque it says "Jerusalem," but Jerusalem has nothing to do with you. You have used the Palestinian people to collect dollars by the hundreds of millions. You were the milch cow of the Muslim Brotherhood, but where is it now?
[…]
Hamas has provided jobs to their members along with their entire families – their wives, their children, their sisters – and now they expect us to pay their salaries. At the very least they should show some respect and politeness. If you want me to do you a favor, show some humility. But they make thousands of statements, attacking President Abbas and Fatah. They try to attack Dr. Rami Hamdallah, who agreed to head the reconciliation government. They say that he has failed. How can he fail after only three days?!
In the past seven years, Hamas has destroyed Gaza. It gives us Gaza back completely destroyed, without electricity, 99% of the water polluted, and a one billion debt. The situation is catastrophic, yet they talk about their "accomplishments." In his press conference, Ismail Haniya sounded as if he was talking about Norway. Listening to him, I said that this can't be Gaza. It must be Norway. If you are such a miracle worker why are you leaving? Come to the West Bank, and show us some of your achievements. Who are you trying to fool? Do you think our people are that stupid?! Do you think they are blind?!
[…]
Latest Clips
