Former Hamas Political Bureau Chief Khaled Mash'al: We Are Ready for All Types of Armed and Popular Resistance

Khaled Mash'al, former Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, called for Palestinian unity in order to defeat Trump's "Deal of the Century" and said that "we are ready for all types of armed and popular resistance." Mash'al, who was speaking on Al-Araby TV on May 14, against the backdrop of the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem and the commemoration of the Nakba, said that "these marches will continue in various forms" and that"we have more than just one means at our disposal."

Following is a transcript:

Khaled Mash'al: [Israel] is at a loss. If it allows the multitudes to cross the border, this will constitute an embarrassment to it, but if it kills them in cold blood – as, in fact, it did, it will be exposed for the whole world to see. In every scenario, [Israel] is committing a crime, and in every scenario, our people emerges victorious.

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Yasser Arafat, may he rest in peace, placed his bet on the Oslo Accords, but when these accords reached a dead end, he turned to his people and joined them in a huge Intifada in 2000. The Palestinian leadership should do the same today. Hamas and all the factions are ready for this.

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The first step to defeat the "Deal of the Century" is to form a united Palestinian position about it. Let me be very clear about this, sister. Even if the whole world agreed upon the "Deal of the Century" and our Palestinian people – its leadership and its fighting factions –rejected it, nobody would be able to pass it – not Israel, not the United States administration, and not any player in the region or the world.

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We are ready for all types of armed and popular resistance. If a majority in the Palestinian forces and Palestinian leadership is satisfied with popular resistance, we are ready for it too, and what happened in Gaza is an innovation in this respect.

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These marches will continue in various forms, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in the 1948 territories, and in the diaspora. We call upon our nation and upon our friends in the world to stand with us, especially on the day commemorating the Nakba, and against the backdrop of the transfer of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and the crimes taking place in Gaza. That is one thing. Secondly, the Palestinian record indicates that our people surprise their enemies, their friends, and everybody else. At every stage, our people are capable of inventing the appropriate means. For 100 years, our people have been moving from one revolution to another, from one Intifada to another, using resistance, fidaai operations, martyrdom operations, popular resistance, stones, knives, Molotov cocktails… Our basic message is that we have more than just one means at our disposal. If one measure achieves a certain level of success, other measures will be added to the struggle.

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