Jibril Rajoub Calls on Hamas to Disengage from the Muslim Brotherhood

Jibril Rajoub, of the Fatah Central Committee, recently called on Hamas to “stop operating according to the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood” and to “modify their position so that we may find common ground.” Rajoub made the statements in an August 13, 2014 interview with the official Palestinian Authority TV channel.

Following are excerpts:

Jibril Rajoub: The PLO and Mahmoud Abbas have an agenda to establish a state, which vexes the Israeli right, and which is targeted in this war. Therefore, we hope that our brothers in the Palestinian Islamic movement will modify their position so that we may find common ground. Let me assure you that we do not want them to disintegrate or grow weaker. The only thing that we expect of them is to conduct an ideological revision.

They may be Palestinians with an Islamic dimension, but our national identity is what serves as our common denominator. Let go of the Muslim Brotherhood, with all their virtues and their faults. You have seen how political Islam has failed. It has failed. If the Muslim Brotherhood members want to preach Islam, let them find somewhere else to do so. We hope that they will take their evil away from us. Take your evil away from us. Take it somewhere else.

Brother, you know what Bin Laden did. When he sent the 19 [9/11 terrorists], he refrained from including a Palestinian among them. I once met one of his people, a Libyan, who had renounced his former views. I asked him about this, and he said: “Believe me, this was a deliberate decision.” [Bin Laden] said: “Don’t take Palestinians. They have the Israelis to deal with. We should not make more enemies for them.” Brother, I am no fan of Bin Laden, but I’d like to remind Hamas that the man fought America, so they should have some humility.

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I say to our brothers in the Islamic movement: We are one big family. We never have overpowered you, and we never will. We will not exploit the outcome of this aggression or the regional alliances that wish to fight political Islam in the Middle East.

But at the same time, you must stay away from the Muslim Brotherhood, so that you and we can remain in the same trench. They must stop operating according to the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood. From 1967 until 1987, they managed to live with the occupation. We praised Allah when they launched the armed struggle and gained legitimacy in this struggle. Then Hamas gained national legitimacy through the ballot.

The national agenda is a heavy enough burden for our people. Give us a break from the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood. I ask the international Muslim Brotherhood movement to remove Palestine from its agenda, and to refrain from using Palestine as a means to gain regional and global influence.

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