Blames them for events leading up to Operation Protective Edge

Following Operation Protective Edge, Palestinian Authority leader Abu Mazen greatly criticized Hamas and its ideological soulmate, the Muslim Brotherhood. In an interview he gave to the Egyptian daily Akhbar Al Yawm, translated by MEMRI, he blamed Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood for the events leading up to Operation Protective Edge.

“We agreed with Hamas that we would establish the National Accord government, but that it would not include a single member of the Hamas movement,” Abu Mazen said. “This government was sworn in on June 2, 2014, and exactly ten days later, on June 12, they kidnapped the three settlers near Hebron. I tried to avoid creating a crisis. I spoke with Hamas political bureau head Khaled Mashaal and asked him whether Hamas had anything to do with the kidnapping of the settlers. He said: We have nothing to do with it. I wanted him to confirm it again and he swore by Allah that they had nothing to do with it. I told him: I believe you. That was in Doha.

“Then the war in Gaza broke out and I visited Qatar and Turkey to consult with them about the Egyptian initiative,” Abu Mazen explained. “I had a meeting with the Emir of Qatar and I asked him to hold a meeting attended by the Hamas leadership and by members of the movement who were in Qatar. Before this meeting was held, Hamas member Salah Al-’Arouri officially declared from Istanbul that it was Hamas that had kidnapped the three settlers and killed them, in order to promote Hamas’s attempt to mobilize the Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Then I asked Mashaal again about those involved in the affair and he said that Al-’Arouri had spoken for himself, not for Hamas.”

Abu Mazen did not buy Hamas’ explanation and went on to blame them for the suffering inflicted upon the Palestinian people during Operation Protective Edge: “I want to say here that no one lies more than Hamas and the MB. I am not against Islam, but I am against the MB. I am a good Muslim. I fast, I pray, and I read the Koran while they are a bunch of liars. Because of Hamas’s lie, this regrettable Gaza war broke out.

“I phoned the Egyptian President and asked him to submit a proposal to stop the war. I clarified that such an initiative would save the Palestinian people and that it was the entire Palestinian people that was asking him to do this, not Hamas. I explained this because I sensed from his words that he wanted nothing whatsoever to do with Hamas.

“President Al-Sisi met my request and the Egyptian initiative was proposed,” Abu Mazen stated. “They had to propose it for 51 days, because of Hamas’s obstinacy and during this time the land of Gaza was completely destroyed. On the last day of the war, Hamas members begged me to declare a ceasefire with no reservations or conditions, after many had already been killed and wounded and Gaza was in ruins.”

Abu Mazen explained that he faced domestic opposition for ensuring that an intifada did not emerge within the West Bank, but after the conclusion of Operation Protective Edge, most Palestinians understood the wisdom in his decision: “During the 50-day war, everyone spoke out against me, first of all Fatah. I told them that I am not willing to destroy the West Bank and Ramallah. Hamas, for example, killed three Israelis and it wanted an intifada, and I did not respond… At the end of the war, my men told me: You were right. Had we acted like them [i.e., like Hamas], the entire land would have been ruined.”

Interestingly, while there is very little that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority leader Abu Mazen agree on, it appears that they view Hamas similarly. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated to the United Nations, “Hamas is ISIS and ISIS is Hamas.” According to Abu Mazen, “We must recognize that the Hamas movement is part of the MB. This is explicitly declared by all and Hamas receives instructions from the office of the MB’s global general guide.”

Abu Mazen emphasized, “If the current situation continues as it does now, IS will also emerge in the West Bank. As for the entire Gaza Strip, Islamic State is the Muslim Brotherhood.” Abu Mazen said that supporting the Muslim Brotherhood is like backing IS, reiterating statements Palestinian journalist Mudar Zahran made in an interview with JerusalemOnline.

“What most people don’t realize is that Islamic State is an offshoot of Muslim Brotherhood ideology,” Zahran stated. “It’s not just an agreement of ideology between Islamic State and the Muslim Brotherhood. Islamic State is an extension of Al Qaeda. Bin Ladin and Zahrawi are former Muslim Brotherhood members. In addition, the Muslim Brotherhood today does not hide its support for Islamic State. The Muslim Brotherhood’s de facto spokesperson Sheikh Wajdi Ghunaim openly pledges support for Islamic State on youtube. The conclusion is that the Muslim Brotherhood at least supports IS.”

Abu Mazen also revealed clashes he had with the Obama administration over the Muslim Brotherhood, whom the Obama administration considered to be moderate: “I explained to him that the moderate Brothers are only in the US, but they (the Muslim Brotherhood) were the ones that created all of the extremist organizations in the region, including IS, Jabhat Al Nusra, and Al Qaeda. All of these terror organizations emerged from the belly of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

The Palestinian leader expressed his apprehension regarding the Arab Spring and his frustration about the Obama administration’s Egypt policy: “One day, before the January 25 revolution, I was with then-president Hosni Mubarak and when the events of January 25 began, then U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton phoned me and asked me to phone President Mubarak and persuade him to step down. I asked, what do I have to do with the Egyptian matter? We are facing chaos, the rise of the MB, or both.”

The Palestinian leader resented this American pressure, as Abu Mazen claimed that Morsi did not understand the Palestinian predicament as well as Mubarak did: “His understanding of the subject was like my understanding of Japanese. He wanted to exploit it to actualize the interests of the MB. If you remember the Giora Eiland plan, he wanted to turn the Sinai territories into the Palestinian state and Morsi agreed to this plan. But we will not agree to accept an inch of land from Egypt and will not agree that a Palestinian should leave his land. Moreover, Morsi wanted to establish a Gaza consulate in Egypt to deepen the internal Palestinian schism.” For Abu Mazen, the demise of the Morsi regime was a gigantic relief.

By Rachel Avraham/www.jerusalemonline.com