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Political situation in Egypt 'has not affected Hamas'

February 8, 2014 at 2:13 am

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahar said on Monday that his movement has not been much affected by the political changes in Egypt. In fact, he claimed, Hamas has political channels open with all parties in Cairo.


“Hamas was formed in difficult times which peaked during the rule of Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat who persecuted Islamists,” said Al-Zahar. “On that basis alone, Hamas does not have any fears about its future.”

When Hamas faced half-a-dozen fierce challenges and confrontations between 2006 and 2012, he pointed out, it won all of them without any support from anyone. “Most neighbouring countries stood against the movement.”

Al-Zahar condemned the defamation campaign carried out by the Egyptian media against Hamas and the Palestinians in general. He also condemned the Palestinian Authority’s cooperation in the campaign. The Hamas official was scathing about PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s role in this, calling him “a liar because he has been telling lies” about the Palestinian resistance “since 2008”. That was when Abbas claimed that Palestinian fighters had fled to the Sinai Peninsula; no one was able to offer any evidence for his claim.

“Abbas deals with Palestinian issues though a deceitful eye and he does not have any real credibility about dealing with real situations,” Al-Zahar added.