Senior Hamas leader speaks out Trump moving US embassy to Jerusalem

In an interview with Al Jazeera English’s current affairs show UpFront, Osama Hamdan, a senior leader of Hamas, revealed that the group is working on a new charter which includes addressing widely criticised anti-Semitic statements in the [1988] original. “We will have a clear political document, which is supposed to be in the near future, clarifying all those points,” Hamadan told UpFront host Mehdi Hasan, referring to anti-Semitic conspiratorial claims in the Hamas charter accusing Jews of running the world, creating communism and starting World War One and Two.

“You will find in this document clear words that we against the Zionists, against the occupation of our lands and we will resist the occupiers, whoever they were. And we are not against anyone regarding to this religion or to his race,” Hamdan said. When asked about a timeframe for the new charter, Hamdan said it would be released “very soon”.

Hamdan also commented on his organisation’s current stance on a two-state solution with Israel. “We want to build a Palestinian state on the lines of the 4th of June 67, including Jerusalem, with the right of return for Palestinians,” he said, referring to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. However, when pressed to further clarify if that meant Hamas supports a two-state solution, Hamdan said that “would be inaccurate”. “You can call it whatever you want, but this is what we accept. Nothing more than this, nothing less than this,” he added.

On the issue of the newly announced unity government with rival Palestinian group Fatah, Hamdan offered his full support. “We need… a national unity government,” he said. “Israelis now are taking over the land by the settlements. The region is unstable.” “The international community is not willing to help the Palestinians unless they are united,” he added.

During the interview, Hamdan was also asked how he believes new US President Donald Trump’s support of Israel and plans to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem might impact the region. “[Trump] has to make a choice whether he wants to create peace in the region or he wants to add more oil on the fire,” he said. “Palestinians will not accept to abandon Jerusalem, they will not accept to abandon their rights,” he added.

Asked whether or not the embassy moving to Jerusalem would lead to renewed violence, Hamdan said: “I don’t accept the idea of having violence from the Palestinian side.” “Now if there was changes or the United States administration try to make a change in the status of Jerusalem, of course that will mean an action from the Palestinian side and no one can control that,” he added.

He also defended his organisation’s past use of suicide attacks across the Green Line, against Israeli targets, asking, “What’s the problem in that: the bombs or the suicide actions?” – He made a comparison with Israeli rockets against Palestinian homes and markets. “As Palestinians we don’t have… tanks…so we use what we have,” he added.

The interview was aired at 27th January 2017 at 19:30 GMT, full show is available to watch here.