Normalisation with Israel is an ‘unforgiveable crime,’ says Hamas

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement said on Tuesday that normalising ties with Israel is an “unforgiveable crime” as well as a desperate attempt to influence the awareness of people.

A statement from Hamas added that the movement has been following up the accelerating normalisation process across the region on both the official and unofficial levels. “This perpetuates the [Israeli] occupation and covers up its ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people in the light of the Zionist-US conspiracy against Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees.”

Such moves by the Israelis and their supporters in America and the West, noted Hamas, is a prelude to the “liquidation” of the Palestinian cause. “The efforts stand alongside Israel’s displacement [of the Palestinians], murder, detention, Judaisation and building of settlements.” All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.

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In the light of this, explained Hamas, the movement rejects “all forms of normalisation” and insists that they “contradict” the will of nations around the world and their desire not to have any relationship with the occupation or accept its “faltering existence” in occupied Palestine. “Normalising relations with the occupation goes against the political history of the countries which have rejected the occupation and rejected having any kind of relations with it, as well as refused to legitimise its existence.”

Hamas expressed its concerns that normalisation is no longer considered by governments to be a “stigma” and has become shameless. “Normalisation is an attempt to influence the awareness of new generations in order to entrench the acceptance of the Israeli occupation as an established fact that cannot be dismantled.”

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The movement’s statement pointed out that the stand taken by those who reject normalisation is much appreciated. “We urge them to stick to this noble and patriotic position, as well as to put pressure on their governments which are trying to make relations with the Israeli occupation through the path of normalisation.”

In conclusion, Hamas hailed the role of the peaceful, international Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. “[BDS] objectives have gained broad support worldwide in the face of Israel’s oppression and cruelty against the Palestinian people, which has led to the Zionists and their supporters escalating their attacks on the campaign in an effort to limit its effects.”

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