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Kuwait journalist after chance encounter with Hamas chief: He’s well educated and kind

January 13, 2020 at 4:46 pm

Kuwaiti journalist Mubarak Al-Mutairi commented on a meeting that he coincidentally met with the head of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, on a plane bound for the capital of the Sultanate of Oman, Muscat [Twitter]

Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh has been described as “well educated and kind” by a Kuwaiti journalist who bumped into him on a flight to Oman this weekend.

Journalist Mubarak Al-Mutairi said Haniyeh boarded the plane he was travelling to Oman on this weekend and walked towards the end of the plane sitting in economy class with his three guards.

Haniyeh was on his way to pay his respects to the Omani people following the death of their leader Sultan Qaboos on Friday evening.

Al Mutairi wrote on Twitter: “I boarded the plane, then I saw a person with three guards entering the plane and passing me in first class, heading towards economy class.”

READ: Hamas’ Haniyeh to Oman to offer condolences over Sultan Qaboos’ death

He added: “They made their way to the back of the plane and took their seats.”

The Kuwaiti journalist continued: “I asked someone about this person and told him that I had seen him before. I was told he was Ismail Haniyeh, the former Palestinian prime minister and current head of Hamas.”

Al Mutairi approached Haniyeh and started speaking with him. “When I told him that I am from Kuwait, he started to praise me, my country and the Kuwaiti people,” he said, noting that Haniyeh asked him to sit beside him.

Imagine this person is being accused of stealing the Palestinian people’s money, being endorsed by Iran and owning billions of dollars is flying in economy class with only three bodyguards, has an old cell phone and waits for his baggage like anyone else.

About his character, the journalist said: “I sat with him, spoke with him and found him well educated and kind.”