The Palestinian resistance is the pride of the Ummah

As soon as Israel’s latest military offensive ended, and our foes witnessed the victory of the resistance and defeat of the occupation state, the political and media attack on Hamas began. When the head of the movement’s political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, thanked Iran for its support for the resistance, the commentariat even accused Hamas of being a Shia group. Others have levelled accusations that it stole the victory by riding the wave of the Palestinian uprising that swept across all of the occupied Palestinian territories, shaking everyone along the way. The occupation state disrupted the uprising by force, treating it as if it could have liberated Palestine.

Haniyeh had, in fact, also thanked Egypt and the UN, but why did those for whom Hamas can do no good overlook this? Egypt has been helping Israel to besiege Gaza for 15 years and has kept the Rafah Crossing closed more often than it has been opened throughout that period. When it is open, the Egyptian officials there humiliate the Palestinians seeking to leave or return to Gaza. I will never forget seeing Ismail Haniyeh sitting on a bench at the border waiting to be allowed in during Hosni Mubarak’s rule. Did Haniyeh forget this and move on? Did he forget that the UN was behind the disaster of the Palestine Partition Plan in 1947 which granted the Zionists Arab land for their colonial state? Were any of the many UN resolutions fair in the light of repeated Israeli attacks and massacres against the Palestinians?

Ismail Haniyeh could never forget this, but he is a statesman, so he thanked Egypt, and he thanked the UN. So why focus on his words of thanks for Iran?

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I believe that it was because ordinary Arab people from the Atlantic to the Gulf were united in their solidarity with the resistance. They prayed for it day and night and rejoiced in its victory. Social media, including Facebook and Twitter, were full of celebratory posts. That’s why the enemies wanted to strip Hamas of this popular acclaim by accusing its leaders of being loyal to Iran. The same enemies even faked photos of Haniyeh kissing the hand of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and issued fake news about the Hamas leader meeting the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to discuss the results of the battle, despite Haniyeh being in Qatar at the time.

Of course, the issue of Iran is a very sore point in the Arab world given the crimes of its proxies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon, where it “occupies” the capitals according to its own officials. The enemies of Hamas seized on the Iranian interventions in the Arab world and rubbed salt in the wounds. They played on the heartstrings and pain in order to take away the mass sympathy with the Palestinian resistance, a matter that keeps the Arab Zionists awake at night more than it does the Jewish Zionists.

And yet they did not ask themselves or anyone else why the Sunni Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement felt impelled to turn to Iran for help. The answer to that is simple: the Arab Zionists and the countries controlling their actions against the resistance are the reason why the Sunni Arab states have not lent a hand to the Palestinians in Gaza. Instead, they left Gaza to its fate and turned a blind eye to the massacres committed by the occupation forces against the Palestinians. Their silence is complicity. They opted instead to incite Israel against the people of occupied Palestine and contributed to the blockade on Gaza, preventing the entry of desperately needed food and medical supplies. The legitimate Palestinian resistance was, in the eyes of the Arab Zionists and their compliant media, “terrorism”, that convenient and now meaningless catch-all description used when the truth hurts too much.

Wounded Gaza did not find any of those close to it among those who are now accusing it of being loyal to Iran; nor did it find any helping hands of support. Instead, it was betrayed by treacherous hands stabbing it in the back; treacherous Arab, Muslim hands. The two UAE pilots who apparently joined Israel in its offensive were exposed by an intelligence source on their own side.

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The Palestinian resistance has received money and weapons from Iran but has not fallen into its religious or ideological grip. Hamas remains a staunchly Palestinian national resistance movement; it does not get involved in other people’s affairs or conflicts, and it has never been responsible for any resistance action beyond the borders of historic Palestine. Allegations that it is a “global terrorist” entity are thus doubly inaccurate. It even had to close its office in Damascus because it could not support the Assad regime. What else does it have to do to “prove” its credentials?

The Palestinian resistance groups sacrifice all that is near and dear to them in defence of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, no matter what the cost. They are the honour and pride of the Ummah, whose sacrifices and dignity have been wasted by the Arab Zionists. The Palestinian resistance defends the entire nation, not just Gaza, and it pays the price of this with the blood of its own people. The Arab Zionists should look deep within themselves and then keep quiet, instead of desecrating the honour of the resistance with their pro-Israel propaganda.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.