Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says his country supports a democratic solution for the Palestinian- Israeli conflict.

“Now imagine the most cruel person of our time, the child-murderer prime minister of the Zionist Regime [Benjamin Netanyahu] goes to Europe and plays innocent, saying Iran wants to destroy them,” said Ayatollah Khamenei during his meeting with A group of university professors and researchers on June 10, 2018.

Who Wanted to Throw Israelis into the Sea?

“They are truly pioneers in oppression and cruelty throughout history. The European addressee listens and shakes his head, without mentioning their [Israel’s] crimes in Gaza and Quds,” he said adding: “The Islamic Republic acts logically on all matters. On the matter of the Zionist Regime, [Egypt’s late President] Jamal Abdul-Nasser proclaimed they would throw the Jewish people into the sea. We never made such remarks.”

“From day one, we announced a plan. We said, today democracy is a modern method that the entire world’s population agrees on. We said, for decision making on the historical country of Palestine, refer to the Palestinian people. This plan is registered with the United Nations as the statement of the Islamic Republic.”

“Those who are true Palestinians and have been living in Palestine over a hundred years ago–Muslims, Christians and Jews–where ever they are, either in the occupied lands or outside of them. They should be surveyed. Their vote should be applied.”

“Is this a bad opinion?” he asked adding: “The Europeans refuse to understand this. Then, that child-murderer, vicious oppressor plays innocent, saying Iran wants to kill several million people out of their population.”

What is Iran’s plan for Palestinian Issue?
Iran officially announced its proposed solution in 2012 during the 16th Non-Aligned Summit in Tehran.
Iran suggests that all current and former inhabitants of the Palestinian territory should participate in a referendum and decide about their fate and future. Iran’s leader described the country’s suggestion in his Inaugural Speech at the 16th Non-Aligned Summit.

“All the Palestinians – both the current citizens of Palestine and those who have been forced to immigrate to other countries but have preserved their Palestinian identity, including Muslims, Christians and Jews – should take part in a carefully supervised and confidence-building referendum and chose the political system of their country, and all the Palestinians who have suffered from years of exile should return to their country and take part in this referendum and then help draft a Constitution and hold elections. Peace will then be established,” he said during his speech in 2012.
Read Iran’s View’s detailed report about the solutions for the Palestinian- Israeli conflict suggested by different parties.

The post Israeli- Palestinian Conflict: Iran Offers a Practical, Democratic Solution first appeared on .

Argentina have cancelled their planned friendly against Israel in Jerusalem following intense pressure by Palestinian and international campaigners heightened by last month’s killing by Israeli forces of dozens of protesters in Gaza.

Israeli embassy has confirmed that the match has been called off, citing threats to Argentina captain Lionel Messi.

“The Israeli embassy laments to announce the suspension of the match between Israel and Argentina planned for next Saturday June 9, as a prelude to the game for the World Cup in Russia,” read a statement.

Middle East Eye reports that the decision was welcomed by Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain, one of the country’s highest-profile players, in an interview with the ESPN television network on Tuesday.

“They’ve finally done the right thing,” Higuain said. “Rationale and health come before everything else. We think its best not go to Israel.”

The Palestinian Football Association also welcomed the decision, and thanked Lionel Messi, Argentina’s star player who had become the focus of campaigners’ efforts to stop the match, and his teammates for the cancellation.

“Values, morals and sport have secured a victory today and a red card was raised at Israel through the cancellation of the game,” Jibril Rajoub, the president of the PFA, said in a statement.

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), the campaign group which had driven the push to persuade Argentina to withdraw, also thanked the Argentine squad in a tweet which said: “Apartheid will not be entertained.”

Argentina has made four previous pre-World Cup stopovers in Israel since 1986. Most countries do not recognise either Israeli or Palestinian sovereignty in Jerusalem and have their embassies to Israel in the Tel Aviv area.

The post Argentina Cancels Israel World Cup 2018 Warm-up Friendly first appeared on .

India and Israel have had friendly ties for many years, but the rapid expansion of these ties, especially in military and intelligence areas, has become a source of concern for Muslim countries.

Given India’s history of defending Palestinians’ rights within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement, there is the hope that the negotiations of Iranian officials during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s recent visit to New Delhi could persuade India to maintain a balance in its ties with the Israel and Muslim countries.

Rouhani’s three-day visit to India from February 15 took place shortly after the Israeli premier’s trip to India, as well as the visit of the Indian prime minister to Israel and was the first visit by an Iranian president to the country since Ahmadinejad’s three-hour stay stopover in 2008. During Rouhani’s trip, a number of important agreements were signed. This comes as the Indians did not have a satisfactory performance in their economic relations with the Islamic Republic.

Rouhani began his journey from Hyderabad, an important city with more than 30 percent of Muslim population with a history of political and cultural influence by Iran. Over there, the Iranian president held a meeting with Muslim scholars at the Friday prayers of the Sunni-majority city and delivered a sermon among the worshippers.

Rouhani in India wished that the relations between Tehran and Delhi would once again be warm and close as in the time of the two countries’ ancestors. He, of course, took the first step towards fulfiling this wish with his presence in Hyderabad and visiting historical works inspired by Iranian culture and consulting with Indian Muslims. In this city, he emphasized the Islamic Republic’s desire to expand cultural ties with India.

A consultative meeting with Muslim scholars and the emphasis of the Iranian president on the history of the cultural and Islamic ties between the two countries had another strategic message for India. In fact, Iran, as one of the most important Muslim countries with a long history of presence in India, can help resolve the long-standing conflicts between Pakistan and India and reduce the negative security implications of the conflicts in the region.

In terms of economic relations, specialists believe India’s delay in implementing the Chabahar port development project had a negative message for the Iranians, confirming the analyses that Delhi believes its future ties with Tehran would be shaped by the decisions of the US.

The Chabahar project is currently in progress, and during Rouhani’s visit to India, 15 cooperation agreements were also signed by the two countries’ high-ranking officials.

However, taking into consideration the capacities of the two countries for cooperation, one can say the economic relations between Iran and India are not close enough.

This article was first published on IFP.

The post Iran Hoping to Persuade India to Maintain Balance in Ties with Israel, Muslims first appeared on .

While more than 1,600 Palestinians have been killed and another 8,000 injured and more than 200,000 internally displaced persons are sheltered in UNRWA since Israel launched an full scale air attack against the tiny strip of Gaza on July 8, yet the international community failed to stop Israeli indiscriminately offensives .

UN’s human rights council passed a resolution condemning the Israel’s military actions; resolution was adopted by 29-1 vote. The sole “no” vote was the United States. Strong US support for Israel and Israel’s powerful lobby prevented any effective decision being made by the international organizations. Same was for more than last six decades of Israel – Palestine conflict.

In such circumstance when Palestinians see none of political efforts could protect them against the well-armed regime of Israel, in the Gaza strip, they prefer to resist rather than to continue living under an inhuman blockade.

Palestinians who lost of most of their land due to Israeli occupation since 1946, now only rule in the West Bank and Gaza strip. Two separate landlocked territories with two different ruling systems.

The Gaza under Hamas has chosen military resistance to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation. On other hand, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in the West Bank recognized Israel In 1993 and accepted to stop fighting against Israel and engage in a peace process which went nowhere so far.

It was only after PLO put down its weapon that the Palestinians lost their control over the West Bank and Israel occasionally conduct crackdown in the region, arrest or kill civilians.

Looking at the West Bank as a sample of setting back from military resistance, Palestinians don’t see a successful experience while on other hand Lebanon’s Hezbollah successfully defeated Israel and ended the Israeli occupation of Lebanese territories in 2000 make resistance in Gaza more meaningful.

Like Hezbollah, Hamas is fighting Israel with military and financial support from Iran. It was Iranian missiles and arms that led Hamas to stop Israel in the 2008 and 2012 conflicts.

Despite Iran and Hamas’ strained relations over the Syrian war, Iran’s political and military officials have stressed their unconditional and strong support for Palestinian resistance groups including Hamas.

The letter of the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force to the Palestinian freedom fighters on July 31 is the latest exemplar of the support for Palestinians resistance from Iran.

“Before the almighty God, we take an oath with the martyrs that we will remain bound to and not change, just like we are and have been in doing our religious duty in supporting the resistance. We emphasize that we continue to insist on the victory of the resistance … until the ground, the sky, the sea for the Zionists turns into hell,” Qasem Soleimani wrote.

While Israel and US are trying to disarm resistance movements, Iran called on the world to help arm Palestinians in the West Bank.

“Everyone, whoever has the means, especially in the Islamic world, they should do what they can to arm the Palestinians [in the West Bank] too,” Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei said on July 29.

“Iran will also do its best to form military resistance in the West Bank. But obviously we won’t deal with Abbas and its people, we will work with real resistance groups,” Abdollahi who is familiar with the Iranian strategy in Palestine told Iran’s View.

Soleimani excluded Fatah and PA in his statement while naming Palestinian groups and leaders and praising their resistance.

But what an armed West Bank would mean for Israel?

West Bank has a population of more than 2,000,000 Palestinians who anxiously follow the events in Gaza and show their support from the resistance movement by protesting against Israel.

The photos and videos of Palestinians protesting and fighting back Israeli military by throwing stones may give one a better idea when those stones are to be replaced by weapons provided from Iran or other supporters of Palestinians freedom fighters.

In this case, Iran expects Palestinians to defend themselves against Israel in a more balanced battle.

The final solution to the Palestinian–Israeli conflict however is seen differently by Iran.
Iran suggests that all current and former inhabitants of the Palestinian territory should participate in a referendum and decide on their fate and future.

The post Arming West Bank only Way to Save Palestine first appeared on .

According to the informed sources talked to Iran’sView, the new Iranian President, Hassan Rowhani, perceived to have won the June-14 elections by his moderation promises, is said to have requested the Leader to give him a modest free hand in the country’s foreign policy affairs, including the prolonged nuclear standoff, so that he will be able to tackle the Islamic Republic’s economic problems to some extent.

It is years now that Tehran is at odds with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) over its nuclear case due to irreconcilable views of the negotiating sides.

According to a Rouhani aide who has spoke to Iran’sView on condition of anonymity, he has promised the Supreme Leader he will be able to scrape a large part of the stifling sanctions imposed on Iran without damaging the nature of its nuclear program provided that the Leader permits the president to act more flexibly in the talks with the P5+1.

“I would agree with what I once called ‘heroic flexibility’, as it is a proper move at times,” said the Leader during his address to the Sepah commanders on Tuesday, seems to be an explicitly agreeing to the administration’s request. However, he cautioned the president to be wary of the “other side and the chief objective” in the talks while being more flexible.

Though this was not the first time the Supreme Leader spoke of “heroic flexibility”.

“Artistic and heroic flexibility, softness and maneuver are accepted and welcome in all political grounds,” said the Leader in another meeting a fortnight ago with members of the Assembly of Experts. “But maneuvers should not be interpreted as a leave to cross the red lines or step back of fundamental strategies or neglecting the ideals.”

The Leader of Iran is still suspicious about the flexibility in international dealings of the new administration as it might be induced to cross some red lines (like direct and comprehensive talks with the US) or retreat from fundamental strategies of the Islamic Republic (like supporting Palestinian cause and the Syrian government as part of the resistance front).

The Leader once again reminded the administration in his Tuesday speech that it is not allowed to neglect the “objectives and ideals” of the Islamic Revolution with excuses like “The world or the trends has changed.”

According to political observers in Tehran, the Supreme Leader has allowed the administration to expand ties with European countries, engage in direct talks with the US over the Syrian conflict, and show more flexibility in nuclear talks. The Leader has decided to let Rouhani have his try in various fields, even though he (the Leader) is not optimistic about the West’s reaction to Iran’s flexible tone; which is why the Leader stressed in his Tuesday speech that the US and the West are seeking much greatest goals in Iran’s nuclear case and that it should be taken in and well analyzed by “challenging the hegemonic system by the Islamic Revolution”.

“We do not approve of nuclear weapons not because of the US or others, but because of our beliefs; when we say no one can have nuclear weapons, we would never seek such weapons ourselves; the dissenters of Iran are after something else. These countries would never let their nuclear energy monopoly be broken,” Ayatollah Khamenei said on Tuesday.

“Diplomacy is the field of smile and calls for talks and negotiations; however, all these should be defined in the framework of our major challenge.”

Ayatollah Khamenei has repeatedly cautioned the new administration against the Islamic Republic’s red lines and fundamentals while exhibiting flexibility in its foreign dealings. In his earlier speech addressing members of the Assembly of Experts, the Leader certified that every “administration or person has their own methods and innovations, and are allowed to practice them in their work.”

As a key player in Iran’s power struggle during the past 34 years, the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, or Sepah, has aligned itself well with the Supreme Leader’s directions, and stood up to administrations which fail to follow the Leader’s directions. Besides, the construction projects as well as economic activities run by the Sepah are a powerful lever that can help every administration to materialize their domestic policies; which may be why the President Rowhani addressed Sepah commanders a day before the Leader to ask them to support the administration economically.

With regard to Rowhani’s concerns about acceptance of his “flexible” policies by Sepah commanders, the Supreme Leader called on Sepah top brass to temporarily step out of politics and view the developments from outside.

“Sepah is not required to meddle in political grounds, but guardianship of the Revolution needs precise understanding of realities,” the Leader said on Tuesday.

“The organization that is deemed as the Revolution’s guardian arm cannot be expected to be alien to derivative political currents,” said the Leader, stressing that under the current circumstances Sepah must, of course, identify and counter all adversaries of the Islamic Republic.

The Leader is evidently giving the administration a free hand to remedy the country’s economic and political headache by putting into effect its innovations. Likewise the Leader would be happy see that his strategic decision has helped the administration manage to fulfill its promises and receive a palatable feedback from foreigners. However, if the government fails to get the desired response from the West by being more flexible, just like the Reformist administration of Mohammad Khatami, the Leader’s warnings and pessimism against the US and enemies will be well substantiated. 

“The revolution’s future is glorious for sure, but the time of its happening depends of the performance of the nation and officials. If we are united, integrated and decisive, such a future is soon realized, but if we are infested with indolence, arrogance and other such stuff, that future will be late to come.” Ayatollah Khamenei said to the top commanders of Sepah.

The post Why Iran’s Leader Gives Rowhani Nuclear Free Hand? first appeared on .

“If we annually express our outrage over the US killing 290 of our dear countrymen including 60 children, we should not think America’s crime is only limited to this. America is not just responsible for the killing of 290 passengers of Airbus [flight 655]. The ruthless regime is responsible for killing over 220 thousands of our martyrs.”

Naghdi said the killings of tens of thousands of Iranians by Shah’s regime were ordered by the US. He blamed the US for ordering the crimes and terrors carried by anti-Iran terrorist groups like MEK who killed 17 thousands of the oppressed and defenseless people of Iran; including men, women, children, the youth, and the elderly.

He also referred to the assassination of top Iranian officials like Ayatollah Beheshti .America trained, prepared and organized these groups, putting them against their own nation.

“Everybody knows Saddam Hossein attacked Iran with the support order of the US,” the Commander added.

Even worse than the killing of 290 innocent passengers of Airbus is the atrocity of the American government than president who instead of apologizing and being ashamed gave medals of honor to the criminal who did it [Captain William Rogers], which shows it was an intentional, organized planned and ruthless crime and contrary to what the American officials say it was not a mistake so the US must expect a big and hard vengeance from the Muslim Nation.

The post US Policies Of Violence Are Feeding Muslim Vengeance: Iranian Top Commander first appeared on .

“Forming Hezbollah was a result of enemy’s invasion to Lebanon and now, hezbollah has a [surprising] weapon that they [enemies] don’t expect,” Naghdi said during an speech to a demonstration after Tehran’s Friday prayers against recent Israeli air strikes to Syria.

“Hamas also formed in reaction to Israeli occupation of Palestine. And with god’s will, a powerful force will be established in Syria and will wipe out Israel,” he said.

Criticizing some Arab countries diplomacy with Israel, he said: “Leaders of Arab countries should know that the Muslim nations are aware and [any kind of] support from Israel will have a miserable fate for them.”

The head of Hezbollah, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, in an address televised to an audience in Beirut on Thursday said he is ready to receive “game changing” weapons from Syria.

Syria is believed to be a conduit for Iranian weapons bound for Hezbullah and Palestinian resistance groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

The post IRGC Style Corps Will be Established in Syria, Says Top Iranian Military Commander first appeared on .

This history has always been a field of interest for not only scholars, but also humankind. Through stories of history people see a reflection of their future and their aims; sometimes they find their hopes in the darkness of their present by reviewing how bitter ages past have been replaced by light.

But by cracking the pages of written history, points emerge in your mind; fears, hopes and doubts. Yes, studying brings questions and questions demand answers…

Have you heard Napoleon Bonaparte once said: “History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon?” Now there is a part of history that is being questioned, and a group of people around the globe have raised doubts, saying they don’t agree upon what is claimed to be “The Holocaust”.

You have heard of (as Schindler’s List demonstrates) all the pains Jews have gone through; all the hatred they are facing even now, as in many American TV series and movies show. You have definitely heard of Iran’s outrage towards this part of history; but is that true?

Questioning the Holocaust is explicitly or implicitly illegal in 17 countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Switzerland.

Forbidding holocaust denial is justified by attributing it to an anti-Semitic act which cannot be an accurate argument.

There are too many controversies around Iran’s stance towards Israel. Saying ‘Iran wants to wipe Israel off the map’, ‘Iran is to kill the Jews’ etc.

But to understand Iran’s real stance toward this issue, it is worth reviewing President Mahmoud Ahmadienjad’s remarks about the Holocaust.

In an interview with NBC NEWS’s Brian Williams on Sept 19, 2006, Ahmadinejad raised three questions about the Holocaust:

1-      In the Second World War, over 60 million people (at least 50 million civilians) lost their lives. They were all human beings. Why is it that only a select group of those who were killed have become so prominent and important?

2-       If this event (Holocaust) happened, and if it is a historical event, then we should allow everyone to research it and study it. The more research and studies are done, the more we can become aware of the realities that happened. We still leave open to further studies absolute knowledge of science or math. Historical events are always subject to revisions, and reviews and studies…Why is it that those who ask questions are persecuted? Why is every word so sensitivity or such prohibition on further studies on the subject? Where as we can openly question God, the prophet, concepts such as freedom and democracy?

3-      If this happened, where did it happen? Did the Palestinian people have anything to do with it? Why should the Palestinians pay for it now? Five million displaced Palestinian people is what I’m talking about. Over 60 years of living under threat. Losing the lives of thousands of dear ones. And homes that are destroyed on a daily basis over people’s heads. You might argue that the Jews have the right to have a government. We’re not against that. But where? At a place where their people were — several people will vote for them, and where they can govern. Not at the cost of displacing a whole nation. And occupying the whole territory.

The Israeli – Palestinian confrontation is one of the longest lasting world crises in recent times and many believe an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict would also be the key to solving the other issues and conflicts in the region.

As Iran’s President has frequently asserted, if the Holocaust happened in Europe, what is the fault of the Palestinian people? The Palestinian people’s lives are being destroyed today in the pretext of the Holocaust. Lands have been occupied, usurped. But what is their fault? What role did they play in the Holocaust?

“Well, assuming that the Holocaust happened, then, what does it have to do with the Palestinian people?”

So, What Iran doubts

Let’s review some major points Iran has raised about the Holocaust:

1. The evidence of the honoured history of each nation is always open to study; you have never heard of a ban on studying war crimes; for instance Iran has always presented evidence and proof to the world of what Iraq did to Iran’s people, as most countries do; but the Holocaust is the only part of history, which is kept out of questioning!

2. Let’s consider that the Holocaust is true, and as they say, “six million Jews during World War II, were murdered by Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, throughout German-occupied territory.” Still we need to ask: Why Palestinians should pay the price?

Though the solution to this dispute is not very complicated! (Churchill once said: “Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft.”) Iran suggests that the Holocaust events should be further investigated by independent and impartial parties;

Iran is against using the Holocaust to justify the behaviour of Israel in the region, and this is a merely a political and humanitarian argument, nothing to do with Jews and cannot be interpreted as anti – Semitic.

Jews, like other minorities are living peacefully in Iran. Jews are protected in the Iranian constitution and a seat is reserved for a Jew in the Majlis (Iran’s Parliament). Iran hosts the largest Jewish population of any Muslim-majority country.And it is home to the second-largest Jewish population in the Middle East.

Your comments are welcome.

*Zahra Tohidian is an Iranian Journalist who mostly writes political articles and analysis.

The post Does Iran Deny the Holocaust? first appeared on .

In an Exclusive interview with Iran’sView, Muhammad Al-Zahar, co-founder of Hamas and a member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip talks about the latest Hamas-Israel confrontation, the two-state or one-state solution, Egypt- Hamas ties and the Syrian crisis.

Al-Zahar believes Hamas’ 300 million dollar loss over the 8-day Israeli assault on Gaza, was the least significant outcome of the war and Israel’s liability to Palestinian missiles transformed the conflict from the Gaza borders to the heart of Israel were the most outstanding results of the war.

Hamas’ top leader does not consider the establishment of a Palestinian state at the 1967 borders “a termination of struggles for the liberation of all Occupied territories.” nor an agreement to a Two-state solution; in an interview with Iran’sView he emphasized that only “one Single State should rule Palestine.”

Al-Zahar thinks of Camp David treaty’s cancelation by Egypt as “not wise” and stresses that the Egyptians government should take advantage of other means of pressuring the Israeli regime such as halting gas exports.  He also intends to seek the reopening of Rafah’s border as well as resolving the issue of the destruction of underground tunnels, once the Egyptian government is fully established.

Regarding the Syrian crisis, the senior Palestinian leader believes Hamas holds a neutral stance where neither of the parties are supported and this has not lead to a decline in Hamas-Iran relations: “We have extensive ties with Iran of which we feel proud.”

Alzahar emphasized Hamas’ opposes any forms of military interference in Syria, and sought the talks between the government and the opposition to begin as soon as possible.

Read Iran’sView Interview with Al-Zahar in full:

With reference to Israel-Hamas latest military battle:

-What is clear is that the outcomes of the war can never be measured based on the damages; and the reports published about the losses cannot be considered the final results and consequences of the war. The outcomes of the war are divided into two particular parts. The first part is that: the influence of the Palestinian parties’ reactions and responses to Israeli attacks were immense and this was the first time that the war was transformed from Gaza borders to the heart of the occupied territories which lead the residents of the Israeli settlements to leave their homes and consequently the regime requested the impeding of Israeli settlements bombardment and suggested to cease Gaza attacks, too.

With regards to the establishment of a two-state plan and a solution to the Palestinian problem

We have never agreed with the establishment of a partial Palestinian state as a solution for the country’s problem and we emphasize our stance regarding the liberation of all occupied territories. We have agreed to this plan [of the 1967 borders] as a solution but it never means we have given up on the rights of the Palestinian nation and have withdrawn from our previous stances and this plan should be the initiator of the liberation of the remaining occupied areas. There is a big difference between political tricks and withdrawal from official stances. We have agreed with the plan as a “temporary” solution and this does not mean we have refrained from all our holy ideals and the rights of the Palestinian nation. We believe that only one state should rule all of the Palestinian Territories.

Vis-à-vis ties with Egypt, Camp David treaty and the destruction of the underground tunnels at Rafah border

Firstly I should emphasize that it was not the Muslim Brotherhood that signed the Camp David treaty. Secondly Egypt is a country with a culture which respects international agreements and treaties. On the other hand although the Camp David treaty caused a lot of problems, it has assisted Egypt in restraining Israel. This is not wise for Egypt to start an unwanted war by canceling the treaty. Egypt needs to take advantage of other measurements such as halting gas exports to Israel.

Egypt’s stances on the recent Israeli attacks against the Gaza strip, on the US and the Zionist regime is very different from those of the Mubarak regime.

The underground tunnels are used for transferring aid to Palestinians. Therefore if Egypt opens border pathways, Hamas will destroy the underground tunnels as we will not need them anymore. In the current situation there is no agreement between Hamas and Egypt regarding these tunnels and we definitely ask Cairo to fully reopen the ground borders with Gaza.

Concerning ties with Iran

It is mere rumor and baseless falsehood that Hamas has left resistance and is not as close to Iran and Syria as it used to be. We have extensive ties with Iran of which we are proud of.

About Syria our policy is that we stand neither with the government nor with the opponents. Our main struggle is to liberate Palestine and we would never want even one drop of Palestinians’ blood to be shed anywhere outside the Palestinian borders. All our policies and plans are in line with resistance and we do our best to help Muslim and Arab countries get united on the Palestinian cause.  When the Syrian crisis had just started we announced that we would only support a political solution and we are against any forms of military intervention in the country. The talks between the Syrian parties would be initiated as soon as possible and the international community should support it.

On Palestine’s domestic affairs and Hamas internal conflicts

There is a very big difference between the national peace agreements signed in Qatar and Egypt. In the signed plan in Cairo, it was decided that the prime minister should be impartial and that the Palestinian government should be established as one technocrat state whereas in Qatar agreement it was agreed that “Mahmoud Abbas”, the head of the Palestinian Authority would be chosen as the Palestinian prime minister. Of course this part of the agreement is negotiable and changeable and we can reach an agreement over that in the future.

 This is true that we have internal disagreements in Hamas, but this does not mean Hamas is divided into parties and is not united. Each member’s opinion is respected. News about Hamas being divided and the members trying to form an independent party outside Palestine, is untruthful. Different opinions should be respected.

The post Senior Palestinian Leader Says Hamas is Neutral in Syrian Crisis first appeared on .

ابراهيم احمد:

عضو المكتب السياسي لحركة حماس الدكتور محمود الزهار، في مقابلة خاصة مع موقع الاكترونيIran’sView تحدث فيه عن جملة من المواضيع كان أبرزها الشأن الفلسطيني والمصري والعلاقة مع محور المقاومة, والمصالحة الفلسطينية وفيما يلي نص المقابلة.

·         هل تراجعت القدرات العسكرية للمقاومة بعد العدوان الأخير على غزة؟ 

الزهار : من المعلوم أن نتائج الحرب لا تحدد بقيمة الخسائر, والحديث عن الخسائر لا يعكس نتائج الحرب, والنتائج تلخص في جزئيتين , أول أن حجم تأثيرها كان هائلا فلأول مرة تنتقل الحرب إلى الطرف الآخر وتحدث لديه الهجرة العكسية وطلب فيها العدو وقف إطلاق الصواريخ على غزة , والثاني أن المقاومة كسرت نظرية الأمن القومي الصهيوني التي تعتمد على التفوق والحرب خارج حدود الأراضي المحتلة ومن ثم المرحلة السريعة, وبالتالي فالمقاومة كسرت الثلاث قواعد, مما أثر على الاستيطان والاسثمار في آن واحد فما حدث هو درس قوي ومؤثر للعدو الصهيوني, و الخسائر المقاومة في الأحرب الأخيرة لا تذكر

·         جرى الحديث عن موافقتكم على حدود 67 كدولة فلسطينية ما ردكم. 

لم نوافق على حدود 67 كأرض فلطيسطينية فقط , بل نقول أن فلسطين على كامل ترابها , والحل المؤقت لا يعني التنازل عن حقنا في أرض فلسطين, وإذا طرد الاحتلال من الضفة فهذا لا يعني تنازلنا عن باقي الأرض الفلسطينية.

هناك فرق بين الحلول السياسية والتنازل عن الحقوق, نقبل بالحلول السياسية المؤقتة لكن دون التنازل عن الأرض او حق العودة أو المساس بالمقدسات أو العقيدة. في هذا الحل نقبل بها ولن نقبل بدولة أقل من كل فلسطين

·         ما ردكم على اتهام كتائب القسام بالتواجد في الأراضي المصرية وقتل المتظاهرين؟

إن ما تتداوله وكالات الأنباء المصرية حول وجود سبعة آلاف عنصر من حماس في مصر, قائلا: سبعة آلاف عنصر ألم يشاهدهم أحد من الجنود أو المصريين , ثم هل من مصلحة حماس أن تعمل على تأكل النظام الجديد , بل نرى أن استتباب الأمن واستقرار مصر يصب في مصلحة القضية الفلسطينية وبرنامج المقاومة

فالأكاذيب مستمرة لصرف النظر عن المجرم الحقيقي وراء إطلاق النار, فهي ليست المرة الأولى التي تتهم فيها حماس في التدخل بالشأن المصري وأن الاتهامات منذ العهد السابق في مصر , الهدف من ذلك اخافة الشعب المصري من حماس وخلق حالة من الكره للمقاومة, فهم لا يريدون ان يكون الشعب المصري داعما للمقاومة وبالتالي فكل هذه القضايا لا تخدم سوى النظام البائد.

·         موقف حركة حماس من عدم إلغاء اتفاقية كامب ديفيد؟ 

وفيما يتعلق باتفاق كامب ديفيد فالإخوان المسلمون لم يوقعوا عليه, كما ان مصر دولة حضارية تحترم اتفاقياتها الدولية, وكامب ديفيد بالرغم من مساوئها فقد حققت انجازا بطرد الكيان من الأراضي المصرية, وهل من المعقول إلغاء تلك الاتفاقية, أما بخصوص اتفاقية الغاز فيمكن للحكومة المصرية مراجعتها وهذا ما حصل بالضبط

نحن أمام ادعاءات أنه لا فرق بين حكم مبارك والإخوان المسلمين وهذا الكلام غير صحيح, فالصورة الحقيقة للإخوان المسلمين تجلت في معركة حجارة السجيل, فلم يتم اعلان الحرب على غزة من مصر كما في السابق, كما انه تمت التهدئة بين الجانبين من مصر بحضور أمريكي وليس رعاية, كما اننا ما سمعناه من مصر لاوباما وللكيان الصهيوني مختلف عما سمعناه في الحرب الماضية , فهناك اختلاف جذري في الموقف المصري, ومن يحاول أن يظهر أن الإخوان المسلمين كتنظيم وحكم ورئاسة هم نسخة من مبارك هو مجرم بحق نفسه ولا يمكن أن يصدق ذلك

·         هل هناك اتفاق مصري فلسطيني لإغلاق الانفاق؟

مصر تدخل المواد التي جائت في إطار المشروع القطري, وعندما نصل لمرحلة تدخل البضائع عبر معبر رفح سنقوم بأنفسنا بإغلاق الأنفاق لكن لحد الآن لا يوجد اتفاق بإغلاقها, فمصر ليس لديها حكومة مستقرة,و وبعد الاستقرار سيكون لكل وزير فرصة أربع سنوات ليثبت أن صاحب برنامج وبعدها سنطالب منهم بفتح المعابر بطريقة عادية بوجود مشرفين على الضرائب والامن ويتم التبادل مع مصر بشكل رسمي.

·         ألم يطلب منكم الإخوان المسلمين دعما سياسيا؟ 

الشعب المصري يوفر الغطاء لشعبه, ودليل ذلك نتائج الانتخابات والدستور المصري , ومصر لا تأخذ شرعيتها إلا من مصر, وهي علمت كل العالم وبالتالي إذا كان شخص يريد أن يتعلم السياسة فليتعلمها من مصر.

·         العلاقة بين حماس ومحور المقاومة, وما هي صحة انسحاب حماس من هذا المحور؟

هذا كلام غير صحيح وعلاقتنا بايران تتعزز, وبخصوص الأوضاع في سوريا نحن لا نريد أن نكون مع النظام ضد الشعب أو في معركة مع الشعب ضد النظام, ومعركتنا الأساسية في فلسطين ولا نريد أن تراق قطرة دم خارج حدود فلسطين, فعلاقتنا بكل برنامج المقاومة هو الدعم والتأييد والنصرة لأننا نريد أن نجمع كل الأم العربية على المقاومة.

·         هل دعم قطر لكم ضمن مصالحها الخاصة؟

من يلعب سياسة دون أن يكون له مصلحة خاصة, وإذا كانت لقطر  مصلحة في الموضوع ما المانع لكننا نأخذ الدعم من قطر دون أي شروط, فطالما لا تؤثر مصالحها على المقاومة وسياستها وبرنامج الإصلاح نحن نقبل, ولستفد كل من يقدم لنا يد العون, ولا يوجد من لا يسعى للفائدة , ونحن لا نقبل المساعدات المشروطة

·         ماهي نظرتك لحل الأزمة السورية, وكيف تنظرون للمبادرة المصرية؟

من البداية كان موقفنا مع الحل السياسي وعارضنا الحل الامني الذي يجلب كوارث , لابد من حل الشان السوري بتوافق الأطراف المتصارعة خاصة أن الطرفان لم يستطع الحسم حتى الآن, لا بد من ان يكون هناك حل سياسي سيوافق عليه العالم بأسره,. كما اننا نعتب على عدم متابعة المبادرة المصرية.

·         اتهمت فتح الدكتور محمود الزهار بتعطيل المصالحة ماهو ردك؟

اتهامات فتح لي بتعطيل المصالحة هي ريح مر على بلاط, تعودنا على افتراءاتهم, وحركة حماس قدمت كل ورقة من أوراق المصالحة في حين أن فتح لم تقدم سطرا واحدا, وحديث فتح عن المصالحة تغير بعد الاتفاق الأخير, وتطبيق ما تم الاتفاق عليه مؤخرا هو ما يحقق المصالحة.

·         هل هناك تعارض بين اتفاقي القاهرة والدوحة

نعم هناك تعارض خاصة أن الاتفاق الاول نص على أن يكون رئيس الوزراء محايد والحكومة تكنوقراط, أما في الدوحة أصبح أبو مازن رئيس الوزراء لذا لابد من إعادة النقاش في هذا الملف وهذا خاضع للنقاش في المرحلة القادمة

·         فيما يتعلق بالحريات العامة هل هي عائق أمام المصالحة؟

الحريات أمر اساسيا لكن اخواننا يرشحون أنفسهم في الانتخابات وهذا يعتبر ترشيح للسجن, كما ان أي عملية اعتقال في غزة تتم وفق القانون ولا حصانة لمن أخطأ في حق القانون.

·         هل هناك خلافات داخل حماس ؟

نعم خلافاتنا موجودة لكنها لا تؤدى إلى انقسامات بين الحركة, والخلافات التي تلقى الضوء على كل سطر في حياتنا مشروعة, لكن هل سمعت في حماس ان هناك حزب بالداخل وحزب بالخارج, وفي تناحر وتناقض وتجاذب , هناك خلافات ويجب ان تحترم فلسنا نسخة تبصم على كل ما يقوله أي رئيس.

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