Exclusive interview: Hamas leader cherishes Pakistan’s support for Palestine

Khaled Meshaal seeks to downplay differences between Hamas and Fatah.

DOHA: While Israel’s deadly bombing campaign in Gaza Strip entered 8th day, leader of the Hamas political bureau Khaled Meshaal has said that he cherishes the Pakistani nation’s support for the people of Palestine.

Speaking exclusively in the Express News show ‘To the Point’, Meshaal said that differences between Hamas and Fatah are too trivial to hurt the Palestinian cause. “In politics, it’s natural to have differences, but there is always a common ground to sort them out.”

“Disunity is one of the causes of the present plight of the Palestinian people, but the main issue is Israeli aggression, the US bias towards the Zionist regime and the criminal silence of the international community,” he said.

Asked if Hamas would ever recognise the state of Israel, Meshaal said, “No.” He said Israel has occupied the Palestinian land and usurped the rights of the Palestinian people.

Does agreeing to the 1966 borders not imply recognising the state of Israel, the Hamas leader said there were a number of countries in the world that don’t recognise each other and have border disputes, but still talk to each other.

“We are open to dialogue but you need to have strong cards in hand for talks,” he said. “We believe in every type of resistance, armed and unarmed with dialogue,” he added.

About the US diplomatic tilt towards Israel, Meshaal said it was hurting the American interests in the Muslim world in general and in the Middle East in particular.

Meshaal said “the US and the West have pampered Israel into a spoilt child that does not even listen to them”. To substantiate his claim, he referred to the 2009 speech of US President Barrack Obama in Cairo University where he had assured that the festering issue would be resolved but “Israel did not agree and continued its aggressive stance”.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2014.