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Khaled Meshal, Hamas leader
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| By Associated Press February 18, 2006 |
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The exiled political leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshal, said the world has the wrong image of Hamas and called on the world to stop seeing the newly elected Palestinian representatives through the eyes of Israel.
"We believe that most of the leaders in Europe, in the West, have an image about Hamas, a wrong image about Hamas, because this image doesn't reflect us. It reflects how some people, especially Israel, see Hamas," Meshal told The Associated Press on Friday, surrounded by bodyguards on a commercial flight from Ankara to Istanbul.
"We want the world, and especially the countries in the West, to understand us, to understand Hamas well, to understand the will of the Palestinian people, the national goals of Hamas and the Palestinian people."
Hamas's parliamentary victory last month prompted U.S. and EU threats to cut off massive aid to the Palestinians unless the group -- responsible for scores of suicide attacks and designated a terrorist organization by many Western nations - recognizes Israel and renounces violence.
Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ruled out talks with Hamas until it renounces violence, recognizes Israel's right to exist and accepts past agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.
"Everybody in the world says that. I know, I know," said Meshal, laughing and dismissing any immediate caving in to pressure on those demands - also conveyed by Turkey.
Hamas has given no indication it will change its ideology, but has said it would stick to a long-term cease-fire if Israel reciprocates.
He said the world needed to understand that Israeli occupation started the problem.
"The first step is the occupation. So our people in Palestine are suffering. This suffering pushes our people in Palestine to defend themselves against the occupation and against the aggression of Israel," Meshal said.
"The international community must make pressure on Israel to recognize our right to get freedom, to fight against occupation, to have real peace, legitimacy on our ground," Meshal said. "If the international community obliged Israel to do that, then they can come to us and ask us to take our step. It is clear, is it not?"
Meshal claimed that the international community was pressuring Hamas because it was weak compared to Israel.
"It is easy for those countries to make pressure on the weak side," argued Meshal. "This is not justice. For this reason the Palestinian people refuse this pressure. It is hypocrisy."
Meshal said Hamas wants an end to occupation of Palestinian territories.
"You can be sure that our feeling is peace and hope, good for all people in the world, but not any side that occupies our land or makes aggression on our people," he said.
Meshal indicated that Hamas would continue to create instability in Israel until a solution was found. "No peace without our legitimate rights. No stability with occupation. No peace with occupation. This is our right," he said.
Meshal also said the groundbreaking trip to Turkey was a successful one because of its broader implications, despite what many see as a rebuff by the Turkish prime minister, who declined to meet with the Hamas delegation in Ankara.
"We hope after Turkey to go to other countries," he said. "Maybe it is the first step to Europe and the West."
For the first time, Meshal said, Hamas had a mandate to get its message to the world on its own terms. "This is the first time that the Turkish people heard about us from us. That was the goal of the trip," he said.
"We need the world to support us to achieve our goals," said Mashaal. "We are the victims."
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