(Guardian-UK) Chris McGreal - The Islamist movement Hamas is almost certain to be the second largest party in the Palestinian parliament, and to win outright in the Gaza Strip. "Our aim is not to cooperate with the Israelis....They are the enemy," said Mahmoud al-Zahar, one of the most prominent Hamas leaders in the territories. Zahar said that if Hamas were to win the election, the aim would not be to fight Israel but to ignore it. "We have to run very effective self-defense and take responsibility economically, politically, and socially through cooperation with the Arabs, not with the Israelis," he said. "We are ready to establish an independent state on one square meter, but at the same time we will not renounce one square meter. Our first priority is not Israel but Palestine." "Nobody among our sons and grandsons will accept Israel as a legal state."
2006-01-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive