Hamas official walks back comments urging murder of ‘Jews everywhere’


Amid outcry, senior official Fathi Hammad and terror group insist ‘our conflict is with the occupation’

Senior Hamas official Fathi Hammad.

Adam Rasgon writes in Times of Israel, “A senior Hamas official on Monday attempted to walk back comments calling for members of the Palestinian diaspora to kill Jews around the world, as the terrorist group distanced itself from his remarks.”

“In a statement posted on the terror group’s website, Fathi Hammad said he supports “Hamas’s consistent, adopted policy of limiting its resistance to the Zionist occupation that usurps Palestine’s land and defiles its holy sites.” “He added: “Our resistance to this usurping entity will continue in all of its forms whether that is armed or popular peaceful struggle.”

Supporters of Hamas attend a rally marking the terror group’s founding in Gaza City

“The Islamist terror group sworn to Israel’s destruction earlier on Monday said Hammad’s comments did not represent its official policy, amid a flurry of condemnations, including by a top Palestine Liberation Organization official, a United Nations envoy, and a number of Palestinian activists. “These statements do not represent the movement’s official positions and consistent, adopted policies that stipulate that our conflict is with the occupation, which is occupying our land and sullying our holy sites, and not with Jews around the world or with Judaism as a religion,” Hamas said in an official statement posted on its website.”

“Hammad, a Hamas politburo member considered a hardliner and known for his fiery rhetoric, made the remarks in a speech at a protest in the border region between the Gaza Strip and Israel on Friday…“But our brothers [in the diaspora] are still preparing. They are trying to prepare. They are warming up. A long time has passed with them warming up. All of you 7 million Palestinians abroad, enough of the warming up. You have Jews everywhere and we must attack every Jew on the globe by way of slaughter and killing, if God permits. Enough of the warming up,” he added.”…

Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the PLO’s Executive Committee,

“Earlier on Monday, Saeb Erekat, the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee, condemned Hammad’s statements. “The just values of the Palestinian cause include love for freedom, justice and equality. The repugnant statement of Hamas leader Mr. Fathi Hammad about Jews doesn’t represent any of them,” Erekat tweeted. “Religion shouldn’t be used for political purposes.” (more…)

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