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The25th anniversary of the founding ofHamas took place on 8 December 2012. A rally involving hundreds of thousands ofPalestinians was held in theGaza Strip and various celebrations were conducted all over thePalestinian Authority.[1]Thousands of jubilant Hamas supporters openly raised green flags in theWest Bank, to celebrate the Islamic organization's 25th anniversary.[2]
The guest of honor at the ceremony was Hamas leader in-exileKhaled Mashal, who arrived inGaza Strip for the first time in his life, after entering the Gaza Strip throughEgypt. In his speech, which Mashal gave at a mass rally attended by hundreds of thousands of supporters, he stated explicitly that thePalestinian people would never compromise withIsrael's existence and that the organization will act decisively to gradually conquer and achieve full control overthe whole region, which encompass bothIsrael and thePalestinian territories in order to establish oneIslamic state in that region.[3][4]
Hamas formed in late 1987, during theFirst Intifada, as an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of theMuslim Brotherhood. Co-founderSheik Ahmed Yassin stated in 1987, and theHamas Charter affirmed in 1988, that Hamas was founded to liberate thehistoric region of Palestine from Israeli occupation and to establish anIslamic state.[5][6]
Since June 2007 Hamas has governed Gaza, after it won a majority of seats in thePalestinian Parliament in the2006 Palestinian elections[7] and then defeatedFatah in aseries of violent clashes.
Although Arab nations, Iran, Russia,[8] and Turkey[9] view Hamas as a legitimate entity, Israel, the United States,[10] Canada,[11] the European Union,[12] Japan, and otherwestern countries[13][14] designate Hamas as aterrorist organization.[15]
Palestinian men, women, and children flocked to Al-Katiba square despite the rains in the morning, gathering before a huge stage wearing headbands and waving green flags in support of Hamas.[16]
At least 200,000 people attended Saturday's open-air rally, though Hamas said there were 500,000, including 2,500 members of Islamic delegations fromIndonesia,Mauritania,Egypt,Algeria,Tunisia,Turkey,Libya andJordan — the biggest turnout for an event since their founding, according toBloomberg.[17]
At the main stage in Gaza City, a roaring crowd greetedKhaled Mashal and Gaza Prime MinisterIsmail Haniyeh, who emerged from a door built into a large model of a rocket fired at Israeli cities during the recent fighting.[18]
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Ismail Haniyeh, delivered a speech at the rally in which he stated that Hamas was working toward establishing an Arab and Islamic strategy to liberate “all our occupied Palestinian territories.” He added that the group's “victory” in the eight-day conflict with Israel (In November 2012) marked the beginning of the collapse of Israel.[19] Hamas had painted itself as the winner of the battle"Pillar of Cloud", because Israel agreed to a ceasefire brokered by Egypt instead of launching a ground invasion.[1]
Five hours after the event began,Khaled Mashal delivered a passionate speech to his supporters, stating, among other things, that:”Palestine is oursfrom the river to the sea and from the South to the North. There will be no concession on an inch of the land. We will never recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation and therefore there is no legitimacy for Israel, no matter how long it will take.″[20]Behind Mashal was an emblem of an M75 missile and a large portrait of Hamas founderAhmed Yassin.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced Sunday, 9 December 2012, that he planned to head to Cairo soon to resume reconciliation talks with Hamas but did not condemn the statements by Hamas. “Reconciliation [with Hamas] is dear to us and the unity of our people,” Abbas told the Arab League in Doha, Qatar. Mashal agreed, telling an audience at Gaza’s Islamic University that “responsibility for Palestine is bigger than one faction alone... Hamas cannot do without Fatah and Fatah cannot do without Hamas.”[21]
Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu stated Sunday, 9 December 2012 that “Khaled Mashaal has revealed Hamas’ real face, while Palestinian Authority ChairmanMahmoud Abbas hides behind him by not condemning remarks to destroy Israel.”[22]
Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Cabinet meeting Sunday morning, “Yesterday we were re-exposed to our enemies' true face. They have no intention of compromising with us; they want to destroy the state. They will fail, of course; in the annals of the history of our people, we – the Jewish People – have overcome such enemies.”
Netanyahu noted that Abbas, who has fostered an image of a “peace partner” while recently declaring unity with Hamas, “has issued no condemnation, not of the remarks about the destruction of Israel, just as previously he did not condemn the missiles that were fired at Israel.”
“To my regret, he strives for unity with the same Hamas that is supported by Iran," the Prime Minister added.
“We in the government have no illusions. We want a true peace with our neighbors. But we will not close our eyes and stick our heads in the sand. We are not prepared to repeat the same mistake of aunilateral withdrawal and withdrawals that, in effect, led Hamas to take control of Gaza.”
“I have always been astonished at the delusions of others who are prepared to continue this process and call it peace. You would hand over more territory, in this case in Judea and Samaria that controls Israel's cities, to the same people and the result, of course, will be a Gaza on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, Hadera and Kfar Saba.”
Netanyahu vowed to withstand international pressure that objected to thenew settlement projects for Jews in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
President Shimon Peres shared Netanyahu’s views of Hamas but still maintained that Abbas is a “peace partner”.[22]
The European Union on Monday, 10 December 2012, denounced as "unacceptable" the statements by Hamas leaders in Gaza "that deny Israel’s right to exist,"[23]while also condemning Israel for its plans to linkJerusalem withMa'ale Adumim.
Days earlier, the United Nations passed a resolution, recognizing Palestine as a non-member observer state.
