Ahmad Bahar, Acting Chairman of Parliament (Hamas): Accepting two states is betrayal of Allah
Ahmad Bahar, Acting Chairman of Parliament (Hamas):
"We say to our Palestinian nation: The significance of the Jewishness of the State [of Israel] – someone who accepts the Jewishness of the State betrays Allah, His messenger and believers. The significance of the Jewishness of the State is that the Palestinians don't exist. Your brethren in the 1948 territories [i.e. the Israeli Arabs]. The Jewishness of the State – recognizing it means recognizing Jewish existence in the land of Palestine. And I'll tell you something else: even recognition of two states, as they say, is a crime against the Palestinian cause. Two states – a Jewish state and a Palestinian state. Where is the Palestinian state? It can't exist! It has no sovereignty! It has no authority to make decisions! The state that the Jews want is a state in which we will be servants, messengers, of the Jews. And one who accepts this is betraying Allah, His messenger, and [Muslim] believers. We will not accept and not recognize a state for the Jews here on Palestinian land! We will not recognize it! It makes no difference what this will cost us."
[Friday prayer and sermon (third Friday of Ramadan) from the Salem Abu Muslim Mosque in Bet Lahiya.]
"We say to our Palestinian nation: The significance of the Jewishness of the State [of Israel] – someone who accepts the Jewishness of the State betrays Allah, His messenger and believers. The significance of the Jewishness of the State is that the Palestinians don't exist. Your brethren in the 1948 territories [i.e. the Israeli Arabs]. The Jewishness of the State – recognizing it means recognizing Jewish existence in the land of Palestine. And I'll tell you something else: even recognition of two states, as they say, is a crime against the Palestinian cause. Two states – a Jewish state and a Palestinian state. Where is the Palestinian state? It can't exist! It has no sovereignty! It has no authority to make decisions! The state that the Jews want is a state in which we will be servants, messengers, of the Jews. And one who accepts this is betraying Allah, His messenger, and [Muslim] believers. We will not accept and not recognize a state for the Jews here on Palestinian land! We will not recognize it! It makes no difference what this will cost us."
[Friday prayer and sermon (third Friday of Ramadan) from the Salem Abu Muslim Mosque in Bet Lahiya.]