Tag Archive for: Khaled Meshaal

Hamas top dog: ‘Our nation will sit on the throne of the world’

A recap of Islamophobic fearmongering from some of the world’s top Islamophobes: the top dogs of Hamas.

Hamas Leaders: Our Goal Is Establishment Of Global Islamic Caliphate, Not Just Liberation Of Palestine

MEMRI, December 8, 2023:

While Hamas presents itself as a Palestinian movement whose goal is to eliminate Israel and establish an independent Palestinian state stretching from the River to the Sea, this movement is also part of the global Muslim Brotherhood (MB), whose ultimate goal and vision is the establishment of a worldwide Islamic caliphate. Hamas leaders and spokesmen repeatedly express that their movement will not liberate only Palestine, but aims to bring all the Islamic countries, and eventually the entire world, under Islamic rule. The  liberation of Palestine, they stress, is just a prelude to the establishment of a worldwide caliphate: Rome will be conquered by Islam as Constantinople was once conquered, and then the rest of the world will be overtaken as well, including America and Eastern Europe.

Arab writers have in fact slammed Hamas for this aspect of its ideology and rhetoric. In a recent article,  published in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 massacre in southern Israel, Egyptian author Dr. Mouna Al-Hilmi wrote that Hamas purports to be fighting for the liberation of Palestine, but its ultimate goal, like that of the MB, is the restoration of the caliphate. Yemeni journalist Hani Salem Mashour made similar remarks in a recent article in the Emirati daily Al-Arab.

The following are translated statements by Hamas officials and clerics published by MEMRI over the years in which they articulate the movement’s vision of reestablishing the Islamic caliphate. Also below are excerpts from the articles of the two journalists who criticized Hamas for this.

Hamas Official Fathi Hammad: “We Shall Liberate Our Al-Aqsa Mosque, And Our Cities And Villages, As A Prelude To The Establishment Of The Future Islamic Caliphate”

Hamas Political Bureau member and former Minister of the Interior Fathi Hammad declared on a December 1, 2023 show on Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas – Gaza) that the Palestinians are preparing to establish an Islamic caliphate with Jerusalem as its capital. Hesaid:“The [Palestinian] people have been soldiers throughout history. They are now preparing to liberate Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and I am saying this loud and clear: [The Palestinian people] are preparing to establish the Caliphate, with Jerusalem as its capital city, Inshallah. Jerusalem will not only be the capital city of Palestine as an independent state – it will be the capital city of the Islamic Caliphate…

Fathi Hammad made similar remarks in a November 13, 2013 public address in Gaza, when he was serving as Minister of the Interior. He said: “We shall liberate our Al-Aqsa Mosque, and our cities and villages, as a prelude to the establishment of the future Islamic Caliphate. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are at the threshold of a global Islamic civilization era. The fuel and spearhead of this era will be Gaza, and its mujahideen and leaders will be from Gaza, Allah willing.”

Senior Hamas Official Mahmoud Al-Zahar: The Army Of Jerusalem Will Not Liberate Only Palestine; The Whole World Will Come Under An Islamic System “With No Zionism, No Treacherous Christianity”

In a December 12, 2022 show on Al-Masirah TV, affiliated with the Yemeni Houthis, Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahar said: “When we speak about the Army of Jerusalem and the Battle of the Promise of the Hereafter, we are not talking about liberating our land alone – but we believe in what our Prophet Muhammad said: ‘Allah drew the ends of the world near one another for my sake, and I have seen its eastern and western ends. The dominion of my nation would reach those ends that have been drawn near me.’ The entire 510 million square kilometers of Planet Earth will come under [a system] where there is no injustice, no oppression, no treachery, no Zionism, no treacherous Christianity, and no killings and crimes, like those being committed against the Palestinians, and against the Arabs in all the Arab countries – in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and other countries.”

In a speech aired on Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV on September 5, 2010Al-Zahhar made similar remarks, saying: “Our enterprise extends far beyond Palestine: Palestine in its entirety, the Arab nation in its entirety, the Islamic nation in its entirety, and the entire world.”

Hamas Leader Khaled Mash’al: The Nation of Islam Will Sit at the Throne of the World

In an address he gave at the Al-Murabit Mosque in Damascus, which was aired on Al-Jazeera TV on February 3, 2006, Hamas leader Khaled Mash’al stated that the Islamic nation will regain the leadership of the world, and then the West will be full of remorse when it is too late. He said: “Wherever the [Islamic] nation is targeted, its enemies will be defeated, Allah willing. The nation of Muhammad is gaining victory in Palestine. The nation of Muhammad is gaining victory in Iraq, and it will be victorious in all Arab and Muslim lands. ‘Their multitudes will be defeated and turn their backs [and flee].’ These fools will be defeated, the wheel of time will turn, and times of victory and glory will be upon our nation, and the West will be full of remorse, when it is too late…

“Today, the Arab and Islamic nation is rising and awakening, and it will reach its peak, Allah willing. It will be victorious. It will link the present to the past. It will open up the horizons of the future. It will regain the leadership of the world. Allah willing, the day is not far off…

“I say to the [European countries]: Hurry up and apologize to our nation, because if you do not, you will regret it. This is because our nation is progressing and is victorious. Do not leave a black mark in the collective memory of the nation, because our nation will not forgive you.

“Tomorrow, our nation will sit on the throne of the world. This is not a figment of the imagination, but a fact. Tomorrow we will lead the world, Allah willing. Apologize today, before remorse will do you no good. Our nation is moving forwards, and it is in your interest to respect a victorious nation…

“Our nation will be victorious. When it reaches the leadership of the world, and controls its own will decisions, then it will prevent this overt interference [in our affairs], and its pillaging of natural resources, and will prevent these recurring offenses against our land, against our nation, and against our holy places – then you will regret it.”

Hamas Senior Official Ahmad Bahr: The Arab Spring Revolutions Were A Prelude to an Islamic Caliphate

In an April 9, 2011 interview with the Qatari daily Al-Raya, top Hamas official Ahmad Bahr, then deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), said that the Arab Spring uprisings against the dictatorships that the West had installed in the Arab countries heralded the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate. He said: “I would like to say that these [revolutions] are [merely] a prelude to the Islamic Caliphate… [whose establishment] the Prophet [Muhammad] foretold in the hadith: ‘You will have the prophecy, according to Allah’s will. Then will He put an end to it, according to His will. And then there will be a Caliphate by way of prophecy, according to the will of Allah… And there will be a biting kingdom [i.e., an oppressive rule], according to the will of Allah… [and then] a kingdom of coercion, according to the will of Allah… Then there will be a Caliphate by way of prophecy,’ etc. The [term] ‘kingdom of coercion,’ as the hadith [commentators] explained, refers to the dictatorships that oppressed, cheated, killed, and destroyed. These were [created by] Western and American industry, which paved the way for the plundering of all the [Muslim] ummah’s resources – its oil and its agriculture. I hope that this awakening heralds the establishment of a Caliphate by way of prophecy, according to the will of Allah…”[1]

Hamas MP and Cleric Yunis Al-Astal in a Friday Sermon: We Will Conquer Rome, and from There Continue to Conquer the Two Americas and Eastern Europe

In a Friday sermon that aired on Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV on April 11, 2008, Hamas MP and cleric Yunis Al-Astal said: “Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our Prophet Muhammad. Today, Rome is the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital, which has declared its hostility to Islam, and has planted the brothers of apes and pigs [i.e., the Jews] in Palestine in order to prevent the reawakening of Islam – this capital of theirs will be an advance post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread through Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, and even Eastern Europe.

“I believe that our children or our grandchildren will inherit our Jihad and our sacrifices, and Allah willing, the commanders of the conquest will come from among them. Today, we instill these good tidings in their souls, and by means of the mosques and the Koran books, and the history of our Prophets, his companions, and the great leaders, we prepare them for the mission of saving humanity from the hellfire on the brink of which they stand.”

Similar remarks were made In a Friday sermon that aired on Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV on March 5, 2010: “The prophecy of the conquest of Rome remains valid, Allah willing. Just like Constantinople was conquered some 500 years ago, Rome too will be conquered. Our prayers, our fasting, and the charity we give will be to no avail, if we doubt the Prophet Muhammad. How can we proceed along the path of righteousness, if we are not secure in our belief that Rome will be conquered, as promised by the Prophet Muhammad and as proclaimed by Allah?”

Egyptian Writer: Hamas Hides Behind The Slogan Of Liberating Palestine But Is Really Interested In Establishing An Islamic Caliphate

Arab writers have commented on this aspect of Hamas and its ideology. In a recent article in the Egyptian daily Al-Dustour, published in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 massacre in southern Israel, Egyptian author, poet and journalist Dr. Mouna Al-Hilmi wrote that Hamas purports to be fighting for the liberation of Palestine, but is not really interested in a Palestinian nation-state. Rather, like its parent movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas’s ultimate goal is the restoration of the global caliphate. Al-Hilmi wrote: “Whoever reads Hamas’ charter will become convinced that it is a terror organization par excellence, which is why many countries have agreed to designate it as such. As stated in its charter, from 1988, Hamas explicitly seeks to destroy or dismantle Israel, while hiding behind [the slogan] of freeing Palestine, which it regards as ‘Muslim’ land. Ever since it won the elections to the legislature [in 2006], the power of the terrorist Hamas has grown, and since it is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, it takes part in the [Brotherhood’s] jihad to establish a global Islamic caliphate…

“Hamas is not interested in liberating the Palestinian homeland, because, ultimately, it does not recognize the idea of the homeland [i.e., of the nation state] and regards Islam as the homeland. What really interests it is what it regards as the ‘sacred religious duty’ of every Muslim everywhere, namely, getting rid of the Jews and expelling them from every place, because [according to Hamas] the Jews hate Allah, killed their prophets and denied Allah’s signs. Let us beware [this organization], since it is a cruel arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.”[2]

Columnist In UAE Daily: Hamas, A Muslim Brotherhood Faction, Seeks To Topple Arab Countries And Revive The Caliphate

Similar arguments were made by Yemeni journalist Hani Salem Mashour. In his October 17, 2023 column in the London-based Emirati daily Al-Arab, he too argued that the aim of Hamas, like that of the Muslim Brotherhood movement to which it belongs and of the other extremist organizations with which it is linked, is to topple the Arab regimes and establish an Islamic Caliphate:

“…The primary goal of the extremist Islamic organizations… is still to crush the nation-state. Thus, the Houthis [i.e. the Houthi Ansar Allah movement in Yemen] emerged, claiming to represent Yemen; Hizbullah [claimed it] represented Lebanon, and Al-Hashd Al-Sha’abi [Popular Mobilization Units, aka PMU] and its allies [claimed] to represent Iraq. These organizations engage in taking peoples and countries hostage and entangling them in wars and conflicts that have no clear objectives besides a desire to abolish the political borders of the Arab nation-state. This is the goal pursued by the religious organizations, in order to establish… what they describe as ‘the Caliphate State.’

“The Hamas and PIJ movements have no right to claim that they represent the will of the Palestinian people in order to entangle it a pointless war – just as none of the religious organizations have the right to do so. In light of the siege on the Gaza Strip, and following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, it would be appropriate for the wisdom of the Arab collective to awaken [and recognize] the truth as it is. It is inconceivable for the nation-state to be replaced by a caliphate state… [This is because] such a state cannot exist in the [current] political reality. Although today’s reality is drenched in blood, it may indeed turn into an opportunity for an awakening, for reexamination, and for deciding to disengage from the legacies exploited by the extremist organizations in order to destroy all of mankind.”[3]

[1] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 3770, “Palestinian Legislative Council Deputy Speaker and Hamas Senior Official: The Revolutions in the Arab World – A Prelude to an Islamic Caliphate,” April 15, 2011.

[2] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10939, “Egyptian Journalists: Hamas Is A Terror Organization Bent On Destroying Israel And The Jews; Its October 7 Attack Involved ISIS-Like War Crimes,” November 5, 2023.

[3] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10919, “Columnist In UAE Daily: Hamas, A Muslim Brotherhood Faction, Seeks To Topple Arab Countries And Revive The Caliphate; It Does Not Represent The Palestinians And Has No Right To Embroil Them In Wars,” October 31, 2023.

AUTHOR

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Hamas Billionaires Getting the Attention Their Riches Deserve

I have for years drawn attention here to the billions of dollars that the leaders of Hamas have stolen from the sums provided by foreign donors, money that was meant to support the people of Gaza. Now I am delighted that The Daily Mail (UK), The National Post (Canada), the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, and Fox News have all given the story of the three Hamas billionaires extensive coverage. The coverage by Fox News can be found here:

Hamas billionaires: Lifestyles of the rich and terrorists

by Eric Shawn, Fox News, November 8, 2023:

They are living the Hamas high life.

While the people of Gaza live in poverty and have suffered under the horrors of Hamas, the terror group’s leaders apparently are living high on the hog.

Israeli officials say Hamas leaders are billionaires, amassing an overwhelming jackpot of terror money for themselves….

Hamas bosses Khaled Mashaal and Ismail Haniyeh are worth an estimated $4 billion each, and political bureau leader Mousa Abu Marzouk is worth $3 billion….

Photos show Hamas leader Mashaal playing table tennis, as well as squeezing in a workout on a treadmill in what appears to be a hotel gym.

Reports have long claimed that one of the Hamas leaders’ bases of operations has been the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha, Qatar. In 2015, Mashaal held a press conference in the hotel’s ballroom, where he attacked Israel. And it was said he spent a lot of his time at the property. Four Seasons touts its property as being “reimagined with modern grandeur and sparkling with sunlight and sea views. From the elegant lobby to energetic restaurants and lounges, our beachfront urban retreat has been transformed into a vibrant hotspot.”

In a statement to Fox News, the company says the “Four Seasons confirms that Ismail Haniyeh is not living at or staying at Four Seasons Hotel Doha. Information circulating on social media suggesting otherwise is not true.” Requests for comment from Fox News about other Hamas leaders have not yet been answered.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has introduced legislation, “The Hamas Sanctions Act,” that would block Hamas’ ability to find safe havens abroad, including in Qatar or Turkey. The legislation would impose sanctions on “hotels, landlords, banks, and similar businesses in allied countries that provide services to Hamas leaders,” and would potentially classify countries, like Qatar and Turkey, “as state sponsors of terrorism for hosting Hamas.”…

The United States has targeted nearly 1,000 individuals and entities connected to terrorism and terrorist financing by the Iranian regime and its proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iran-aligned terrorist groups in the region.”…

Read full article.

The three Hamas billionaires have stolen, from the people of Gaza, eleven billion dollars. They luxuriate in their residences, and luxury suites, in Doha, as well as in their villas in Beirut and Istanbul, where they have been photographed lolling on beds, working out in private gyms, flying about in their private planes, eating at the most expensive restaurants, completely indifferent to the conditions in which the people of Gaza live. Think of how many apartments, electricity plants, water purification plants could have been built in Gaza with those eleven billion dollars. The only people trying to help the Gazans directly — thus avoiding sending aid through the thieving Hamas rulers — are the Israelis, who until October 7 had been providing jobs to 20,000 people from Gaza, who earned between three and five times as much working in Israel than they could have earned at home, even assuming there were jobs to be had in the Strip.

The monstrous theft by Hamas leaders of aid meant for all Gazans is likely to arouse more indignation in the outside world than their record of supporting terrorism. For their vast wealth, stolen from the people of Gaza, and their living the high life while leaving the Gazans to wallow in their misery — a misery made much worse by the atrocities those leaders set loose on October 7 — is an outrage easy to grasp.

There should be posters, with the faces of these Hamas leaders, and the amounts they have stolen from fellow Arabs in Gaza, held up by pro-Israeli counter-protesters everywhere. Those will get attention in a certain segment of the population in the West that, I regret to say, posters of kidnapped Israelis will not.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Qatar Deports Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Meshaal?

Just before year end, on December 30, 2014, we posted on pronouncements from Qatar about abandoning support for the Muslim Brotherhood and opening up dialogue with Egypt’s President El-Sisi. El-Sisi , then Defense Chief ousted President Morsi , a former Muslim Brotherhood leader in a coup on July 2013, Has Qatar turned Away from Islamist Support in the Middle East?  Earlier on December 6, 2014, we reported that the Qatari Ambassador to the US,  H.E. Mohammed Jaham Al-Kuwari at a presentation before the Pensacola, Florida Tiger Bay Club proclaimed, “We do not support Hamas”.  He astounded some in the audience. In retrospect, given today’s news about Qatar expelling, Hamas Politburo leader, that may have been a scoop.  If confirmed, that would end Meshall’s three year sojourn in the gas rich Gulf state.  However, denials by Senior Hamas leader and the lack of confirmation from Qatar raise questions.  CNN reported:

Senior Hamas official Izzat Risheq denied reports Monday that the group’s political leader Khaled Meshaal has been expelled from Qatar.

Earlier Monday, sources close to Hamas told CNN that Meshaal and members of the Muslim Brotherhood were expelled from Qatar, and were most likely on the way to Turkey.

The Qatari government has not commented.

Saudi Arabia has been working to improve relations between Qatar and Egypt.

Israel’s reaction to this development was what you might expect as reported by AP:

The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it “welcomes Qatar’s decision to expel the head of the Hamas political bureau, Khaled Meshaal, to Turkey.” It said the Qatari decision came after heavy diplomatic pressure from Israel.

“We expect the Turkish government to act responsibly in a similar way,” it added.

Hardly, likely.  Meshaal traveled to Ankara on December 25, 2014 and met with Islamist AKP President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.  Meshaal then showed up on December 27, 2014 at the annual convention of AKP Party of President Erdogan held at the hometown of AKP Premier Dovutoglu in Konor. Al-Monitor reported his reception and remarks:

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu appeared on Dec. 27 with Meshaal in Davutoglu hometown, Konya, for the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) annual assembly. Known for being conservative, Konya residents jubilantly greeted Meshaal, as reported by Islamist news network Takva Haber: “The democratic and secular Hamas leader reminded Konya residents of their protests in the 1980s in solidarity with Jerusalem.”

Turkish mainstream media reported Meshaal’s appearance in Konya as a surprise visit. Meshaal gave a brief but potent speech in which he praised Erdogan and Davutoglu multiple times as the crowd waived Turkish and Palestinian flags, passionately cheering “Allahu akbar” (God is great) and “Down with Israel.” Meshaal said: “A strong Turkey means a strong Jerusalem and a strong Palestine. … Inshallah [God willing], we will liberate Jerusalem together. A strong Turkey is a source of power for all Muslims.”

Erdogan has gone out of his way to support Hamas as fellow Brothers. That included the infamous exiled Egyptian Brotherhood preacher, the anti-American and anti-Semitic Yusuf al Qaradawi, head of the US Global terror financing conduit, Union of Good. In our December 6th post we drew attention to an Interpol Red Tag Warrant issued for the arrest of al-Qaradawi sought for extradition “to serve a sentence” for crimes including “incitement and assistance to commit intentional murder” in El-Sisi’s Egypt.  Al Monitor in a December 12, 2014 report on the Arrest Warrant noted Erdogan saying:

His resentment publicly at the Fifth Religious Council in Ankara Dec. 8, Erdogan said: “Look, a person who came to power through a coup is giving instructions to Interpol. Based on this instruction a step is being taken for the arrest of Youssef al-Qaradawi, president of the [International] Union of Muslim Scholars. What kind of a business is this?”

 The Qatari Ambassador’s  presentation on December 6th in Pensacola was eclipsed by the Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani’s  appearance at a GCC summit in Doha three days later on December 9th that marked the start of a lowering of Qatar’s profile internationally reflected in  a Wall Street Journal  op by Yaroslav Trofimov’,  Qatar Scales Back Role in Middle East Conflicts.   The Qatari Ambassador to Washington comments about Meshaal at the Pensacola Tiger Bay Club meeting in response to his status may have been cover for what may have happened yesterday when H.E. Ambassador Al-Kuwari said, “Better to have Khaled Meshaal in Qatar than across the Gulf in Iran”.  Meshaal, the political leader of Hamas is said to live in luxury and control funds estimated at over $2.0 billion.

 Now it is likely that Khaled Meshaal, and possibly MB Preacher Al Qaradawi and others in the Hamas Politburo entourage in Doha may have also found new refuge and safe haven for their ill-gotten billions in Turkey. Meanwhile Hamas leaders in Gaza are complaining bitterly that less than $100 million out of the $5.4 billion pledged to rebuild the enclave have been received since the Cairo conference with Arab states following the cease fire that ended the 50 day war with Israel in the summer of 2014.  Trofimov in his WSJ analysis noted the turnabout following the Emir al-Thani appearance at the Doha   Gulf Cooperation Council meeting on December 9th:

Trofimov in his WSJ analysis  noted the turnabout:

After their threats to boycott a summit of Gulf monarchies in Doha this month, Qatar revised its stance on the critical point of disagreement—how to treat the Muslim Brotherhood and the current Egyptian leadership, which ousted the Islamist group from power last year.

Having expelled several Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leaders ahead of the summit, Qatar sent a senior envoy to Egypt on Dec. 20 to seek a rapprochement with President Abdel Fattah El -Sisi.

Two days later, Qatar shut down the Egyptian channel of its Al Jazeera TV network, an outlet for the Brotherhood and other opponents of Egypt’s current leadership.

“The security of Egypt is important for the security of Qatar,” Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said.

Our conclusion from our December 30th post is worth repeating:

Thus, tiny Qatar has been forced to rein in its support of the Islamist jihadist causes because of geo-political realities, leaving Turkey’s President Erdogan as the lone supporter of Hamas in the region.  That has been fueled by the US energy revolution producing a glut in the weakened demand for oil and gas that precipitated the plummeting oil and gas prices.

We shall see if Qatar makes the transition away from being a Frenemy dropping its support for the Brotherhood in the region and in Gaza. Backing Egypt’s security was likely a show of good faith to be brought back into the fold of the Gulf Cooperation Council. If Qatar can clean up its problems with the construction of the FIFA 2022 World Cup including alleged human rights violations of foreign workers, it may be on the path to rehabilitation in the world community. Still Qatar is not a budding democracy as it tries to portray itself. Rather it an Arab autocracy granting little to no human rights to its 280,000 citizens and nearly 1.8 million foreign workers.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in the New English Review. The featured image is of Khaled Meshaal, Hamas Politburo chief, at a Doha 7-23-14 news conference. Source: Reuters.