An Interview With Hamas

Phil Johnson, Ph.D.
Global Next Research Group and Leadership Institute
Sderot Media Center
30 November 09

(One thing about Hamas is they are real clear about what they believe, and what their goals are. That they live in a fantasy world is also quite clear)

In October of 2009, I had the opportunity to sit down with Talal Nasser, a senior Hamas official in the Hamas office in Damascus, Syria. Hamas is designated by the West as a terrorist organization and is viewed as a resistance movement in the Arab world. The most recent and significant clash with Israel occurred in the winter of 2008- 2009 and was called Operation Cast Lead by the Israelis and was known as the Gaza massacre in the Arab world. The following is an interview that attempts to shed light on the purposes, philosophy and goals of Hamas as a political and military organization. What is your role in Hamas? I am one of the members in Hamas. I am responsible for PR and just recently I gained a new position in the political decisions making area of Hamas. I am currently wanted by the Israeli forces because I am one of the founders of the al-Qassam Brigade - the military wing of Hamas. Is your life in danger from the Israelis? I have security, but I am not afraid. Why? Because we have a superior target - or goal which is to kick the occupiers out from the land. We work for our people and for our interests. What is the strength of Hamas after the latest war with Israel that ended in January 2009? The movement is strong and was strong even before the Israeli Holocaust in Gaza. Our popularity is growing - as a movement because of the martyrs who gave their lives for this cause. Hamas showed a good example for a resistance movement - in how they handled everything from their vision to distributing food to those in need during the war According to a Swedish NGO, Hamas's popularity is now at 82.2% within the Palestinian West Bank. How many people were killed in Gaza, including civilians? We consider all people killed in this war were from Hamas - children, women and men. But as the real fighters go, 89 fighters were killed. This does not include the number of policemen and civilians. Do you believe that you have impacted Israel's position in what you consider to be occupied territory? Has significant pain been inflicted upon Israel? Israel is a criminal state and they never respect any international laws. If we don't make any pain against them, they won't accept a cease-fire. An Israeli writer said that what Hamas's army did, no other Arab army could do or has done. And the Israelis were afraid that Hamas could launch rockets against Tel Aviv. And they were afraid that we could kidnap more soldiers - and we could and we did, but the Israeli's bombed our position and killed their own soldiers. So what did we did in the Gaza war was create the situation where even our enemies would have to respect us. (Continue full interview) .