KUALA LUMPUR: The Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas does not condone the so-called Islamic State militant group or Daesh terrorists and its extremist actions, says Hamas Political Bureau (Politburo) chief, Khalid Meshaal.
Stressing that Hamas and IS should not be viewed in the same light, he said the Palestinian struggle was totally different from the militant group's extremist agenda.
"It is a big difference between terrorism and resistance. Terrorism kills blindly, and is thus, totally different from the resistance in Palestine.
"This terrorism is denounced and we don't accept it. As for the resistance in our land, we accept it as our natural right for our people," he said after giving a talk at the Palestinian Cultural Organisation Malaysia (PCOM) lecture series here yesterday evening.
The talk was held on the sidelines of his visit to Malaysia to attend the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) 2015 General Assembly from Dec 8-12. Meshaal is among the international guests invited to attend the general assembly
On continuous calls for the restart of the peace process between Palestine and Israel, the Hamas leader said decades of negotiations were pointless due to the absence of balance of power between the two parties (Israel and Palestine).
Speaking through an interpreter, Meshaal said that with no political willingness from the super powers, Palestinians could only depend on themselves to defend their rights.
Citing the success of super powers on ending apartheid system in Africa, he said they could work on pressuring Israel through political and military fronts to end Israel’s occupation.
“If this option does not work, our second option is the only option, which is for us to continue our resistance and struggle and expand it with the help of the Muslim Ummah,” he noted.
On Thursday, international media reported that United States President Barack Obama called for continued efforts towards a peace process between Israel and Palestine, in the presence of visiting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.
Obama was quoted as saying there was a need for Israelis and Palestinians to find mechanisms in which to dialogue and arrive at peace.
Touching on the support of international bodies to the Palestinian cause such as the United Nations Security Council, Meshaal said there was no total reliance on such organisations.
“We depend on our own struggle to restore our rights becase this is the right way...but in adition to that, we request from all international and regional bodies to stand by the Palestinian fight,” he said.
This was because the Palestinian cause had an Arab and Islamic, as well as international humanitarian dimension, in addition to the internal Palestinian dimension cause, he pointed out.
“However, we are working on the ground...and we are not waiting for others. We move and expect others to support us,” he emphasised.
– BERNAMA