Hamas leader Fathi Hammad Mahmoud al-Zahar during a rally marking the 29th anniversary of Hamas in Gaza. MAHMUD HAMS / AFP
In a viral video on social media since the Hamas attack on the Hebrew state, Mahmoud al-Zahar wants “the entire planet” to be brought under Islamic law.
The video has been circulating virally on social networks since the Hamas attack on Saturday, October 7, 2023, which sparked a new war in Gaza. We see one of Hamas’ main leaders, Mahmoud al-Zahar, wishing that “the entire planet” would be under Islamic law. “There will be no more Jews or Christian traitors,” the Palestinian movement’s executive director says, according to the English translation added as a subtitle to the video.
These comments were widely shared Hamas was designated a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States and compared to Daesh by the Israeli prime minister the day after the attack. In France, an LFI MP described the Palestinian group as a “resistance movement,” sparking controversy and leading to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin being referred to prosecutors for “excusing terrorism.”
This excerpt from an interview with one of Hamas’s leaders is therefore instructive for the perspective of the struggle for the liberation of Palestine defended by Hamas. Or in any case defended by a certain part of the movement, because Mahmoud al-Zahar, considered one of the founders of Hamas, embodies one of the most radical parts.
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Mahmoud al-Zahar was born in Gaza City in 1945 and co-founded Hamas in 1987 before being arrested and held in Israeli prisons for six months. He then took part in the first government of the Palestinian Authority under the leadership of Hamas in 2006. The original Gazan also reportedly lost two sons. The first is said to have died in an Israeli attack on al-Zahar’s home in 2003. The second, a member of the Al-Qassam Brigades, also died in an IDF attack in 2008.
The video was shared with the Middle East Media Research Institute, whose stated goal is to “bridge the language barrier between the Middle East and the West.”
However, the structure, founded by a former member of Israeli intelligence, has often been criticized for its bias and sometimes incomplete translations, despite claiming to be “non-partisan.”
“Perfidious Christianity”
Le Figaro therefore confirmed this by retranslating the Hamas leader’s words in literary Arabic. “When […] We are talking about the fight for the “promise of eternity”, we are not saying that we will only liberate our country, we are also saying that we believe in what our Prophet Mohammad says that the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him . said, “God has shown me our land, I have seen its east and its west, and the possession of my nation will accomplish all that has been shown to me.”
Mahmoud al-Zahar then concludes: “The 510 million square kilometers that make up the surface of the planet will therefore live in a situation in which there will be no oppression, no subjugation, no treason, no Zionism, no perfidious Christianity . , nor murders of the magnitude that have been committed against the Palestinian people and all Arab peoples in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and all other Arab countries.
The terror movement’s co-founder also claimed responsibility for Hamas’ rocket attacks on Israel in a rare interview with British television channel Sky News’ Middle East correspondent in 2021. And when asked by the journalist about Israel’s right to exist, Mahmoud al-Zahar replied: “No. For what ? For what ? You come from America and take my house. You’re from the UK and you’re taking over my brother’s house. It’s a colony. You are not a citizen. We are the owners. It is an Arab area. It is a very well-known Islamic area.”