Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem

The Political Comment

In a lightening operation against the Israeli army, Hezbollah succeeded this morning (Wednesday) in capturing two Israeli soldiers. A few days earlier, the head of the Palestinian Authority, Ismael Haniya had proposed a five-point initiative that included a ceasefire and negotiations over the issue of the captured Israeli soldier. This was followed by statements made by Khaled Masha’al during a press conference in Damascus in which he stressed that the Israeli soldier would not be released except with a prisoner exchange. These developments came in the wake of the bloody week notably witnessed in Gaza, which represented the Jews’ response to operation “Dissipated Illusion” that resulted in the capturing of the Israeli soldier. The initiative of Ismael Haniya had come after the savage murder and the destruction of the infrastructure in the Gaza strip and after the aforementioned operation. It is imperative to draw attention to the fact that the signing of the Prisoners’ Document by the Palestinian factions, including Hamas, was sneaked through amidst the recent developments in Palestine, which was followed by the initiative of Ismael Haniya, which in turn reflects a tendency within Hamas to proceed in the path of negotiations, having amassed the justifications for this trend before its cadres and popular support. This is confirmed by the statements that Mohammed Nazzal made during an interview with Al-Alam channel. He said that “Hamas was not averse to negotiations but the problem lied in the basis of negotiations”. He added that the PLO had already covered some distance in the negotiations on the basis of concessions and that “enemies negotiate; as for friends, they debate.” 

Therefore, “Israel” is expected to yield to international pressure. It will suspend the operations of its army in Gaza and its retaliatory actions against Lebanon in the wake of the Hezbollah operation, but after dealing a harsh blow to Lebanon and Gaza, leading to raising the stakes of the Olmert government so that he may undertake the dismantling of the settlements, like Sharon did prior to dismantling the Gaza settlements. Sharon invaded the West Bank and besieged Arafat in order to persuade the Israeli public opinion that military operations are ineffective and that negotiations will enable “Israel” to recover the prisoners and achieve security. Hence, the atmosphere will be favourable to initiate the negotiations between “Israel” and Hezbollah and Hamas over the prisoners, so that the negotiations with Hamas may act as a prelude to further negotiations in the future in which Hamas will participate. Hamas will be represented within the PLO and it will be a participating party in the government of national unity as stipulated in the “Document”. The statements of Ahmadinajad that warn of an Islamic outburst, coupled with his appeal to the “Islamic” countries’ foreign ministers gathered recently in Teheran, to cooperate in order to remove “Israel”; in addition to concluding a military agreement with Syria that resembles a joint defence treaty signed on behalf of Syria on June 14 by General Hassan Turkumani who visited Teheran heading a huge military delegation consisting of 60 officers; and in addition to the expected shelling of north Palestine by Hezbollah in response to the expected Israeli bombing in the wake of Hezbollah’s operation this morning, all of this represents the pressure exerted on the rejecters of the peace process inside “Israel”. The pressure is designed to warn them against the consequences of their intransigence and to prevent the spread and the increase of their influence among the Israeli public opinion, especially as the Israeli mainstream has been notified of increasing omens of extremism among the Palestinians. This is indicated by the rise of a new faction called the Army of Islam, which partook in the Karam Salem operation and the killing of General Moussa Arafat was attributed to Mumtaz Daghmash, one of the operatives of this new group which is allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda and which Abbas had warned of its presence in Palestine a few months ago.

Dear Muslims...

The acts of political deception are the most dangerous practice against the peoples and nations. Their impact is usually more damaging than the direct military actions. What is occurring in Palestine and in the Muslim lands in general in terms of political deception, practised by the Kufr states headed by America, usually end in success due to the susceptible ground or due to the ease in preparing the ground for such dangerous acts of deception.

The Ummah was first deceived in the issue of Palestine when it was deemed as the issue of expelling the British, then of resisting and expelling the Jews, whereas the real issue for the people of Palestine is the very issue of the rest of the Islamic Ummah, namely the lack of the One State that unites the Ummah on the basis of Islam, not the liberation from colonialism and the independence of a country so that it may have a flag, an army, a constitution and borders. Hence, the major blunder and crime that the Ummah perpetrated against herself, including the people of Palestine, was to consider the issue as liberation from colonialism. In order to deceive the Ummah further, the issue was officially localized at the Rabat summit of 1974 and declared exclusively as the issue of the people of Palestine under the theme of “right to self-determination”, promoted as being an attractive slogan.

As for the current chapter of political deception, America has launched the slogan of “people’s peace”. She does not want a peace between the regimes due to the failure of the so-called peace treaty between Egypt and “Israel” in achieving its major aim, namely the integration of “Israel” into the region, so as to keep it as a dagger lodged into the Islamic Ummah’s side to prevent her revival with the return of the Islamic State, and as a tool to execute the conspiracies of the Kuffar against our Ummah. Hence, America worked, via the 1973 war, to smash the notion of the invincibility of the army that the Jews had been nurturing, in order to kick-start the negotiations process. This resulted in concluding a peace treaty with Egypt, thus the people of Egypt were pacified and excluded from the struggle. They were deceived when it was decided to give Sinai back to the Egyptians and when they became engrossed in the so-called economic liberalism. Then, once the Oslo accord was signed by the PLO, the foundation stone to build the Palestinian Authority was placed. The status of the PLO was confirmed as being the legitimate representative of the people in Palestine. Then came the second intifada as Sharon entered the sacred mosque in al-Quds. Then America paved the way for the criminal Sharon who represented the intransigent rightwing to win the Israeli elections. The outcome of taming the Jews was the success of Sharon in establishing the Kadima party on the embers of the Likud party. The programme of Kadima, in terms of its political orientation, did not deviate from the American roadmap peace plan.
 
Since Hamas and Islamic Jihad represented the intransigent side in respect of rejecting the negotiations with the Jews and rejecting the recognition of their state, according to what they had been proclaiming from their inception, and since they spoke from the platform of Islam, the acts of political deception have been focusing in the past few months on generating the pretexts and justifications so that the popular support of the two movements, especially Hamas, may accept the exigencies related to preparing the grounds for the peace process to proceed.

The legislative elections were the key to the new phase. The major success achieved by Hamas was in harmony with the people’s drift towards Islam and towards those who raise its slogans. Hence, if Hamas entered the peace process, as planned by America, Fatah and the rest of the organisations would not be an obstacle as they have already expressed their stance in relation to the peace process; thus America will proceed towards achieving the so-called people’s peace.

In order to deceive people further, Hamas was left to form the government of the Palestinian Authority by itself; then the Hamas government was overwhelmed and entangled in domestic and foreign problems, be it in respect of suspending financial backing or preventing its transfer.

Another act of political deception that oozes with malice and guile is the adoption of the Prisoners’ Document with the aim of settling the fabricated dispute between the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas over the issue of recognising “Israel” which causes embarrassment to Hamas before its cadres and popular support. People’s sympathy towards those who had sacrificed and who continue to endure detention was exploited to sneak through the document that conforms with the roadmap, after it had been signed by most of the Palestinian factions, including Hamas, who were the intended target of the signing, though some insignificant alterations were made to the agreement. The timing of operation “Dissipated Illusion” was not a coincidence; it was deliberately executed, as Hamas was about to sign the document in order to switch people’s attention towards the confrontation with the army of occupation whose government demanded the cessation of missile firing and the release of the captured soldier. This would generate the convenient grounds and would pave the way for Hamas to proceed in the path of negotiations. The impudent statements made by al-Bayanouni about the Muslim Brotherhood’s readiness to negotiate in order to achieve peace with “Israel” when they seize the reins of power in Syria were designed to break the ice for the leaders of Hamas to engage in the so-called peace process.

Another act of political deception is to describe events with other than their names and to play with words. Fatah talks about a lasting peace treaty with “Israel” and Hamas talks about a long-term truce. Despite the difference in the expressions and the wording, the end result is the same, namely establishing a freak and disjointed Palestinian statelet, while “Israel” enjoys stability and security; and the role of Hamas and other movements will be to guard the borders of the state of “Israel”. Its role will not be different to that of the neighbouring countries, be it those who have already signed a peace treaty with the Jews or those waiting for their turn in the queue of treason to Allah, the Messenger and the believers.

Dear Muslims…
         
Here is our Ummah being humiliated every day. None of us should think that the threat is far from him, for what is befalling our brethren is also befalling us if there is any Iman in the hearts; the believers are like one single body and if the Ummah were to let her enemies delve into the blood of our brethren and if she were to let them banish others, it would be as if they did it to themselves, because they failed to come to the aid of their brothers and kin.
 
As for the path towards the solution, it is clear and well known: namely the establishment of a sincere entity built on the basis of the Islamic Aqeedah that will call the Muslims to give their pledge of allegiance, to unite and reject disunity and division. Then the liberation of Palestine and the occupied lands of Islam will be achievable.

Some may think that this path is arduous and fraught with the threats of the major powers. The answer to this is that such a path is the shortest and it is the way that will yield an effective liberation of the lands of Islam that the Kuffar have defiled. We are witnessing today what the other paths have achieved over the past decades in terms of preventing our armies from working directly towards uprooting the Jews and others from the Muslim lands. Such a path is the path of salvation, the path towards restoring the might, the glory and the honour of carrying the Message of the Lord of the universe to mankind in order to bring them out of the gloominess of America and the Kafir West and lead them to the light and the purity of Islam.

As for the threat of the major powers against the Ummah and her sincere entity, it will not be greater than the treacherous entities that are exploited as obedient tools in the hands of the Kuffar to humiliate the Ummah and tarnish her dignity. The support of Allah to the believers, once they support His cause through their sacrifices and by threatening the interests and the security of those powers under a leadership loyal to her Lord, will deter the mightiest of enemies and will expel them from our lands.

Dear Muslims in Palestine…

It would be a major crime to shake the hands of the Ummah’s enemies, Jews and Americans alike, after all the effort, all the suffering and all the blood that was shed. It would be the worst act of treason for a Muslim to forsake any hand span of the Muslim lands, regardless of the justifications.

Dear Muslims…Dear Muslims in Palestine…

Is it not high time for all of us, especially those with the power and influence, to be moved by the screams of humiliation endured by our daughters and our sisters in Palestine, Iraq and the rest of the Muslim lands? Is it not high time we awoke from the deception in all its shapes and forms so that we may salvage ourselves and our Ummah from the imminent dangers in Palestine and Iraq, where they want us to draw its new borders of fragmentation with the blood of the Ummah’s children and to build it with their bodies?

“Has not the Time arrived for the Believers that their hearts in all humility should engage in the remembrance of Allah and of the Truth which has been revealed.” [57-16] T.M.Q.

The truth is that Palestine and Iraq will only be salvaged by the armies of Islam, who should now mobilise to support their Deen and the Muslim women and children. All the organisations in Palestine should refrain from regurgitating the slogans and proposals of solutions that our enemies seek, namely to establish a new freak entity called the Palestinian state, to be added to the scattered frail entities. The issue of Palestine should be closely linked to the move of the Muslims towards establishing a sincere entity, namely the Khilafah State, and towards mobilising the armies in their quality as the armies of the Ummah instead of crippling them. 

“O you who believe! If you will aid (the cause of) Allah, He will aid you, and plant your feet firmly.”  [47-7]  T.M.Q.

Hizb ut-Tahrir
         
16 Jumada al-Akhira 1427h
12 July 2006
  
www.hizbuttahrir.org