Hamas to U.N.: Support Palestinian right to bear arms against Israel
The UN, through its Middle East Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov, is working together with Egypt to reconcile Hamas and Fatah.
By HERB KEINON, TOVAH LAZAROFFUpdated: NOVEMBER 29, 2018 11:54Palestinians celebrate the resignation of Israel's Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman as a woman holds a picture of Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh, in Gaza City November 14, 2018(photo credit: SUHAIB SALEM/REUTERS)
In an unusual move Hamas called on the United Nations to support its right to bear arms against Israel in a letter the terror group’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh wrote to UN General Assembly President Maria Fernada Spinosa.He spoke out in advance of UN debate later today on a UNGA debate later today condemning Hamas rocket fire against Israel.“We reiterate the right of our people to defend themselves and to resist the occupation, by all available means, including armed resistance, guaranteed by the international law,” Haniyeh wrote.“The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted dozens of resolutions that affirm the right of peoples to independence, self-determination and struggle by all available means, peaceful and non-peaceful, for that right. The UN singled out the Palestinian people for dozens of relevant resolutions, including 2621, 2649, 2787 and 3236,” he said.Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said in response, “Hamas speaks about international law while it fires rockets into civilian populations, holds the bodies of IDF soldiers and Israeli citizens, and uses its own people as human shields."“A terrorist organization going to the UN for assistance is like a serial killer asking the police for assistance. Israel and the United States will continue to mobilize the countries of the world into a united front against the terrorism that Hamas engages in on behalf of Iran,” Danon said.Hamas has forcibly ruled the Gaza Strip since it ousted Fatah in a bloody coup in 2007. The international community has solely recognized the Palestinian Authority as the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people.The UN, through its Middle East Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov, is working together with Egypt to reconcile Hamas and Fatah. The US resolution also speak of support for those efforts.The US is expected to put forward its resolution at the UN General Assembly debate to mark the annual “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.” It is scheduled for the anniversary of the UN’s passage of the 1947 participation plan that divided territory held by the British into two states, one for the Jews and the other for the Arabs residents of the territory.The accepted the offer, the Palestinians rejected it.
In its letter to the UN, Hamas put itself forward as a legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and also spoke to of rejection of any Israeli claims to any portion of that territory.It condemned the US for adopting the Israeli narrative of the conflict and for its support of Israeli “aggression" against the Palestinian people.“The last of these efforts is the attempt by the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, in the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People which is held on November 29 each year, to submit a draft resolution condemning the Palestinian resistance and the right of our people to defend themselves against this racist and continuous occupation for more than seven decades.“There had been not only that, but it has taken a turn when the US President Donald Trump administration sought to reduce the number of UN resolutions on the Palestinian issue claiming that "many biased resolutions against Israel are not helpful,” Haniyeh said.“We greatly count on the members of the UN General Assembly and their stand by international legitimacy in support for the right of peoples to defend themselves and thwart these aggressive American endeavors," he added.
