Special Dispatch - Palestinian Authority/Jihad & Terrorism
February 7, 2006
No. 1087

Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al at a Damascus Mosque: The Nation of Islam Will
Sit at the Throne of the World and the West Will Be Full of Remorse - When
It's Too Late

The following are excerpts from an address by Hamas leader Khaled Mash'al at
the Al-Murabit Mosque in Damascus. The address was delivered following the
Friday sermon at the mosque, and was aired on Al-Jazeera TV on February 3,
2006. To view this clip, visit:
http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1024 .

To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit:
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD108706 .

"We Say to This West... By Allah, You Will Be defeated"
Khaled Mash'al: "We apologize to our Prophet Muhammad, but we say to him: Oh
Prophet of Allah, do not be saddened, your nation will be victorious.

"We say to this West, which does not act reasonably, and does not learn its
lessons: By Allah, you will be defeated. You will be defeated in Palestine,
and your defeat there has already begun. True, it is Israel that is being
defeated there, but when Israel is defeated, its path is defeated, those who
call to support it are defeated, and the cowards who hide behind it and
support it are defeated. Israel will be defeated, and so will whoever
supported or supports it.

"America will be defeated in Iraq. Wherever the [Islamic] nation is
targeted, its enemies will be defeated, Allah willing. The nation of
Muhammad is gaining victory in Palestine. The nation of Muhammad is gaining
victory in Iraq, and it will be victorious in all Arab and Muslim lands.
'Their multitudes will be defeated and turn their backs [and flee].' These
fools will be defeated, the wheel of time will turn, and times of victory
and glory will be upon our nation, and the West will be full of remorse,
when it is too late.

"They think that history has ended with them. They do not know that the law
of Allah cannot be changed or replaced. 'You shall not find a substitute for
the law of Allah. You shall not find any change to the law of Allah.' Today,
the Arab and Islamic nation is rising and awakening, and it will reach its
peak, Allah willing. It will be victorious. It will link the present to the
past. It will open up the horizons of the future. It will regain the
leadership of the world. Allah willing, the day is not far off.

"Don't you see that every act of deceit they contrive is being turned
against them by Allah? Don't you see that they make every effort to defeat
us militarily, but fail to do so? Israel and the occupation forces in Iraq
are supplied with the entire Western military arsenal, yet they fail and are
defeated.

"Don't you see that they believe they are capable of using democracy to
deceive the people, but then democracy is turned against them? Don't you see
that they are spending their money in efforts to block the way of Allah, to
thwart Hamas, to defeat it, and to help those whom they want, but that [this
plot] is turned against them? They are not acting reasonably.

"They do not understand the Arab or Muslim mentality, which rejects the
foreigner. Our Arab forefathers, before the advent of Islam, rejected the
aggressors and the foreigners.

[...]

"I bring good tidings to our beloved Prophet Muhammad: Allah's promise and
the Prophet's prophecy of our victory in Palestine over the Jews and over
the oppressive Zionists has begun to come true."

"I Say to Europe: Hurry Up and Apologize"

Mash'al: "I say to the [European countries]: Hurry up and apologize to our
nation, because if you do not, you will regret it. This is because our
nation is progressing and is victorious. Do not leave a black mark in the
collective memory of the nation, because our nation will not forgive you.

"Tomorrow, our nation will sit on the throne of the world. This is not a
figment of the imagination, but a fact. Tomorrow we will lead the world,
Allah willing. Apologize today, before remorse will do you no good. Our
nation is moving forwards, and it is in your interest to respect a
victorious nation.

[...]

"Our nation will be victorious. When it reaches the leadership of the world,
and controls its own decisions, then it will prevent this overt interference
[in our affairs], and its pillaging of natural resources, and will prevent
these recurring offenses against our land, against our nation, and against
our holy places - then you will regret it.

"The Western countries must stop the fools. Are these reasonable people?
They allow offenses against Allah and the prophets. They are offending not
only Muhammad, but all the prophets. But when an historian among them talks
about the Holocaust, it is the sin of all sins. If anybody criticizes the
Jews, this constitutes anti-Semitism. By law, they hold their own people
accountable [for that]. The West, which waved the slogans of liberty after
the French Revolution, three centuries ago, does not respect its own
principles or slogans today. It violates them."

"You Have No Way of Overcoming Us"

Mash'al: "This victory, which was clearly evident in the elections, conveys
a message to Israel, to America, and to all the oppressors around the world:
You have no way of overcoming us. If you want war, we are ready. If you want
democracy, we are ready. Whatever you want - we are ready. You will not
defeat us. The time of defeat is over. Defeat within six days, defeat within
hours, the defeat of armies - all this is over.

"Today, you are fighting the army of Allah. You are fighting against peoples
for whom death for the sake of Allah, and for the sake of honor and glory,
is preferable to life. You are fighting a nation that does not tire, even
after 1,000 years of fighting. Today, you are facing peoples filled with
faith, with the love of Allah, with the love of Allah's Prophet, with
bravery, glory, and pride - a nation that knows its way, a nation that knows
what it is, a nation that respects itself. How can you possibly defeat us?

"There is a chasm between you and our defeat. You will be the ones to be
defeated, Allah willing. The time of defeat is gone, and the day of victory
has come, Allah willing. Wherever you turn, you will fail."

Crowd: "Death to Israel. Death to Israel. Death to America."

"Before Israel Dies, it Must Be Humiliated and Degraded"

Mash'al: "Before Israel dies, it must be humiliated and degraded. Allah
willing, before they die, they will experience humiliation and degradation
every day. America will be of no avail to them. Their generals will be of no
avail to them. The last of their generals has been forgotten. Allah has made
him disappear. He's over. Gone is that Sharon behind whose back they would
hide and find shelter, and with whom they would feel relatively secure.
Today they have frail leaders, who don't even know where our Lord placed
them.

"Allah willing, we will make them lose their eyesight, we will make them
lose their brains.

[...]

"Their weapons will be of no avail to them. Their nuclear weapons will be of
no use to them. They thought that they had hegemony over the region with
their nuclear weapons, but suddenly Pakistan popped up with Islamic nuclear
weapons, and they are afraid of Iran and several Arab countries have some
chemical weapons.

"Israel has begun to sense that its superiority has come to an end. Its
army, which has superior conventional weapons - the air force, the armored
corps, and the missiles - there are no longer wars in which these are used.

"The Arabs have said: We don't want [conventional] wars, thank you very
much. Leave the war to the peoples. Today, the Israeli weapons are of no use
against the peoples. We have imposed a new equation in the war. In this
equation, our tools are stronger. That is why we will defeat them, Allah
willing.

[...]

"If you fight them, they will turn their backs on you, and will not be
victorious." But the problem is that we need to fight them first. If we
sleep at home, how are we to beat them?! 'If you fight them...' - that is a
divine promise... 'If' - It is conditional: 'If you fight them, they will
turn their backs on you and will not be victorious.' And indeed, when we
began to fight, and we armed ourselves with a will to fight, we defeated
them.

[...]

"That is why Allah akbar [Allah is greater]. We say that every day - Allah
akbar. Yes, Allah is greater than America. Allah is greater than the
oppressors. Allah is greater than the superpowers. Allah is greater than the
tyranny of the oppressing world, and Allah is greater than Israel. Since
Allah is greater, and He supports us, we will be victorious."

"I Know That All Arab Leaders... Want Palestine to Be Liberated"

Mash'al:"By Allah, I know that all Arab leaders - and I have met many of
them - deep inside want the resistance in Palestine to be victorious, and
want Palestine to be liberated. Perhaps the need for flattery and for
diplomacy, and the American hegemony, force other things on them, but in
their hearts they are happy when we are victorious.

[...]

"If, prior to the Hamas victory, there were several military wings, each
with a few hundred or a few thousand fighters, under the rule of Hamas - if
you continue to besiege us, to starve our people, to ignore our rights, and
if you continue your occupation, your aggression, and your assassinations -
we, the Hamas, will declare a general call to arms. We will place the entire
Palestinian people at the disposal of the resistance and its weapons."

Crowd: "Allah akbar, Allah be praised. Allah akbar, Allah be praised. Allah
akbar, Allah be praised. Allah akbar, Allah be praised. Allah akbar, Allah
be praised. Allah akbar, Allah be praised."

Mash'al: "Be careful not to drive our people into a corner - Occupation,
aggression, assassinations, 9,000 male and female prisoners, preventing aid,
imposing a siege, causing starvation - and on top of all this, you don't
want to recognize democracy and its results."

"Hamas has a Vision. Hamas Can Manage the Political Battle, Just Like it
Managed the Military Battle"

Mash'al: "The German [Chancellor Angela] Merkel pops up and says: Democracy
and success in the elections are not sufficient for Hamas to gain
legitimacy. To hell with you all. How are we supposed to gain legitimacy?
When you said we had the legitimacy of resistance, you called it terrorism.
Now, we say we have the legitimacy of democracy, but you deny it. In that
case, you yourself are not legitimate, because you emerged through
democracy. This is the logic of a frail and defeatist person.

"Brothers and sister, there is confusion in the Western world, and in the
American administration. Allah has come to them from where they did not
expect him. That is the grace of Allah. That is why we do not fear them. We
do not fear their threats.

"Today they give us an ultimatum: Recognize Israel. Wonderful! The murderer
is not required by anyone to recognize the rights of his victim, but the
victim is required to recognize the rights of his murderer, and to sing his
praises.
[...]

"Hamas has a vision. Hamas has a plan. Hamas can manage the political
battle, just like it managed the military battle, but in a different
language, with different tools, and recognizing Israel is not one of them.
Nor is giving up the rights, giving up the right to resistance, and nor is
giving up the weapons of the resistance.

"Nevertheless, we want to deal with politics, but there is a difference
between the politics of the weak and defeatists, which we will constantly
repeat - the kind of politics that does not impress the enemy and so it does
nothing - because, like in the marketplace, products praised too much become
cheap. If we continue to praise our products, constantly saying: 'We love
peace,' 'We have given up the option of war,' 'Peace is our strategic
option,' 'For God's sake, Israel, give us a few scraps of land' - By Allah,
we will be degraded in the eyes of our enemies."

"We Will Conduct our Politics in the Language of Victory"

Mash'al: "We will conduct our politics in the language of victory. We will
conduct our policy in a confident language. We will conduct our politics in
the language of those who are steadfast and sure of themselves. Besides, by
Allah, after the people has elected us, and has bestowed upon us all this
power, we will disrespect its rights?

[...]

"The people has given us a deposit, and has empowered us to liberate its
land, to restore Jerusalem and its holy places. It has empowered us to
release 9,000 male and female prisoners. It has empowered us to stop the
aggression, to liberate the land, and to restore its rights. The people has
empowered us to bring back 5.5 million Palestinian refugees and displaced
people to their homeland. After all this, Hamas - in order to please America
and the European Union, and in order for the pressure on us to stop, and in
order for their highnesses to allow us to establish a government... We are
not trying to please them."

"It is in Your Interests to Change Your Relations and Policies Regarding the
Arab and Islamic Nation and the Palestinian Cause"

Mash'al: "I say to America, Europe, and the West: It is in your interests to
change your relations and policies regarding the Arab and Islamic nation and
the Palestinian cause. Because we are winning, it is in your interests to
deal with the victors, not the losers.

"Israel will be defeated and will be of no use to you. The Arabs will be
victorious. The Muslims will be victorious. Palestine will be victorious.
Change your policy soon, if you want to protect your interests, and maintain
healthy relations with the East."

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