We are committed to reconciliation agreement - Hamas official

17/02/2012
By Ali El-Saleh
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=28515

London, Asharq Al-Awsat –Senior Hamas figure Khalil al-Hayya informed Asharq
Al-Awsat that the Hamas movement is committed to the Doha Declaration,
although he acknowledged that there are some “legal” issues that must be
dealt with before this can be implemented. Al-Hayya, who is a member of the
Hamas Political Bureau for the Gaza Strip spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat about the
Doha Declaration in the wake of inflammatory comments issued by another
senior Hamas figure, Mahmoud al-Zahar. Al-Zahar, speaking to official
Egyptian media, described the Doha Declaration as a “mistake”, saying that
this needed to be revised. Al-Hayya attempted to play down al-Zahar’s
comments, stressing that the Hamas movement is committed to the
reconciliation agreement.

Khalil al-Hayya is a senior Hamas Political Bureau member and member of the
Palestinian Legislative Council.

The following is the full text of the interview:

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Do you agree that the statements made by Mahmoud al-Zahar
to the official Egyptian Middle East News Agency were akin to a declaration
of rebellion against Khalid Mishal’s decision to sign the Doha Declaration?

[Al-Hayya] This is an inaccurate description of the reality within the Hamas
movement and the actions of its leadership. As for the agreement, this was
signed by Hamas Political Bureau chief Khalid Mishal and Hamas is committed
to this. The statements issued by certain Hamas movement members…were
primarily on the legal nature of this agreement, particularly the issue of
Mahmoud Abbas being both Palestinian Authority [PA] president and
[Palestinian] prime minister, for this contravenes the law. The statements
issued by all the Hamas representatives in this regard, including Mahmoud
al-Zahar, are that this is not in line with the law.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Perhaps this applies to the statements issued by the Hamas
bloc of the Palestinian Legislative Council, however al-Zahar said that
Mishal had signed the Doha Declaration without consulting with the Hamas
movement leadership, who are in the process of studying this decision and
will issue their opinion in the coming days. How do you explain this?

[Al-Hayya] Let me clarify this…in the end we are saying that this [Abbas
being both president of the PA and prime minister of the government] is
against the law…so before we implement this agreement we are calling on our
brothers in the Fatah movement to find a legal solution to this. The most
important thing is that we achieve reconciliation [with Fatah]; statements
issued by Mahmoud al-Zahar or anybody else do not mean that there is
division or opposition within the Hamas movement. On the contrary, the Hamas
movement respects itself and its commitments. We want to achieve
reconciliation. We do not need anybody saying that there are divisions
within the Hamas movement, or between the different Palestinian factions [on
the Doha Declaration].

[Asharq Al-Awsat] This appears to be the Hamas modus operandi, to deny the
presence of any splits or divisions to the media. Would you agree?

[Al-Hayya] Has any Hamas member said that the movement is withdrawing from
the agreement signed by Khalid Mishal?

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Mahmoud al-Zahar’s statements are clear, he described the
agreement as a mistake and said that Hamas is studying this decision…in
other words that Hamas has not yet agreed to this.

[Al-Hayya] This agreement has been signed by the president of the Hamas
Political Bureau…and Hamas is not known for evading its agreements. It is
the apparatus within the Hamas movement that is primarily authorized to
agree or reject this agreement, and until now the Hamas apparatus has not
rejected this agreement, nor has any official statement been issued in this
regard.

Yes, some statements have been issued that describe the state of this
agreement and its political and legal effects…however the important thing is
that Hamas has not come out to say that we withdraw from this agreement;
neither Mahmoud al-Zahar said this, nor did Khalid Mishal, nor any other
senior Hamas figure. Therefore it would be fair to say that Hamas has not
issued any media or political statement saying that it is withdrawing from
this agreement; the most important thing is that we want to achieve
reconciliation and we are depending on the [inter-Palestinian
reconciliation] agreement that was sponsored by Egypt with regards to all
reconciliation issues, therefore any other agreement must be consistent with
this original agreement. We must apply a single reconciliation package that
is consistent with the law. The law is set up to serve the people, not to
hold them captive…and we can adapt the law to the people’s benefit. Allow me
to reiterate that Hamas is not known for withdrawing from its commitments,
and the official apparatus within Hamas are the ones who are authorized to
say yes or no…whether to withdraw from this agreement or not…and Hamas and
its apparatus have not issued anything opposing this agreement, therefore
Hamas is committed to this.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Is there any credence to the reports about communication
taking place between Hamas and Fatah to overcome the legal problem contained
within this agreement, and that constitutional amendments may be made?

[Al-Hayya] Let me say that there are no direct communication between Hamas
and Fatah in this regard, because the subject of the agreement itself has
not been applied. This is supported to be implemented via…the Palestinian
Liberation Organization [PLO], between Mishal and Abbas. Therefore
implementing this requires meetings to work out details to implement this.
The reconciliation issues do not only involve the government, although this
is one of the most important reconciliation files…and therefore we must work
on all reconciliation issues as one package, not selectively.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Do you think this government will be formed following the
meeting of the PLO Executive Committee in Cairo, which is scheduled to take
place on 23 February?

[Al-Hayya] I expect this will be one of the most important issues that will
be discussed by the leadership…because this government is supposed to be a
national consensus government made up of all national parties and
representing the entire Palestinian people.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] What about Khalid Mishal? Does he intend to stand as Hamas
Political Bureau chief for another term? Is there a consensus within the
Hamas movement on this issue?

[Al-Hayya] This is something that highlights the image of the Hamas
movement. Firstly, its leaders are all martyrs, and the leaders who are
present are not committed to positions, but are reluctant to assume such
positions. Khalid Mishal has expressed his desire not to stand for the
presidency of the Hamas political bureau in the future…but there are many
voices in the movement, in Gaza and elsewhere, calling on Mishal to remain
in this position. The statement issued by Ismail Haniyeh in Doha confirms
this; as he said that we are committed to Mishal, and calls on him to
reverse this position. This issue will be decided by two things; firstly
Mishal’s own desires, and secondly the desires of a large part of the Hamas
movement that he stays in this position.