CST Blog

Hamas media on the killing of Osama Bin Ladin

5 May 2011

After the Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyah, condemned the killing of Osama Bin Ladin, who he described as a "holy warrior", the Hamas-run newspaper Filastin has affirmed the party line with a series of articles condemning the killing and threatening the United States.

Filastin carried three commentaries on the subject, which have been translated and summarised by BBC Monitoring (paid subscription required).

An article by Dr. Yusuf Rizqah, political adviser to Haniyah, denounces the killing of Bin Ladin as a "crime" and an "extrajudicial killing". Discussing the root cause of global terrorism, Rizqah writes:

It is the United States, rather than Usamah Bin-Ladin, that initiated the violence through its flagrant interference in Arab and Muslim countries, its hostility towards Islam and Muslims, and its bias in favour of the Zionist occupation in Palestine. America has always been the exporter of organized violence and state terrorism, and the phenomenon of Usamah Bin-Ladin is a violent reaction to the US policy in the Arab and Islamic region, especially in Palestine.

[..]

America and (Israel) are the only ones responsible for the Arabs' and Muslims' hatred of America...the killing of Bin-Ladin, may God have mercy on him, does not mean the problem is over. Rather, the demand for justice by every Arab and Muslim will persist, and America will continue to be held blameworthy in the eyes of Arab and Muslim culture.

Next, a column by Fayiz Abu-Shimalah states his opposition to Bin Ladin's vision, but then claims that:

the criminal American attack on Bin-Ladin constitutes an attack on every Arab Muslim and a denigration of Islam...the Jews of Israel are the ones who benefit the most from this killing.

Abu-Shimalah goes on to argue that Bin Ladin represents:

opposition to oppression and Zionist racism... confrontation with aggression, and the fight against American injustice.... [Bin Ladin] is no longer an individual, but a concept of resistance that is growing and spreading. And concepts do not die.

Finally, an article by Lamiya Khatir takes the opportunity to threaten America directly, calling on al-Qaeda affiliates to:

wage war on America and target its installations in the regions it occupies and controls.

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