12 October 2000

In the name of Allah the most Gracious the most Merciful

The holy Aqsa Intifadha
Communiqué no. (9)
Our Mujahid people do not fear warplanes, missiles
or the enemy’s nuclear arsenal
Popular angry demonstrations continue to sweep Arab and Islamic lands
We call on the leaders of the Nation to declare Jihad
In defense of the Aqsa and our unarmed people

Our proud Palestinian people … Our Arab, Islamic Nation:

The Zionist enemy is continuing its crimes and terrorism against our unarmed people using warplanes, tanks and missiles. It unleashed its heavily armed settler gangsters who spread destruction, terrorism and bloodletting in a bid to subdue our people, judaize Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and demolish the Aqsa to build the alleged temple in its place. This wanton enemy believed that the language of terrorism and blind force could force our people into submission in accordance with Zionist conditions and speculations. Here is the enemy with its military hardware encircling our unarmed people and here they are our people, as they have always done, resisting the enemy and its missiles with bare chests, heads high, not terrorized by tanks or missiles. Martyrs fall one after the other in defense of al-Quds, the Aqsa, holy shrines and dignity of the Arab and Islamic Nation.

Our Palestinian people … Our Arab and Islamic Nation:

We in the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) would like to announce and affirm the following:

1- The Hamas Movement and its Mujahideen brigades (the Qassam Brigades) will defend the people, lands, honor and sanctities alongside our people. The criminal enemy will not go unpunished for his crimes and will pay dearly and our people’s blood will not be wasted.

2- We appeal to our people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to hit the streets to defy the Zionist shelling and form a human shield to protect their installations and national institutions. We affirm that our heroic people will defend themselves, their sanctities and dignity until the last Palestinian child God willing and will never bow for other than Allah but rather will withstand and fight and will not be scared by missiles or tanks or all the enemy’s nuclear arsenal.

3- We ask the Palestinian Authority at such a critical stage to hurry up and arm our people and anyone capable of using arms to defend our lands and holy shrines.

4- We urge the leaders of our Arab and Islamic Nation to immediately act in support and defense of our people and to prepare for confrontation and war against the arrogant Zionist enemy.  Let this enemy understand that our people are not alone in this world but rather backed by their Arab and Islamic Nation that will not let them down and will not let them face death and terrorism alone. This is the time of real work for the sake of defending the Nation’s higher interests and this is the time for the Arab and Islamic armies that must move to rescue the Aqsa, Al-Quds and our unarmed people.

5- We appeal to the Arab and Islamic masses that strongly backed our people in the past few days and expressed their anger over Zionist massacres to continue their solidarity with our people and to continue supporting the Aqsa and take to the streets tomorrow Friday and the other days in angry marches and roaring protests to condemn the Zionist aggression and to reflect unity of our Nation and its insistence on its rights and sanctities and to demand from leaders of that Nation to declare Jihad in defense of the Aqsa and to rescue the unarmed Palestinian people.

6- We call on the Arab countries, which established relations with the Zionist enemy, to expel the enemy’s ambassadors and representatives and to close down its embassies and representation offices at once in retaliation to the Zionist aggression, which is the least they should do at this particular stage. On this occasion we hail our brothers in Oman Sultanate for their nationalist decision of closing down the Zionist representation office to protest the Zionist aggression against our unarmed people, which came in harmony with the Nation’s conscience.

7- We consider the Zionist missiles that bombarded Ramallah and Gaza as the mercy killing the already dead peace process and we ask the PA to declare officially the end of that peace process and to announce that the only option to confront the arrogant enemy is Jihad and resistance and that whatever was taken by force would be only restored by force.

Allahu Akbar and victory to our Mujahid people

The Islamic Resistance Movement
(Hamas – Palestine)
Thursday 12 October 2000