27 March 2001

In the name of Allah the most Gracious the most Merciful

The Islamic resistance Movement

Hamas – Palestine

Memo from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)

to  the Arab summit in Amman – Jordan

To their Majesties and Excellencies

The Kings, Presidents and Emirs of the Arab countries may Allah preserve them

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh

We are pleased in the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to extend our deepest greetings and appreciation and our best wishes for success of your conference in service of the Nation’s questions praying that Allah would guide you to what is best for the countries and peoples.

Your Majesties and Excellencies

Your meeting is held amidst critical circumstances and a historic turning point in life of our Arab Nation and Palestinian people, who are still exercising their legitimate right of self defense and struggle against Zionist occupation, equipped with belief, determination and insistence on attaining freedom and liberation offering along the way grave sacrifices and a long queue of martyrs, wounded and detainees.

Faced by such unprecedented steadfastness, the Zionist occupation escalated its aggressive and terrorist practices against our Mujahid people: killing children, women and innocent, assassinating Mujahideen and active cadres, imposing oppressive siege and cutting the West Bank and Gaza Strip into scores of isolated isles that turned the Palestinian citizens’ life into utter misery. The occupation adopted siege and starvation as a policy aimed at ending the intifada and subduing the Palestinian people, terminating their will of steadfastness and resistance and increasing their sufferings … turning their life into hell. Our people while living through a state of revolt and struggle with all its repercussions and sacrifices look forward to your esteemed summit for a supportive Arab stand that would back their struggle and steadfastness and ease their pains and help them achieve their goals in freedom, liberation and independence.

Your Majesties and Excellencies

This critical and important stage in our Nation’s history and conflict with the Zionist enemy calls on us to remind you with the following facts:

The Zionist enemy is a usurping entity ever since Ben Gurion till the terrorist Sharon that only believes in the Zionist ideology based on murder, aggression and expansion. They do not accept peace unless with their own conditions and dictates that serve a certain stage of their expansionist plans. Consequently the American administration’s so-called peace only led to endorsing occupation, settlement and judaization of Palestinian lands. All efforts to convince various enemy leaders to meet the minimum demands of the Palestinian Authority had failed especially when the negotiations reached discussions on the final status solution.

The Palestinian people’s insistence on their lands and holy places and on resisting occupation with all available means, including all out popular intifada and armed operations, was the thing that shook the Zionist ideology and caused a real crisis for the enemy. It was the obvious reason for the fall of enemy leaders one after the other and the most important thing is that it led the Zionist society to question destiny and future of the Zionist entity. With absolute understanding of the Palestinian and Lebanese situations and their differences in Zionist thinking, yet the Lebanese lesson remains big and meaningful. The resistance, backed by political resoluteness and popular steadfastness, forced the Zionist enemy to withdraw in humiliation from South Lebanon after more than 20 years of occupation without negotiations or political agreement.

A close follow up of the Zionist entity and the internal political conflicts and debates, loss of security and stability even after 50 years of its creation, inability to end our Palestinian people’s intifada and resistance despite the great disparity in the balance of power, would reveal the brittle status of that entity and the fact that it has no future in the region. The Zionist entity has even started the stage of retreat and collapse, God willing, after the peak that it had reached. No American-supplied material strength would help it continue its supremacy over all Arab countries or even a single Arab country. Sharon’s ascension to power on the basis of providing security after failure of Barak’s program, which was based on peace and security, proves that the entity was in a state of confusion. Sharon and his terrorist government members’ threats should not scare anyone because they reflect a state of fear and confusion more than a state of confidence.

The American administration, regardless of who is sitting at the White House, has always been biased in favor of the Zionist enemy and committed to its military supremacy over the Arab countries despite the quantity and quality of American interests in the Arab region. The new administration of George Bush had inaugurated its era with bombing Iraq and declaring intention to move its embassy to Al-Quds, giving a down-level priority to the Arab-Zionist conflict. Above all, this administration is asking for a chance to Sharon; thus it is of no use to bet neither on the American stance that is totally biased nor on the hopeless European position.

The new government of Sharon, which reflects the general Zionist mood, is extremely fanatic and bloodthirsty and it is completely anti-peace. The so-called national unity governments in the Zionist entity were historically governments of aggression and war. Terrorist Sharon did not form his government to save peace or meet our people’s rights but rather came to end the intifada and quell the resistance with the use of his repressive measures, siege and starvation along with threats leveled in all direction hoping to restore the Zionists’ lost security. The presence of Shimon Peres, the butcher of Qana, in that government’s foreign portfolio does not change its true nature of extremism and aggression. Hence we hope that Sharon would not be given any new chance, for such hope is out of the question in addition to being a waste of time and a reflection of weakness and hesitation that would lure Sharon into more stringency and blackmail.

The Palestinian people, despite great sufferings and little potentials, have decided to continue along the road of intifada and struggle and determined to remain steadfast as long as it takes in face of occupation until it leaves Palestinian lands and holy places. Such steadfastness, with your support and assistance, will defeat Sharon’s schemes God willing, and will turn upside down the balance in the region and furnish the road for a new stage of our Nation’s struggle with the enemy in which we will force that enemy to withdraw from our lands by force in a serious march for liberation and restoration of rights Insha’allah.

We affirm that taking the initiative in this conflict is possible and does not require balance of power. The balance of wills with a degree of force and unity of ranks and stands are enough to restore self-confidence and build a steadfastness and resistance strategy instead of the negotiations strategy, which has proven its failure and futility over the past years and even made the enemy increase its dictates as we kept on reiterating that negotiation was our sole strategic option.

It is no doubt that the Palestinian cause is an Arab, Islamic question and even the central issue of the Arab Nation. Consequently, our success in settling this question and restoring our rights necessitate determination, strength, proper planning and daring decisions in addition to activating joint Arab action, bypassing side differences and uniting the ranks and efforts towards the inevitable confrontation that concerns and targets us all.

We look forward to your esteemed summit with hope and expect it to live up to the level of events taking place on the land of Palestine and hope that your resolutions would include the following demands:

Supporting the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and assisting their intifada with money and arms in addition to forming committees for the support of the intifada in all Arab countries in its capacity as the means of foiling Sharon’s plots and the transfer conspiracy.

Endorsing legitimacy of the Palestinian people’s right of resisting Zionist occupation and backing that struggle by all means until end of occupation.

Insisting on the Palestinian people’s rights in full, rejecting the surrendering of any of those rights, topped by the right of return, Palestinian and Islamic rights in Al-Quds (Jerusalem) including its Islamic and Christian shrines. Boosting efforts aimed at stabilizing life of its inhabitants and preserving its Arab and Islamic identity.

Severing all forms of relations with the Zionist enemy and returning to economic boycott of that enemy including the reactivation of its committees.

Allocating an Arab day for solidarity with Al-Quds and the Aqsa intifada.

Solving all pending inter-Arab problems, in a way securing interests of all parties, and lifting the siege on Iraq and refusing to bow to American pressures.

While presenting those practical demands to your esteemed summit, which reflect our people and Nation’s aspirations, we pray that Allah will aid and guide you for the sake of our Nation’s interest and dignity.

May Allah guide you along the road of right and benevolence

Please accept our deep appreciation and respect

Wassalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh

Khaled Mishaal

Political bureau chief