Hamas Calls for Dialogue with Obama

London newspaper Asharq Alawsat reported that the Hamas government, in an official statement, revealed for the first time that it has sent a communication to U.S. President Barack Obama. The communication asked the president for dialogue and to lift the veto on Palestinian reconciliation (between Hamas and Fatah), adding that it was not the first time a message had been sent.

Hamas, led by Ismail Haniyeh — one of the most senior officials in the Islamic Resistance Movement — stressed in the statement that the Hamas government has sent a number of communications to the U.S. administration through a U.S. delegation. The delegation brought together political figures and academics from the U.S. Council for the National Interest during a visit to the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas government’s letter to Obama called for the opening of a dialogue and the lifting of the veto on Palestinian reconciliation. Additionally, Hamas informed Obama that it is not opposed to the idea of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.

The general secretariat for the Council of Ministers in Gaza confirmed in a report yesterday that “the government has carried a number of messages to a visiting delegation for the U.S. administration, requesting it open a mutual dialogue and lift the veto on Palestinian reconciliation — in order to facilitate reconciliation more easily — and to end the double standards of the U.S. administration when dealing with the Palestinian issue.”*

The government also stressed in the letter that “there is no opposition to the idea of a Palestinian state based upon the 1967 borders, with its capital as Jerusalem, in order to achieve security for the Palestinian people, the return of refugees, compensation for their suffering and the release of prisoners from jail.”* From the first years of the founding of Hamas, beginning in 1987, it has called for liberation from the river to the sea, but today it made clear that it accepts a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders. However, it will not recognize the state of Israel and only offer a long truce. Israel has rejected both of these terms.

This is not the first message Hamas has sent to Obama. Hamas has attempted to send messages to the U.S. president at least three times before: once after his victory in the elections, once after his speech in Ankara (which were sent through senior figures in Gaza) and once after the start of the Gaza War last year through U.S. Sen. John Kerry, who was visiting the Gaza strip. The letter was delivered to him through officials at the U.N.

As for the fourth message, Hamas directed it this year to former President Jimmy Carter after his visit to Gaza. The Hamas government also reviewed yesterday its most prominent political achievements during the first half of this year.

Hamas said that it has adopted many political positions in opposition to the international community regarding the policies of the occupation, negotiations, the turning of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque into Jewish areas, the issue of prisoners and Palestinian reconciliation efforts. It has also embraced efforts to break the blockade around the Gaza Strip.

Yesterday, Hamas explained that it rejects what it describes as “bribes,” which “U.S. envoy George Mitchell tries to present to the Palestinians in exchange for restarting negotiations.”* The Hamas government added that “the lifting of the blockade, the release of prisoners and the easing of the blockade of the Gaza Strip are the rights of our people which the occupation has taken by force. These must be returned without any political exchanges, and the occupation must be punished for these measures, not bargained with over the end.”*

*Editor’s Note: These quotes, though accurately translated, could not be verified.