Hamas official calls on Palestinians abroad to kill Jews
Top Palestinian official in Gaza, Fathi Hammad, criticised for making antisemitic and genocidal remark
A senior Hamas official urged Palestinians abroad to kill Jews in Israel and beyond.
“All of you 7 million Palestinians abroad, enough of the warming up. You have Jews everywhere and we must attack every Jew on the globe by way of slaughter and killing, if God permits,” Fathi Hammad, a Hamas Cabinet minister until 2014, said Friday in a speech in Gaza.
A Hamas official in Gaza said Hammad’s views do not represent the official position of Hamas, which is considered a terrorist movement in the European Union and the United States, among other countries.
“These are personal statements that do not represent Hamas. They are no more than emotional comments that he may have said because of the killing of one of our members,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the Israeli press, told The Times of Israel. “Our problem is not with the Jews, but rather the occupation and the Zionist movement that is occupying Palestine.”
The Israeli military acknowledged that it killed a Hamas member at the Gaza border by mistake on Thursday, and Hamas threatened in a statement that “Israel will pay for its actions.”
Saeb Erekat, the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s Executive Committee, on Monday condemned Hammad’s statements.
“The just values of the Palestinian cause include love for freedom, justice and equality,” Erekat tweeted Monday. “The repugnant statement of Hamas leader Mr. Fathi Hammad about Jews doesn’t represent any of them.”
Senior Hamas official Fathi Hammad speaking to Palestinians in the border region between Israel and the Gaza Strip on July 12, 2019. (Screenshot: YouTube)
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.