By Ryan Jones
Sep 11, 2005
Gaza-based Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar told an Israeli Arab newspaper that the Jewish state's ability to withstand the Muslim onslaught against it would one day fail, and that all ?Palestine? would be ?liberated? from Zionist control.
?Israel?s power is not eternal, and neither is our weakness,? Zahar said in an interview with Nazareth's Kul el-Arab.
He went on to say that his group still considers Israeli Arabs to be ?Palestinians,? and urged them to continue participating in the ?struggle? against their Jewish countrymen.
Israeli Arabs are regularly implicated in ?Palestinian? terrorist plots against Israeli Jews.
As proof that victory was on the horizon, Zahar pointed to Israel's retreat from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria following nearly five years of unrelenting Islamic terrorism.
?We dealt a blow to Israel?s security model, which was based on military strength, a quick victory and distancing the 1948 home front from the confrontation,? he said. ?We struck all of these three principles with our suicide bombings, Kassam rockets and tunnels.?
Despite Hamas' unswerving dedication to Israel's destruction, Washington and Europe ? the primary pushers of the land-for-peace process ? are largely dismissing the group's intention to participate in January's Palestinian Legislative Council election.
Hamas is expected to garner 25 percent of the vote, becoming the second largest PLC faction and gaining significant influence over the ?peace? process.