Bassem Naim from Hamas’ Office of International Relations released a statement, Friday, to denounce the recent remarks made by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), where she “equated” the Palestinian people to the “crimes” of the “Israeli occupation in Palestine” and the “American aggression” in Afghanistan.
“We appreciate Mrs. Ilhan Omar’s stances in defending justice and the rights of the oppressed around the world, foremost of which are the just rights of our Palestinian people,” the press release stated. “But we deplore this unfair combination that is contrary to justice and international law.”
The statement continued:
The Palestinian people have been living under the Zionist occupation for more than seven decades, during which they suffered a lot, and the most heinous crimes were committed against them. Throughout these decades, they remained steadfast, fighting for their freedom and independence, given all opportunities, showed a lot of flexibility, and paid very high prices to achieve these rights by peaceful means. However, the other side refused to comply with all international resolutions, and continued its arrogance and oppression of our people and threatening international stability and security, and unfortunately, with the full support and protection of successive US administrations.
Our people under occupation enjoy their inherent right to resist the occupation by all available means, including armed resistance, and here we remember the famous saying of the international activist Nelson Mandela: “It is always the oppressor, not the oppressed, who dictates the form of the struggle,” what our people have done over the years The past, and what we are doing now, is a legitimate and guaranteed right.
Nevertheless, the Hamas movement presented many initiatives, the first of which was on the lips of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of the movement, and the latest of which was the statements of the movement’s leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar after the last aggression, the need to spare civilians the scourge of the conflict and the movement’s keenness on that, but all these initiatives were rejected by the occupation The Zionist, and indeed, in every aggression, the last of which was the aggression on Gaza for 11 days, deliberately and brutally targeted civilians, with no aim other than to raise the humanitarian cost of this aggression, in the hope of breaking the will of our people and their support for the resistance forces.
“The movement, on more than one occasion, welcomed all the international investigation committees, and expressed its readiness to cooperate with them in order to achieve justice and hold the aggressors accountable,” Naim explained.
“At a time when the occupation completely refused to cooperate with them and allow them to reach the Palestinian territories,” he added.
Breitbart News previously reported Omar made remarks during a hearing she attended virtually to question Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The tweet in which Omar attached a video of her remarks said, “We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity.”
The tweet continued, “We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.”