TEL AVIV – Hamas was not amused with reports presidential candidate Ben Carson pronounced their name like the Mediterranean chickpea dish “hummus” during a forum Thursday hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition.
A video of the alleged mispronunciation went viral on Arabic social media outlets.
In response, Hamas Spokesman Husam Badran released the following statement exclusively to Breitbart Jerusalem:
Hummus is food and Hamas is a leading Palestinian movement, Mr. Carson. Historical experience shows that no one can surpass Hamas or eradicate Hamas.
Carson’s hummus pronunciation shows that he plans to lead a policy hostile toward Hamas but he will not succeed. Hamas takes its influence from its people, from the Arabs and Muslims and not from America, which always supports the Zionists.”
A person who wants to lead the U.S. and doesn’t know the name of a very important movement is not someone who can deal with serious challenges.
Carson may have just been trolling the group with his pronunciation.
CNN assumed the “hummus” bit was unintentional. The network reported at CNN.com:
Carson delivered written remarks, during which he repeatedly mispronounced Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic organization that has been on the U.S. State Department list of foreign terrorist organizations since 1997.
Observers poked fun at Carson’s pronunciation, which sounded closer to “hummus,” a relatively uncontroversial Middle Eastern dish consisting largely of ground chickpeas, than “Hamas,” an organization at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
And the Washington Post used the speech to criticize Carson, reporting on his “repeated mispronunciation of Hamas,” which the newspaper said was seen by some “as another sign that Carson has a poor grasp on foreign policy.”
Continued the Post: “To many observers — and Internet users shortly thereafter — it sounded like he was saying ‘hummus.’ And like a hearty plate of that mashed chickpea spread, the puns were simply too good to pass up.”