Its been a well known fact that since the opening of the border between Egypt and Gaza in Rafah, Al-Qaida has been welcomed in with open arms. Such a development shouldn’t come as any surprise, since both share a radical interpretation of Islam which doesn’t allow for the existence of a Jewish state in the heart of the Islamic world. I have never understood those who cling to the myth of ”Hamas pragmatism”, seeing that their type of ”pragmatism” is limited to how it best serves their goal in eliminating the state of Israel from the Islamic heartland.
Back in September of last year, WorldNetDaily broke with the story that Al-Qaida had arrived in Gaza, one week before Israel’s military intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi Farkash admitted the same: “Al-Qaida operatives took advantage of the opened Rafah border [with Egypt] and entered Gaza.”
But Palestinian ‘Chief Negotiator(and ”Minister of Misinformation”), Saeb Erekat refuted the claim stating: “These reports are baseless, Egypt did a good job in cracking down on cells in their country, and they wouldn’t have allowed any al-Qaida people to get into Gaza.”
Now we have an official verification from the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas who recently stated that: “Al Qaida has infiltrated the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Speaking to the London based Al Hayat newspaper, Abbas said he had seen signs that there was an Al Qaida “presence” in the Palestinian territories.”
All of this of course adds weight to the recent public address made by Al-Qaida’s number two man, Al-Zawahri. He reminds the Hamas that : “Bush, the caller for democracy, threatened Hamas in his State of the Union speech to cut assistance unless it recognizes Israel, abandons Jihad and abides by the agreements of surrender between the (Palestinian) Authority and Israel. I would like to tell my brothers in Palestine that reaching power is needed to implement Islamic rule.”
But most importantly he goes on to remind and warn the Hamas that: “Recognizing those people (Jews/Israel)is against Islam’s principles. They are criminals in the Islamic balance. Palestine is not their own property that they can give up.”
The last line cannot be overstated, and goes to the heart of this conflict war, the intolerance of Islamists towards the Jewish state of Israel. It totally runs counter to their warped vision of the perfect Middle East, in which a non-Muslim entity has no place. Just how pragmatic is that? KGS
