If the leaders of Hamas were hoping for military or even moral assistance, from their Islamic co-religionists, they'll have to look somewhere else than this Egyptian cleric.
Dismissing the Gaza regime as "Shiites and communists," Salafi cleric Talaat Zahran blasted the Hamas leaders for hiding underground or in hotels in Lebanon while the citizens of Gaza "get pulverized" by design.
"They launch their cardboard missiles against the Jews in order to worry the Jews and ostensibly force them to bomb them," Zahran said in a July 19 video posted to MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute.
"It's perfectly clear that Hamas and the Jews coordinate what places in Palestine should be targeted. Therefore, Hamas must not be supported in this war."
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While declaring "driving Jews out of Palestine" a duty for Muslims, Zahran called the current war in Gaza "a Hamas-led conspiracy against the Palestinian people" meant to widen the war.
"This is a clear case of "rooster-baiting," the purpose of which is to draw Egypt into a war against the Jews," said Zahran. "This would be going onto war pell-mell. This is what the Shiites and others want. Egypt must not be dragged into this."
The entire transcript of Zahran's comments are below:
As for mobilizing armies to support Gaza ... Driving the Jews out of Palestine is, indeed, a duty, but whom do we really support when we support Gaza?
We need to know what the goal is and who the emir is. Those people in Gaza have neither a goal nor an emir.
They are Shiites and communists so they must not be supported.
They launch their cardboard missiles against the Jews in order to worry the Jews and ostensibly force them to bomb them. It's perfectly clear that Hamas and the Jews coordinate what places in Palestine should be targeted. Therefore, Hamas must not be supported in this war.
Furthermore, some of them -- especially the leaders -- are in hotels or underground. Khaled Mashal and his entourage are staying in Lebanese hotels, while Ismael Haniya and his entourage are underground in Palestine. Only the Palestinian people get pulverized. 4,000 buildings were destroyed on the first day.
This is a Hamas-led conspiracy against the Palestinian people. This is a clear case of "rooster-baiting," the purpose of which is to draw Egypt into a war against the Jews. This would be going onto war pell-mell. This is what the Shiites and others want. Egypt must not be dragged into this.