Hamas Political Bureau chairman Ismail Haniyeh spoke at one of the venues of the Israel-Gaza border weekly “Return Marches” on May 11. As the crowds chanted anti-Semitic slogans, such as “Khaybar, Khaybar, Oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will return,” and cried “Death to Israel,” Haniyeh vowed that “we shall never forget Palestine from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River,” and “we shall never recognize Israel!”
Amid Antisemitic and "Death to Israel" Chants, Hamas Political Bureau Chairman Ismail Haniyeh Vows: We Shall Never Recognize Israel – Scenes from Gaza "Return March"On May 11, Hamas Political Bureau Chairman Ismail Haniyeh spoke at one of the venues of the Gaza "return march." As the crowds chanted antisemitic slogans, such as "Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will return," and cried "Death to Israel," Haniyeh vowed that "we shall never forget Palestine from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River" and "we shall never recognize Israel!"
Posted by The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) on Tuesday, May 15, 2018
The following is a transcript:
Member of Crowd: Khaybar, Khaybar, Oh Jews!
Crowd: Khaybar, Khaybar, Oh Jews!
Member of Crowd: Khaybar, Khaybar, Oh Jews!
Crowd: Khaybar, Khaybar, Oh Jews!
Member of Crowd: The army of Muhammad will return!
Crowd: The army of Muhammad will return!
Member of Crowd: The army of Muhammad has begun to return!
Crowd: The army of Muhammad has begun to return!
Ismail Haniyeh: Yes, it has been 70 years since the expulsion of the Palestinian people and the plundering of the land of Palestine. They thought that as the years went by, we would forget—forget our rights, our land, our Palestine, our Jerusalem, and our Al-Aqsa Mosque. That is what they thought, but today, our people, men and women, in the central Gaza Strip, say: “We shall never forget Palestine! We shall never forget Jerusalem! We shall never forget the Al-Aqsa Mosque! We shall never forget Palestine from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River! Palestine is from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River! And we shall never, never, never recognize Israel.”
Member of Crowd: Say “Allah Akbar!”
Crowd: Allah Akbar!
Member of Crowd: We shall never recognize Israel!
Crowd: We shall never recognize Israel!
Member of Crowd: We shall never recognize Israel!
Crowd: We shall never recognize Israel!
Member of Crowd: We shall never recognize Israel!
Crowd: We shall never recognize Israel!
Ismail Haniyeh: These are no mere slogans. This is our path. This is the truth, the truth! This is our principle, our ideology, and it is not up for compromise. It cannot be bought or sold. They have besieged us for eleven years and have waged three wars against us, to make us recognize Israel, to make us surrender the weapons of the resistance, and to make us recognize the unjust agreements with the Zionist enemy. But our response was that we would never recognize Israel, and that the resistance does not merely refuse to surrender its weapons, but is even developing them.
Member of Crowd: Say “Allah Akbar!”
Crowd: Allah Akbar!
Member of Crowd: Allah Akbar, all praise be to Allah!
Crowd: Allah Akbar, all praise be to Allah!
Ismail Haniyeh: When they first laid their siege on us, the Al-Qassam missile could reach two to three kilometers across the border. In 2014, the heroes of the Al-Qassam brigades struck Haifa. And what the resistance possesses today terrifies our enemy, and installs confidence in the hearts of our people, Allah willing.
[…]
Crowd: Death to Israel! Death to Israel! Death to Israel! Death to Israel!
Ismail Haniyeh: That is our land.
[Points toward Israel]
We are the Palestinians. We are the refugees. That is our land. That is our childhood pastures, and the homes of our fathers and grandfathers. Allah willing, we shall return to them whether people like it or not—and whoever doesn’t like it can go drink from the sea of Gaza.
[…]