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Published Wednesday, April 3, 2013
A pro-government Syrian newspaper on Wednesday slammed Palestinian movement Hamas and its leader Khaled Meshaal for breaking ties with Damascus, accusing them of giving up on resistance against Israel.
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The report comes two days after Meshaal's re-election as head of Hamas for another four-year term.
Hamas has shifted "the gun from the shoulder of resistance (against Israel) to the shoulder of compromise," al-Thawra daily said.
"Today, as Meshaal becomes the head of Hamas for the fifth time... the West Bank, Gaza and the whole of occupied Pal
estine have no reason to celebrate."
Meshaal "cannot believe his luck. After an acclaimed history of struggle, he has returned to the safe Qatari embrace, wealthy and fattened in the age of the Arab Spring's storms," the newspaper added.
After years of alignment with Damascus, during which he used Damascus as a base, Meshaal relocated in 2012 to Doha, severing ties with President Bashar al-Assad and declaring his support for the Syrian rebellion.
This is not the first time state media has condemned Hamas' change of alliance. In October, Syrian state TV called Meshaal "ungrateful and traitorous" for turning his back on Assad.
The Syrian government maintains that it is the last Arab bastion of anti-Israeli resistance.
It has fiercely criticized Meshaal's decision to break with the regime, recalling Damascus's willingness to host the Hamas leader when other regional capitals refused to do so.
Throughout the two-year conflict in Syria, which the UN says has cost more than 70,000 lives, the government has also accused Turkey, the West and several Arab states of conspiring to topple Assad because of its opposition to Israel.
(AFP, Al-Akhbar)
The report comes two days after Meshaal's re-election as head of Hamas for another four-year term.Hamas has shifted "the gun from the shoulder of resistance (against Israel) to the shoulder of compromise," al-Thawra daily said.
"Today, as Meshaal becomes the head of Hamas for the fifth time... the West Bank, Gaza and the whole of occupied Pal
estine have no reason to celebrate."
Meshaal "cannot believe his luck. After an acclaimed history of struggle, he has returned to the safe Qatari embrace, wealthy and fattened in the age of the Arab Spring's storms," the newspaper added.
After years of alignment with Damascus, during which he used Damascus as a base, Meshaal relocated in 2012 to Doha, severing ties with President Bashar al-Assad and declaring his support for the Syrian rebellion.
This is not the first time state media has condemned Hamas' change of alliance. In October, Syrian state TV called Meshaal "ungrateful and traitorous" for turning his back on Assad.
The Syrian government maintains that it is the last Arab bastion of anti-Israeli resistance.
It has fiercely criticized Meshaal's decision to break with the regime, recalling Damascus's willingness to host the Hamas leader when other regional capitals refused to do so.
Throughout the two-year conflict in Syria, which the UN says has cost more than 70,000 lives, the government has also accused Turkey, the West and several Arab states of conspiring to topple Assad because of its opposition to Israel.
(AFP, Al-Akhbar)