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Friday 22 January 2010 (06 Safar 1431)
'Hamas not for Israel's destruction'
Mohammed Mar'i | Arab News
RAMALLAH: A senior Hamas official has denied that his movement calls for the destruction of Israel.
Spokesman for Hamas' parliamentary bloc Salah El-Bardawil said in a press statement on Thursday that the party is simply concerned with restoring the rights of Palestinians.
"There is a difference between the restoration of Palestinian rights and the destruction of Israel," he added.
"We will not talk with the Israelis, but only with those who planted Israel in our region. We want the international forces that had planted this entity in our region to address the sin against the Palestinians.
El-Bardawil was responding to remarks from Aziz Dwaik, Hamas' most senior representative in the West Bank, who said that the movement had accepted Israel's right to exist and would be prepared to nullify its charter, which according to him was drafted over 20 years ago.
Dwaik is the elected speaker for the Palestinian Legislative Council. He was released a few months ago after spending nearly three years in an Israeli prison.
"No one wants to throw anyone into the sea," the Israeli daily Jerusalem Post quoted Dwaik as saying on Wednesday.
Dwaik was speaking during a meeting held in Hebron with British millionaire David Martin Abrahams, who maintains close ties with senior Israeli and British government officials.
The Post's report claimed that Abrahams is scheduled to brief British Foreign Secretary David Miliband this weekend on the outcome of his meeting with Dwaik and other top Hamas officials in the West Bank.
Abrahams, a major donor to the governing Labour Party in Britain, told the paper he would urge Miliband to consider the implications of Hamas' apparent change of heart.
Dwaik also stressed that other Hamas leaders, including Damascus-based leader Khaled Mishaal and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, have voiced support for the idea of establishing an independent Palestinian state within the pre-1967 boundaries.
Dwaik also expressed Hamas' desire to engage in dialogue with the international community, particularly the European Union.
He confirmed that Hamas was receiving financial aid from Iran, but said that this was the direct result of a boycott and sanctions against the movement.
Abrahams said that he would be happy to facilitate a dialogue between Hamas and the international community, including Israel. He said he was "very excited" to hear from a senior Hamas leader in the West Bank that the movement would be prepared to change its position.
"The fact that there is a possibility for the recognition of Israel is a symbolic gesture," Abrahams added.
"We can all look for good in people and we can all look for bad in people. I always look for the good."
Asked whether he might be condemned as naïve for believing Hamas, Abrahams said: "People might say that I'm naïve, so let them. But I'm prepared to give them (Hamas) a chance because I've got faith and confidence in Dwaik and Haniyeh. We can't allow 1.5 million (people) to be festering in the Gaza Strip while the majority of them are good and well-educated.
Abrahams said that his decision to engage with Hamas was aimed at "preventing bloodshed on both sides."
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