Former Hamas chief Khaled Mashal on Friday virtually addressed a pro-Palestine rally in Kerala and the same has ignited a fresh row after the Bharatiya Janta party (BJP) took strong objection to the development. The event was organised by Solidarity Youth Movement, the youth wing of the organisation Jamaat-e-Islami on October 27 in the Malappuram district of the southern state.
BJP state president K Surendran had condemned the rally and said it was “alarming” that such a thing happened. He also questioned what CM Pinarayi Vijayan and the state police were doing.
Taking to X, for, formerly Twitter, Israel envoy to India Naor Gilon called the event “unbelievable”, adding that it took place “under the slogan ‘Uproot bulldozer Hindutva & Apartheid Zionism’.”
Unbelievable😮! #HamasTerrorist Khaled Mashal speaks from Qatar in a #Kerala event under the slogan ‘Uproot bulldozer Hindutva & Apartheid Zionism’.
Mashal calls participants to:
1. Take the streets and show anger.
2. Prepare for jihad (on Israel).
3. Support Hamas… pic.twitter.com/RH7nyAkEbN
— Naor Gilon (@NaorGilon) October 29, 2023
At the rally, focusing on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, Mashal spoke about Palestine and said, “Together, we will defeat Zionists and we will stand united for Gaza, which is fighting for Al Aqsa (mosque). Israel is taking revenge on our residents.”
“Houses are being demolished. They have destroyed more than half of Gaza. They are destroying churches, temples, universities, and even UN institutions…” he said, as quoted by the Indian Express. Here’s all about the Hamas leader.
Mashal: ‘The Man Who Haunts Israel’
Khaled Mashal was born in the West Bank in 1956. His family left the place after the 1967 War between Israel and Arab states that led to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, the Indian Express stated.
Once referred to as “The Man Who Haunts Israel” by Time Magazine, Mashal is a founding member of the Hamas politburo who headed the group’s main policy body from 1996 to 2017, Hindustan Times reported. He became Hamas’s political leader in exile in 2004. As per the IE, he also lived in Kuwait between 1967 and 1990. He also led a Palestinian Islamic movement at Kuwait University.
According to a BBC profile, Khaled Mashal became Hamas’s political leader in exile in 2004. He never lived in Gaza and operated from Jordan, Syria, Qatar and Egypt, HT reported.
It added citing Israel’s foreign ministry that Mashal is now based in Qatar and has a net worth of $4 billion.
According to the Indian Express report, in a 2017 interview with Al Jazeera, he said, “I am one of the founders of the organisation. I was there since day one. I was part of the founding and launch even before Hamas was officially declared in 1987… Therefore, I was a member of its consultative council and leadership structures since day one.”
Mashal’s Opposition To Israel
Hamas emerged in the early 1990s after it differentiated itself from the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). This organisation was a secular body that favoured a more conciliatory approach towards Israel, India Express stated.
Hamas started suicide bombings against Israeli civilian targets in 1994. Mashal echoed the militant group’s resistance towards Israel and demanded that territories that existed prior to the establishment of Israel in 1948 should be recognised as Palestine.
In the 2017 interview, Mashal said, “For us, the principle of negotiations or not is not something set in stone. It is a matter of politics and it is dynamic… Currently, Israel is not interested in peace… When we are strong enough to create a reality that will force Israel to reconsider its positions against us, only then negotiations will have value and meaning for us. Look at, for example, the PLO’s negotiation experience with Israel. It got them nowhere after decades of futile talks with Israel.”
Israel’s Assassination Attempt Against Mashal
The Indian Express report stated that when Mashal was living in the Jordanian capital of Amman, he became the target of an Israeli assassination attempt in September 1997. This was ordered by PM Benjamin Netanyahu who was then serving his first term.
An account in Time Magazine states that two agents of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad waited outside Mashal’s office. As he approached, one of them sprayed the painkiller fentanyl into his ear.
“The Israelis had hoped that their lethal dose of modified fentanyl — up to one hundred times more potent than morphine — would send Mashaal into a nap from which he would never awake, and that the agents would slip away, leaving no evidence of foul play,” it said, quoted Indian Express.
The event unfolded in a massive row as while Mashal was being rushed to hospital, Jordanian King Hussein threatened to cut off relations with Israel “by midnight.” Dennis Ross — then US President Bill Clinton’s chief Middle East negotiator — received had to intervene after Netanyahu’s call
Later, Netanyahu had to provide an antidote formula to Jordanian doctors for Mashal’s treatment, the report in Time stated.
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