Hamas official blasts Trump for inauguration speech

“Trump’s approaches to the Palestine issue do not serve stability in the region and entice Israel to become more extreme.”

By ADAM RASGON
Updated: JANUARY 23, 2017 14:30
Deputy chairman of Hamas’s political bureau Musa Abu Marzouk talks during an interview in Cairo on August 9. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Deputy chairman of Hamas’s political bureau Musa Abu Marzouk talks during an interview in Cairo on August 9.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The US president has failed to learn from history, a senior Hamas official said regarding Donald Trump’s remarks about “radical Islamic terrorism” in his inauguration speech.
“This ignoramus did not study history and does not know what the fate of those who ignited the Crusader wars. We are an Islamic nation that may lose a battle, but we will win all the wars,” Mousa Abu Marzouk, a member of the Hamas politburo, wrote on his Twitter account on Saturday.
Abu Marzouk, who is considered a contender to be the next Hamas politburo chairman, made an apparent reference to the ultimate defeat of the Crusaders at the hand of Muslim fighters centuries ago.
In his speech on Friday, Trump pledged to fight Islamic terrorism.
“We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones, and unite the world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate from the face of the earth,” he said.
While Trump frequently talks about "radical Islamic terrorism" and defeating Islamic State, he has not specifically referred to Hamas in public with the exception of a September 2015 interview, in which he admitted did not know the difference between Hamas and Hezbollah.
The US State Department considers Hamas a foreign terrorist organization.
On Friday, Abu Marzouk said that “Trump’s approaches to the Palestine issue do not serve stability in the region and entice Israel to become more extreme,” referring to the campaign promise to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem.
Since Trump’s victory in the polls, the Hamas leadership has generally made cautious statements about the US president, calling on him to adopt policies more favorable to the Palestinian cause.
“We call on you to deal fairly with the Palestinians and end your policy of overlooking Israel’s perpetual crimes,” Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal said right after the election.
For his part, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a more positive statement following Trump’s inauguration speech.
“I look forward to working with him for the sake of peace, security and stability in a world that is troubled and in a region that lives a tragic era and to contribute to creating a safe future for everyone,” he said, according to the official PA news site Wafa.