Ignoring the evidence of their own eyes and ears

I have had a difficult weekend on Twitter, there seem to be number of people who make outrageous claims that are at variance with reality but when they are made aware of the truth they just don't accept it. I will be addressing three people's inability to process evidence this week, @aarondellaria, @natashasuleman and @SarahIJoselh, today I start with @aarondellaria who appears to be ignoring me on Twitter now, unable to deal with the truth it would seem.

I posed a question to @aarondellaria and that question was if he accepted that 'Hamas wanted to destroy Israel and kill all Jews'. He wriggled and wriggled, here's some early attempts to evade answering the question:

Pathetic but I persisted so he had to change tack:

"Hamas can say whatever" - indeed they can but I want this individual to admit that 'Hamas want to destroy Israel and kill all Jews'. So I keep on asking... Here's @aarondellaria's next reply:

So he accepts that Hamas dream about destroying Israel and killing all Jews but as they know that's not realistic we can ignore it.

I wasn't satisfied as I hadn't asked if they could destroy Israel and kill all Jews but if they want to destroy Israel and kill all Jews, so I asked again and this was the response:

So it's just rhetoric and Israel should ignore the rhetoric, although previously @aarondellaria said it was a dream - so just an aspiration not a realistic aim.

I asked again and got this response from @aarondellaria.

There you go, the last refuge of the scoundrel, an accusation (albeit tangentially) that I was a racist. Not bad, he managed several hours before he resorted to that trick.Brighter than some I have had to deal with in the past.


I am not a member of the BNP, nor a supporter, but don't see why that would be relevant to my questioning him about what Hamas wanted that for a certain type of agitator an accusation of racism trumps all and I am sure Aaron Dellaria is used to people backing down before his accusations and his refusal to ever concede. Fortunately I have met his type before and beaten them (in argument) many many times.


Anyway for @aarondellaria here's some evidence of how Hamas view Israel and Jews.


1. Let's start with Hamas's Charter:

'– In the Palestinian state only Jews who lived in Palestine before 1917 will be recognized as citizens [Article 6]:
– Only the Palestinian Arabs possess the right of self-determination, and the entire country belongs to them [Articles 3 and 21].
– Any solution that does not involve total liberation of the country is rejected. This aim cannot be achieved politically; it can only be accomplished militarily [Articles 9 & 21].
– Warfare against Israel is legal, whereas Israel's self-defence is illegal [Article 18].'

That 1968 Charter does not call for Israel to return to 1967 borders it calls for 'the entire country' to return to Palestinian control.

Let's take a look at Article 7 of the Charter:  

"Hamas has been looking forward to implementing Allah's promise, whatever time it might take. The prophet [Muhammad] said: 'The time (of Resurrection) will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: 0 Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him!'" Sahih Muslim, Book 41, Number 6985]

2. Let's look at what Hamas Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya, said on his visit to Tunisia in early January 2012. The comments were all recorded and broadcast on Al-Aqsa TV:

"I say to you now, in the capital of south Tunisia: We will never ever recognize Israel."

"The land of Palestine, oh brothers and sisters, is an Islamic, as decreed by the second caliph, Omar ibn Al-Khattab. We shall not relinquish the Islamic waqf on the land of Palestine, and Jerusalem shall not be divided into Western and Eastern Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a single united [city], and Palestine stretches from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, and from Naqoura [Rosh Ha-Niqra] to Umm Al-Rashrash [Eilat] in the south."

This is Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, saying on 14 December that whilst Hamas may work for the "interim objective of liberation of Gaza, the West Bank, or Jerusalem," this in an "interim objective" and "reconciliation" with Fatah will not change Hamas' long-term "strategic" goal of eliminating all of Israel. Ismail Haniyeh also said this:

"The armed resistance and the armed struggle are the path and the strategic choice for liberating the Palestinian land, from the [Mediterranean] sea to the [Jordan] river, and for the expulsion of the invaders and usurpers [Israel]... We won't relinquish one inch of the land of Palestine."

From the sea to the river, now where have I heard that before? Oh yes, remember that every time someone chants "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" they are calling for the destruction of Israel, the ending of the Jewish state. The river is the Jordan, the sea is the Mediterranean; from the river to the sea is not calling for a two state solution, it is calling for the destruction of Israel.


3. Some video evidence - This video from Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV is a prayer pleading with Allah to "vanquish your [Allah's] enemies" and to "strike" the Jews and their "sympathizers", "the Christians and their supporters", and to not leave "even one".

"Allah, oh our Lord, vanquish Your enemies, enemies of the religion
[Islam] in all places.
Allah, strike the Jews and their sympathizers,
the Christians and their supporters,

Allah, count them and kill them to the last one, and don't leave even one."
Al Aqsa TV (Hamas) Dec. 3, 2010 (1 min)




4.How about another Hamas leader, this time Nizar Rayan, Hamas religious and military leader at the time he said this in on 1 January 2009:

"Regarding the Jews, our business with them is only through bombs and guns... the prophet [Muhammad] promised that we will fight you, with Allah's help, until the tree and stone say: "Oh Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him."

5. How about another Hamas cleric from 2008:
Source: Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), July 13, 2008

"The Meccan [Quran] chapter entitled 'Jews' or 'Children of Israel' is remarkable... It's about today's Jews, those of our century, and speaks only of extermination and digging graves... This chapter sentences the Jews to extermination before a single Jew existed on earth... Palestine's blessing is linked to destruction of the center of global corruption [Jews of Israel], the snake's head. When the snake's head of [global] corruption is cut off, here in Palestine, and when the octopus' [Jew's] tentacles are cut off around the world, the real blessing will come with the destruction of the Jews, here in Palestine, and it is one of the splendid real blessings in Palestine."

6. This time we'll look at a Hamas newspaper report on the words of a Hamas MP
Source: Al-Rissala (Hamas weekly), Mar. 13, 2008

"You [Jews] will taste the punishment of Scorching Fire." [Quran 3:181]
"This [Quran] verse threatens the Jews with the punishment of Fire... the reason for the punishment of Fire is that it is fitting retribution for what they have done... but the urgent question is, is it possible that they will have the punishment of Fire in this world, before the great punishment [of everlasting Fire in Hell]?...many of the [Islamic] religious leaders believe that the [Jews'] punishment of Fire is in this world... therefore we are certain that the Holocaust is still to come upon the Jews." [Sheikh Yunus Al-Astal, Hamas MP]

7. Let's go back another year and to a Hamas newspaper
Source: Al-Rissala (Hamas weekly), Apr. 23, 2007

"We find occastional condemnation and denunciation of the resistance operations and bombings [suicide attacks], carried out by Hamas and the Palestinian resistance branches... [Eventually] everyone will know that we did this [suicide attacks] only because our Lord commanded so - 'I did it not of my own accord' [Quran] - and so that people will know that the extermination of Jews is good for the inhabitants of the world."

8. Let's lighten the mood with some Hamas children's TV from 2009

The bear puppet host, Nassur, of a Hamas children's TV program used different words for "slaughter" to describe how to rid Israel of Jews.
First the bear explains that all Jews must be "erased from our land." Later in the conversation he adds, "We want to slaughter them, Saraa, so they will be expelled from our land." He repeats, "...We'll have to [do it] by slaughter."

He first uses the Arabic expression for "slaughter," "Nidbah-hom," and later on uses the word "Shaht."

The following is the transcript from the children's program Tomorrow's Pioneers:

Nassur: "There won't be any Jews or Zionists, if Allah wills. They'll be erased."
Saraa: "Chased away."
Nassur: "And just like we will visit the Qaaba [in Mecca]... everyone will visit Jerusalem."
[Seven-year old Palestinian child on phone tells how his father, a member of the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades, "died as a Shahid (Martyr)."]
Nassur to child on phone: "What do you want to do to the Jews who shot your father?"
Child on phone: "I want to kill them."
Saraa: "We don't want to do anything to them, just expel them from our land."
Nassur: "We want to slaughter (Nidbah-hom) them, so they will be expelled from our land, right?"
Saraa: "Yes. That's right. We will expel them from our land using all means."
Nassur: "And if they don't want [to go] peacefully, by words or talking, we'll have to [do it] by slaughter." (Shaht)
[Al-Aqsa (Hamas) TV, Sept. 22, 2009

9. Here's a short extract from an anti_Israel film that is shown regularly in Universities

The words of that prayer are (my emphasis):

'Allah is the greatest.
He who thanks Allah will be rewarded.
Oh Allah, loosen your power and strength on the Jews. (Amen.)
Please Allah, kill them all...
And don't leave any of them alive. (Amen.)
Oh Allah, with your great power. Allah!
We are asking you with your infinite power, dear Allah. Allah!
Please dear Allah, take revenge for our martyrs' blood. Allah!
Please Allah, get rid of the Jews.
Bring them down.
They are not as powerful as you.
Please Allah, make the earth shake and destroy the pillars of their civilisation.
Please Allah, cast fear and terror into their hearts.
Oh Allah disperse them so they become lost once again.
Oh Allah, show us a sign.
Oh Allah, surprise them in a way they don't expect.
Oh Allah, cast fear and terror into their hearts.'

10. Enough videos, back to the words of Hamas:
From a sermon delivered by 'Atallah Abu Al-Subh, former Hamas minister of culture, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV, April 8, 2011, translation by MEMRI:

"Whoever is killed by a Jew receives the reward of two martyrs, because the very thing that the Jews did to the prophets was done to him.

"The Jews are the most despicable and contemptible nation to crawl upon the face of the Earth, because they have displayed hostility to Allah.

"Allah will kill the Jews in the hell of the world to come, just like they killed the believers in the hell of this world.

"The Jews kill anyone who believes in Allah. They do not want to see any peace whatsoever on Earth."

11. Do you recognise these words?

"Palestine is Islamic, and not an Islamic emirate, from the river to the sea, that unites the Palestinians. Jews have no right in it, with the exception of those who lived on the land of Palestine before World War I."

They were said by Hamas official Halil Al-Hayya, as quoted in Al-Hayat newspaper, November 11, 2010
That's right, they are rater similar to the point I started with, Hamas's 1968 Charter.


12. How about another Hams leader? Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, Future News TV, June 15, 2010, Source: MEMRI.org

"We have liberated Gaza, but have we recognized Israel? Have we given up our lands occupied in 1948? We demand the liberation of the West Bank, and the establishment of a state in the West Bank and Gaza, with Jerusalem as its capital – but without recognizing [Israel]. This is the key – without recognizing the Israeli enemy on a single inch of land. ...
"Our plan for this stage is to liberate any inch of Palestinian land, and to establish a state on it. Our ultimate plan is [to have] Palestine in its entirety. I say this loud and clear so that nobody will accuse me of employing political tactics. We will not recognize the Israeli enemy."

13. How about some more comments about not living alongside Israel but destroying it?

"[Hamas will] never recognize the legitimacy of the Zionist state that was founded on our land."

That's Khaled Mashaal, Hamas leader, February 3, 2006, Al-Hayyat al-Jedida


14. Another one?

"[Hamas] will not change a single word in its covenant [which is calling for the destruction of Israel]."

That's Mahmoud Zahar, Hamas leader, after casting his vote in the Gaza Strip, January 25, 2006, Ha'aretz


15. Another one?

"We do not recognize the Israeli enemy, nor his right to be our neighbor, nor to stay (on the land), nor his ownership of any inch of land.... We are interested in restoring our full rights to return all the people of Palestine to the land of Palestine. Our principles are clear: Palestine is a land of Waqf (Islamic trust), which can not be given up."

That's (Mahmoud Zahar, Hamas leader and candidate to the Palestinian legislative council, Palestinian TV, January 17, 2006, Newsday


16. More?

"The vanquishing of the enemy in Gaza does not mean that this stage has ended. We still have Jerusalem and the pure West Bank. We will not rest until we liberate all our land, all our Palestine. We do not distinguish between what was occupied in the 1940s and what was occupied in the 1960s. Our Jihad continues, and we still have a long way to go. We will continue until the very last usurper is driven out of our land."

That's Sheik Nizar Rayan, Hamas "political" leader, at a rally in Gaza, Al-Jazeera TV on September 16, 2005, MEMRI


17. You want more?

"We stand here on our liberated land, near the armistice borders. We remember when Sharon said that Netzarim is like Tel Aviv. Hamas has said, via the lion of Palestine [Rantisi], that Gaza is like Tel Aviv. The promise that has been fulfilled and will be fulfilled in the future, oh Sharon, is the promise of Allah, and the promise of Hamas. Behold, Palestine is being liberated, Allah willing..."

"We have come here in multitudes to proclaim that Hirbiya and Ashkelon will be taken by the mujahideen. We have come here to say that the weapons of the resistance that you see here will remain, Allah willing, so that we can liberate Palestine – all of Palestine – from the Sea to the River, whether they like it or not."

That one was from Mushir al-Masri, Hamas spokesman, at a rally in Gaza, Al-Jazeera TV on September 16, 2005, MEMRI


18. Another Hams leader?

"By God, we will not leave one Jew in Palestine. We will fight them with all the strength we have. This is our land, not the Jews..."

"You will have no security except outside the homeland Palestine.... We have Allah on our side, and we have the sons of the Arab and Islamic nation on our side."

Those two are from Abdel Aziz Rantisi, Hamas leader, June 10, 2003, interview with Al-Jazeera, Jerusalem Post


19. How about Hamas's spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, interviewed in the Australian Muslim youth magazine, Nida'ul Islam, June/July 2002

"We reject this US domination and this frantic war. From our side, we concentrate on striking blows to it here in Palestine, with the aim of ironing out the Jewish entity in Palestine, which is the cause of trouble in the world..."

20. Some more video now.

That's Dr. Walid Al-Rashudi, head of the Department of Islamic Studies at Saud University in Saudi Arabia, in a speech broadcast in 2009 on Hamas TV. The religious scholar prays for the extermination of all Jews: "Kill them one by one and don't leave even one."


I could go on and on and on and on, there's so much out there of Hamas's desire to destroy Israel and kill all Jews but even I haven't got all day. I'll give the last word to Lt. Col Ralph Peters in an interview on American television in 2009 "Hamas's mission is to kill Jews, you cannot persaude its leaders to pick a new mission... Hamas exists to destroy Israel... their mission is to kill Israelis, kill Jews"

I am sure that @aarondellaria has a good explanation as to how I have misunderstood Hamas, if so I'd love to hear it.