Ismail Haniyeh Quotations

Some people think that the truth can be hidden with a little cover-up and decoration. But as time goes by, what is true is revealed, and what is fake fades away.

We promise you that we will not cede a single part of Palestine, we will not cede Jerusalem, we will continue to fight and we will not lay down our arms.

In addition to removing our democratically elected government, Israel wants to sow dissent among Palestinians by claiming that there is a serious leadership rivalry among us. I am compelled to dispel this notion definitively.

Israel no longer has allies in Egypt and in Tunisia, we are saying to the Zionist enemies that times have changed and that the time of the Arab Spring, the time of the revolution, of dignity and of pride has arrived.

I hope that Americans will give careful and well-informed thought to root causes and historical realities, in which case I think they will question why a supposedly 'legitimate' state such as Israel has had to conduct decades of war against a subject refugee population without ever achieving its goals.

Doesn't the world see the suffering of millions of Palestinians who have been living in exile around the world or in refugee camps for the past 60 years? No state, no home, no identity, no right to work. Doesn't the world see this injustice?

I salute all the nations of the Arab Spring and I salute the heroic people of Syria who are striving for freedom, democracy and reform.

Today three-quarters of the Palestinian people are displaced: there are 5 million Palestinian refugees throughout the world.

Anybody who asks for democracy to be introduced should respect the results of democracy.

The increasing mistrust between the Arab-Muslim peoples and the western world is rooted in the conflict in Palestine.

I know that many in Europe are unhappy with their governments' policies toward the Palestinians.

We came to say, the Quran is our constitution, we are committed to God and his holy book. God willing, should they try to carry out their crime against the Quran, God will tear their state apart and they will become God's lesson to anyone who tries to desecrate the holy book.

Which Israel should we recognize? The Israel of 1917; the Israel of 1936; the Israel of 1948; the Israel of 1956; or the Israel of 1967? Which borders and which Israel? Israel has to recognize first the Palestinian state and its borders and then we will know what we are talking about.

The Europeans and Americans have said the martyrdom operations are why Hamas has been put on the terrorist list. But now these operations have stopped. Did they then remove Hamas from the list of terrorist organisations? We do not launch wars. We are people resisting occupation.

I ask the American administration not to participate in any resolution that will double the suffering of the Palestinian people. I am convinced that the American people would not want to see the Palestinians suffer the way they do.

Every Palestinian family feels the effects of the international embargo. But the more the pressure on the government grows, the more support we receive, both from the Palestinian street and from the Arab and Islamic world.

We don't have a state, neither in Gaza nor in the West Bank. Gaza is under siege and the West Bank is occupied. What we have in the Gaza Strip is not a state, but rather a regime of an elected government. A Palestinian state will not be created at this time except in the territories of 1967.

The liberals and free people of the world will not like to see the Palestinian people living under siege. We have received indications from the international community that they will not stop their aid.

The victory of Hamas is not only based on the corruption of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas has a vision and a program, and this is the reason why the Palestinian people chose Hamas. However, there is no doubt that the corruption helped Hamas's victory.

We are pushing towards the dream of having our independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. If there is a real project that aims to resolve the Palestinian cause on establishing a Palestinian state on 1967 borders, under full Palestinian sovereignty, we will support it.

When I said a few weeks ago that our people would eat cooking oil and olives if necessary, I didn't mean that there really would be only oil and olives. What I meant was that our people have the necessary patience to endure the current difficult situation. Palestinians would rather do without certain food items than their national rights.

The Palestinian people do not beg the world for a state, and the state can't be created through decisions and initiatives. States liberate their land first and then the political body can be established.

We repeat today that we are with the establishment of a Palestinian state on any liberated part of Palestinian land that is agreed upon by the Palestinian people, without recognizing Israel or conceding any inch of historical Palestine.

When the Israeli leaders launched their expansionist war in June 1967 they never envisaged that 40 years later they would still be haunted by the consequences.

Tens of thousands have been killed or wounded by the Israeli army since 1967. During 2006, the number of Palestinians killed reached 650. Since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967, more than 650,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel - about 40% of the male population.

Getting rid of Bin Laden is good for the cause of peace worldwide but what counts is to overcome the discourse and the methods - the violent methods - that were created and encouraged by Bin Laden and others in the world.

Postponing the election will lead to a vacuum and to a dark future. Postponing the election is not the solution.

I don't know why Abbas canceled the visit, but I hope he will arrive here soon.

There are people, partners, colleagues who are still thinking and debating among themselves whether they would like to join us or not.

We think countries in power can decide for themselves what kinds of positions and policies they can take.

Such an important position requires consultations between leaders in the (Palestinian) territories, in prisons and in exile. Nothing official has been reached so far, and when a decision is made, it will be published.

Such a plan definitely won't be accepted by the Palestinian people or the Palestinian government.

Our government is prepared for dialogue with the quartet to seek a way to end the state of conflict and establish calm in the region.

Our people will not ... kneel before such Israeli measures.

Whoever thinks economic pressure could push our government to succumb or that it could weaken the determination and the steadfastness of our proud people is mistaken.

We will resolve these matters through dialogue when we are in government. All I can say is no police officer will lose his job and no police salary will be cut.

We will accelerate the process of forming the next government so that we will not have to have a political and constitutional vacuum.

The reason behind this cycle is the continuation of the occupation and the continued Israeli assaults against the Palestinian people.

We agreed to continue the meetings and to intensify them in order to conclude the formation of the government and to present it to the parliament for a confidence vote.

We agreed to hold a meeting as soon as he arrives in Gaza, in about two days time.

We call on you to transfer all aid to the Palestinian treasury.

We call on you to transfer all aid to the Palestinian treasury. We assure you that all the revenues will be spent on salaries, daily life and infrastructure.

We call on you to understand the priorities of our Palestinian people at this stage and continue the spiritual and financial support in order to push the region towards stability rather than pressure and tension.

We urge the American administration to be more rational and to avoid extremism in positions and to stop making prejudgments on a government that emerged through the ballot box.

We respect (other) parties' decision not to join the Cabinet.

We are asking you to cooperate with our mission by keeping an open mind.

We were elected on a different political agenda.

We seek to assure investors on the Palestinian bourse that we regard it as one of the fundamental bases of the Palestinian national economy. We will afford all the guarantees necessary to protect their investment.

I spoke on the phone with President Abbas last night. We have agreed to meet tomorrow evening in Gaza to present him the final government list.

What happened was dangerous and must not be repeated.

There is nothing defined, but all that we have heard from the Arab and Islamic states, officially and from the public, is reassuring.

We will protect the right of our people to defend themselves against the occupation.

We will prove to the people that we are able to rebuild our homeland.

We've handled challenges in the past and we will be able to stand up to future challenges as well.

The government is ready for dialogue with the Quartet. The European Union has provided a lot of aid to our people, and supported our right for freedom. ... We are interested in a strong relation with Europe.

This government was elected in a free and honest election, and according to the democratic principles the American administration is calling for.

This government will lead its people toward a dignified life.

This is an elected government and it must be given all the authorities and they should not be touched.

That is not correct. Where did you hear that?

The continued escalation aims to shed more Palestinian blood, confuse the situation and hamper ... the formation of the Palestinian government.

The Israelis are trying to starve innocent people by taking money from our taxes, and we are going to fight this by all legal means. This collective punishment will not break the determination of the Palestinian people.

The U.S. administration and European countries should put pressure ... on the occupier and not the occupied and displaced Palestinian people.

It will be based on it, but we are looking for the biggest points of agreement with our brothers in the (other) factions.

I pray to God to help me shoulder the responsibility and to serve the Palestinian cause until the return of the rights of the Palestinian people.

These weapons liberated the land and by these weapons, we will continue the liberation process.

The great Palestinian people should not be punished for choosing their leadership in free and democratic elections. Those who believe that economic pressures will force our government into submission are wrong.

There is no truth to baseless reports that President Abbas wants to take over the security institutions.

The Hamas movement will lead Intifada after Intifada until we liberate Palestine – all of Palestine, Allah willing.

The underlying problem remains the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and the continuing Israeli assaults against our people.

The people have said yes to change and reform. The majority of the Palestinians have said yes to the slogan, 'Islam is the solution.' The people also voted in favor of our policy of resistance and against the occupation. Our policy is designed to defend Jerusalem, achieve the right of return for all refugees and the release of our prisoners.

We urge you to understand the Palestinian reality, and not to rush in and impose conditions and demands that ignore this reality and increase the suffering of the people.

We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood…We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior. We ask God to offer him mercy with the true believers and the martyrs.

The answer is to let Israel say it will recognize a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, release the prisoners, and recognize the rights of the refugees to return to Palestine. Hamas will have a position if this occurs.