Hamas's relations with the West: America...the surprise and the backstage!!

When Hamas won the legislative elections in January 2006 and formed the tenth government, many Western delegations, European ambassadors to the Palestinian Authority, and figures close to decision-making circles in the United States and the European Union flocked to meet with its prime minister and leaders.

Most of these meetings were conducted with extreme caution, and were often kept secret, for fear of being accused of communicating with a terrorist movement, especially since Hamas was subjected to continuous demonization operations led by Israel and its media arms in Western countries, along with what the Zionist lobbies and Jewish associations in America were doing in terms of targeting to distort the image of Hamas and incite against it, with the aim of isolating the movement and keeping it away from conveying its voice to the presidencies and parliaments of Western countries.

To establish justice, the Western media, which was surprised by the victory of Hamas and its dominance of the political scene in Palestine, was able to carry out a “notable campaign” to introduce the movement, its figures, its ideas, what its political vision represents, and what this victory means for an Islamic movement for the future of the conflict with Israel, and so on.

At the time, I was a political advisor to Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh (may God have mercy on him), and I was one of the most prominent figures in the government who arranged these meetings or who were contacted to conduct interviews and dialogues with them, as my official position as one of Prime Minister Haniyeh’s close associates, and one of the English speakers, gave them a lot of importance, which drew the attention of Western politicians and media professionals to be keen to sit with me and read the map of events and trends through me.

Accordingly, these meetings and media coverage were what opened the door to receiving invitations to visit some Western capitals.

In November 2006, I made my first visit to the British capital, London, which lasted for several days, during which I met with members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and there were also meetings with the media, especially the Guardian newspaper and some television channels.

I also travelled to Belfast, where I met a number of leaders of the Irish Republican Party (IRA) and Sinn Féin, to learn about their political and militant experience.

The main question in these political and media meetings was: Who is Hamas? What are its political and struggle goals? Will it recognize Israel? And other questions that reflect the absence of Hamas from the cognitive scene in the West.

After that, I was invited to visit Switzerland and enter into contacts regarding this European country’s vision of the possibility of achieving peace and finding a solution to the Palestinian issue.

Indeed, these meetings resulted in the Swiss proposal, which bore the name “Geneva-Ahmed Youssef Vision.”

Although this proposal is based on the idea of a three-year truce, during which the two-state solution would be achieved in three stages, the positions of the European countries were supportive of this step, while America remained silent, and it was understood that it did not oppose it, but Israel rejected it completely.

After that, the doors of Europe opened to receive Hamas figures, both parliamentary and governmental, and this encouraged the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister to send messages to many European countries, in which the government presented its political vision for achieving peace and closing the file of the Palestinian issue, but Israel continued to watch and warn these countries against the accusation of "dealing with terrorists"!!

As a testimony and documentation of the sessions that I attended, there were the meetings of the French special envoy to President Sarkozy with Prime Minister Haniyeh, who carried a message from him. Then we met him again in Geneva to hear from him about the results of that visit.

Among the high-level delegations was also the Dutch Foreign Ministry delegation, which we hosted in my office in Gaza, and then we met them later during an important meeting with Dr. Musa Abu Marzouk in Cairo, and there was also another meeting with the Swiss Special Envoy with Mr. Khaled Meshaal in Cairo.

In fact, the Norwegian ambassador to the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem was one of the most active and communicative ambassadors with Hamas. He was always proactive and, like the Swiss ambassador, had new ideas.

Sweden, represented by parliamentary and party figures, was also among the first we met in Geneva and Gaza, and I also met German and British figures in Tunisia on the sidelines of a special dialogue forum that brought together Islamic and European figures.

As for the relationship with America, it remained limited to some contacts with figures who came wearing the cloak of scientific and academic research to communicate and conduct dialogues with the government, but - and this is what we learned through intermediaries - they were close to the White House, especially during the era of President Barack Obama.

I met some of them, and they indicated to me that their movements were with the knowledge of the official authorities.

In 2009, there was a visit by President Erdogan to the White House, which encouraged Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to send a message from him to President Obama, which the Turkish President carried with him, who blessed such a step, considering that managing political crises always requires that communication channels remain open.

Only a few months after that letter, I received a call from an American expert on the Middle East (Prof. TS), with whom I had been friends during my time in Washington as director of the UASR Center for Research and Policy Analysis.

The summary of the call was: Ahmed, you need to get ready to travel, as there is a mission awaiting you in Europe, and an American delegation - officially - wants to meet with you in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.

I immediately replied: My friend, Oslo is not my favorite, because of its “bad” political reputation, linked to the historic Oslo Accords between the Palestinians and the Israelis. As for me, I would like the meeting to take place in the Swiss city of Zurich, where I can easily obtain a visa, and also guarantee the secrecy of the movement.

We agreed on that, and I told Prime Minister Haniyeh about the mission, who gave me approval to travel.

At that time in 2009, the relationship with Egypt was not at its best, which made our movements as government figures through the Rafah crossing extremely difficult.

In fact, my relations with the Egyptian intelligence men who were responsible for the Palestinian file were based on respect and appreciation, and Major General Mohamed Ibrahim was one of the most respected and appreciated figures in the Hamas movement, and the same was true of Colonel Ahmed Abdel Khaleq.

So, I had a feeling that my mission would go to its goal, and no one would hinder my travel.

I stayed at the Rafah crossing waiting for the approval decision and permission to pass to Cairo for more than four hours. Unfortunately, the response was a refusal.

I returned home, saying, “You never know… God might bring about something else.” I called the person close to the White House and told him about the refusal to allow me to pass, and that the matter required contacting General Omar Suleiman (may God have mercy on him), the head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, to facilitate my travel.

The response came quickly: The mission must remain secret and under absolute secrecy, and any reference to it here or there might reach the Israelis, and the problem of leaking it would create a scandal for the White House, and the Zionist lobby in America would exploit that to defame President Obama and accuse him of communicating with terrorists!!

Accordingly, the visit was postponed until travel was possible, but unfortunately, the relationship with Egypt remained tense and restrictions on the travel of government figures like us through the Rafah crossing were tightened.

In April 2009, there was an attempt by former US President Jimmy Carter to come to Gaza and meet with Hamas leaders there, but Israel prevented this from happening, claiming that there were security risks threatening his life!!

Accordingly, President Carter decided to travel to meet with Mr. Khaled Meshaal, head of the movement’s political bureau, at his residence in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and then meet with the movement’s leadership in the Gaza Strip in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

The Cairo meeting was secret at the Semiramis Hotel, and I participated in its five-hour session with Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahar and the brothers Dr. Khalil Al-Hayya and the martyr Saeed Siam (may God have mercy on him).

The president was interested in achieving a historic accomplishment similar to Camp David, but he clashed with an extremist Zionist mentality that does not seek peace and besieges anyone who seeks it.

President Carter enjoyed great respect among the Palestinians for his fair positions on our cause, which he expressed in many of his books published in the West.

In fact, these recent leaks about meetings between America and Hamas were not the first attempt at communication between the two parties, as the backstage backgrounds during the last three years witnessed some of these meetings, and Dr. Musa Abu Marzouk, the most prominent leader in the Hamas movement, was one of its witnesses.

For all of this, the recent contacts with the movement regarding negotiations to release Israeli soldiers of American origin are not the first and will not - of course - be the last, as they come in the context of American interests, which the Trump administration sees as coming first.

These meetings will have consequences, and will pave the way for openness and communication, even after a while, or as they say: There is more to come than meets the eye.

True, Trump has raised the slogan “America First,” and this seems to be the case in general, but the truth is that there is one exception to that rule, and that is Israel.

Many American politicians and academics have spoken about this issue, such as Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University, who indicated in more than one lecture and television interview that Israel is the one who directs the priorities of the United States in the Middle East, and he said: Unfortunately, America’s foreign policy is being made and driven today by the war criminal Netanyahu!!

And that America is complicit with him in the massacres he is committing against the Palestinians.

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These recent leaks about meetings between America and Hamas were not the first attempt at communication between the two parties, as the backstage scenes during the last three years have witnessed some of these meetings, and Dr. Musa Abu Marzouk, the most prominent leader in the Hamas movement, was one of its witnesses.