Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar. Photo: Wiki Commons.

Hamas Leader Mahmoud al-Zahar isn’t known for his passive statements. The Middle East Media research Institute published this interview of Zahar, which aired on Al-Mayadeen TV on November 26, 2012 making more incendiary remarks. During the interview Zahar challenged Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas saying, “Anyone who wants to liberate Palestine should pick up a gun.”

Full transcript (courtesy of MEMRI):

Zahar: “The [U.N. Palestinian status resolution] constitutes a great danger to the Palestinian resistance enterprise. [‘Abbas] wants to bring about a ‘disgraceful’ state. It will not be a real state. It will have no influence. A state on paper only. But its danger lies in the following: A man who claims to represent the Palestinians acknowledges that 80% or more of this land is not part of Palestine, but rather, Israeli land. This is the two-state solution: There would be a Palestinian state on an insignificant portion of the land, while the overwhelming rest of the land, including Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, would belong to the Israeli side. What could be more dangerous?

“The practical implication of this is that Abu Mazen [‘Abbas] has declared that he is against the resistance, against throwing stones, that he would not return to Safed, thus relinquishing the Right of Return – even though this is not only his own right, but the right of his children, his grandchildren, and his great grandchildren.

“He wants to substantiate this internationally. He wants to thwart any attempt by the resistance to liberate all of Palestine.

[…]

“Anyone who wants to liberate Palestine by complaining [to the ICC] – I will send him handkerchiefs to wipe his tears. Whoever wants to really liberate Palestine should pick up a gun.”

Watch the video here.