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Hamas Idiotically Calls Osama bin Laden ‘Holy Warrior’

The Palestinian Islamist group condemned the killing by US forces of Osama bin Laden and mourned him as an “Arab holy warrior.”

Bob Dreyfuss

May 2, 2011

Of all the reactions to the killing Osama bin Laden, the stupidest and most inexcusable comes from Hamas, whose leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, condemned the killing and called bin Laden a “holy warrior.” Not surprising, in a way, since bin Laden got his start in Saudi Arabia as a friend of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas’s parent group. From Reuters:

The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Monday condemned the killing by US forces of Osama bin Laden and mourned him as an "Arab holy warrior.”

"We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood," Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, told reporters.

Though he noted doctrinal differences between bin Laden’s al Qaeda and Hamas, Haniyeh said: "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."

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Bob DreyfussBob Dreyfuss, a Nation contributing editor, is an independent investigative journalist who specializes in politics and national security.


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