Hamas issued a statement on August 16 congratulating the Taliban for retaking Afghanistan as United States forces are withdrawing from the country.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the statement read: “We congratulate the Muslim Afghan people for the defeat of the American occupation on all Afghan lands, and we congratulate the Taliban movement and its brave leadership on this victory, which culminated its long struggle over the past 20 years. While Hamas wishes the Afghan Muslim people and its leadership success in achieving unity, stability and prosperity for Afghanistan and its people, it stresses that the demise of the American occupation and its allies proves that the resistance of the peoples, foremost of which is our struggling Palestinian people, will achieve victory.”
StandWithUs Israel Executive Director Michael Dickson tweeted that Hamas and Taliban are “birds of a feather.”
Palestinian Hamas and the Taliban.
Birds of a feather.#Afghanistan https://t.co/wTxkItqAJe— Michael Dickson (@michaeldickson) August 15, 2021
Human rights attorney and International Legal Forum CEO Arsen Ostrovsky also tweeted that “of course” Hamas congratulated the Taliban, as they “both come from the same radical, jihadist Islamic roots, with a hatred for Jews and a pervasive indifference to human life, freedom and democracy.”
Of course they did! #Hamas & #Taliban both come from the same radical, jihadist Islamic roots, with a hatred for Jews and a pervasive indifference to human life, freedom and democracy. #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/ytewEhcucz
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) August 16, 2021
Additionally, Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, a Hamas senior official, tweeted that the “Taliban is victorious” because they “stood up to the U.S. people [and] its agents refusing compromise, they have not been fooled by slogans like democracy and elections. This is a lesson for all oppressed peoples.” This prompted Stop Antisemitism to tweet, “In 2006, Hamas removed all pictures of women without hijabs, citing Sharia law in the Gaza Strip. Is it any wonder this Hamas senior member is congratulating the Taliban on their takeover of Afghanistan?”
In 2006, Hamas removed all pictures of women without hijabs, citing Sharia law in the Gaza Strip.
Is it any wonder this Hamas senior member is congratulating the Taliban on their takeover of Afghanistan? pic.twitter.com/I1pV2Jxo0W
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) August 16, 2021
Author Shahar Azani also tweeted that Abu Marzook’s tweet “is a DIRE & disheartening lesson for all oppressed people – that at the end, their oppressors win & their oppression is endless.”
#Hamas praises the #Taliban for their victory, stating that “This is a lesson for all oppressed peoples”.
Indeed, this is a DIRE & disheartening lesson for all oppressed people – that at the end, their oppressors win & their oppression is endless.#FreeGazaFromHamas @benshapiro pic.twitter.com/XPd66RE4u7
— Shahar Azani (@ShaharAzani) August 16, 2021
Asaad Hanna, an international fellow at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a former member of the White Helmets NGO, tweeted out photos from when Hamas and Taliban leadership convened in May. “A quick reminder that Hamas and Taliban have great ties together and both are blessed by Iran.”
A quick reminder that Hamas and Taliban have great ties together and both are blessed by Iran.
Photos from the meeting happened in May between Hamas and Taliban leadership. pic.twitter.com/M52HYqdEvw— Asaad Sam Hanna (@AsaadHannaa) August 15, 2021
On the other hand, Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee member Ahmed Majdalani chided those celebrating the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, noting that the Taliban “produced the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. And when it comes to any form of extremism and terrorism, it is the Arab and Islamic peoples, first and foremost, who have ended up paying the price,” The Times of Israel reported.
Thousands of Afghanis have rushed onto the tarmac of Kabul Airport in an attempt to flee the Taliban’s pending reign over the country, resulting in seven deaths. The Biden administration is standing by their decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, criticizing the Afghan military for failing to counteract the Taliban’s insurgency.
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