DHAKA: Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal was quoted on Thursday as saying that it was the responsibility of all to ‘liberate the Aksa Mosque and Palestine’.

Mashaal, who is currently on a visit to South Africa, said in a speech at a mosque in Pretoria, that Hamas was ‘opposed to ideological extremism’.

Hamas, he claimed, has chosen the path of ‘moderation’ and is not hostile towards anyone because of his belief.

‘Hamas believes in a struggle against the oppressors,’ he said, reports The Jerusalem Post.

Mashaal claimed that Israel was seeking to ‘divide in time and space’ the Aksa Mosque so as to allow Jews to pray at the site. He also claimed that Israel’s actions were designed to ‘change the history and identity of Jerusalem by turning it into a Jewish city’.

He said that the ‘Jerusalem intifada’ would continue until ‘Palestinians achieve freedom and the land returns to Palestine and its people’.

Mashaal also drew parallels between Israel’s actions, including the construction of the security barrier in the West Bank, and the apartheid regime in South Africa.

‘You in South Africa have achieved your freedom and the Palestinians are also aspiring to achieve their freedom,’ Mashaal said.

BDST: 1931 HRS, OCT 22, 2015
RR