In a TV interview on the Lebanese Mayadeen TV channel, Muhammad Zeidan, the recently resigned head of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee in Israel and an Israeli citizen, came out in support of Hamas, saying: “The missiles fired from Gaza constitute self-defense”, this according to MEMRI’s (Middle East Media Research Institute) report.
Zeidan stated he supports Hamas, even as the missiles landed on his areas, as “We belong to our Palestinian people. The missiles fired from Gaza are a retaliation for the criminal attack… What the Israeli establishment did in Gaza is very ugly and criminal. We cannot remain silent, even if missiles land on our heads. We are not happy when missiles fall, and blood is shed, but in our conscience, in our hearts, we belong to the Palestinian people, which is being massacred on a daily basis. We, the Palestinians within [the 1948 borders], say that the missiles fired from Gaza constitute self-defense, and are intended to show that the Palestinians have a right that must be seized, not given. Rights must be seized, not given. The Palestinian people have the right to take this official position, in defense of the Palestinian cause, and in order to establish its independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.”
Zeidan believes Israel was surprised by Hamas’ capabilities. “This war and the epic steadfastness of the resistance forces in Gaza have cast fear in their hearts. Two days ago, I saw a doctor in northern Israel placing his stethoscope on a rock in the Galilee, and saying: I hear knocking sounds underground. Hezbollah must be digging in the Galilee, within the Green Line. This fear is definitely the product of the steadfast resistance.”