01 March 2002 In the name of Allah the most Gracious the most Merciful “So lose not heart, nor fall into despair: for ye must gain mastery if ye are true in Faith.” Our Palestinian, Arab and Islamic peoples:
The refugee camps of Balata and Jenin have been withstanding Zionist aggressions and occupation army attempts to storm them, to arrest Mujahideen and to repress our people for the past eleven days. Our people in both camps have recorded an epic of pride that did not only repel the ferocious attacks but also registered great unity in confronting the enemy and displayed unity of lines in face of occupation. Such a grand situation has affirmed anew that Jihad and resistance lead to unity while settlement and humiliation before the enemy lead to disintegration and disunity. Despite this heroism the Mujahideen and strugglers were forced to withdraw from the heroic and proud Balata refugee camp affirming God willing that they were returning. They did not evacuate the camp out of fear of fighting the enemy or to save their lives but rather because they ran out of ammunition. The enemy then stormed the camp mobilizing more than 60 tanks for the mission. It stormed houses, damaged all contents, and harassed inhabitants. The enemy troops went from one house to another through destroying walls in an all-out destruction campaign amidst total siege, electricity and water cut off in addition to blocking the entry of food supplies. As for the patient camp in Jenin, the Mujahideen and strugglers are still employing their limited arms in defeating the occupation army at the entrance of the camp, destroying a tank, burning another and retaliating to the occupation soldiers with their bullets and blood. Thus they affirm that the commandos have prepared themselves for war.
We, in the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, in face of recent developments on the land of Palestine in general and in the Balata and Jenin refugee camps in particular would like to affirm the following:
1-We urge the Palestinian Authority to shoulder its role towards our people and to provide arms to Mujahideen instead of prosecuting them by certain apparatuses. We also call on them to end the farce of security meetings. Our people are wondering about what was taking place in those meetings and about feasibility of its continuation in the light of the continued repression against our people.
2-We invite the PA to benefit from the field unity lessons that boosted our people
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Original: An epic of sacrifice and heroism in Balata and Jenin … calling on the Ummah to l