In June 2002, Alistair Crooke, then security adviser of Miguel Moratinos, then EU special envoy to the Middle East (and currently foreign minister of Spain), met secretly in Gaza with a Hamas delegation headed by the organization’s then-leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

The veil of secrecy was broken, however, when the Israel Defense Forces seized a transcript of the meeting in November 2002 at the compound of the Palestinian Authority's Preventive Security Service in Gaza. The transcript has now been made available by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, based near Tel Aviv.

The meeting sheds light on why Europe finds it so hard to label the likes of Hamas or Hizbullah as terror organizations. Crooke’s groveling behavior makes clearer than ever why Israel seeks to limit European involvement in its conflict or diplomacy with the Arabs; while the terrorists express their animosity toward Israel and America and belief that Europe is their ally.

Along with Yassin, present at the encounter, which was arranged via the Preventive Security Service, were Abd al-Aziz al-Rantisi, then a senior Hamas member in Gaza (assassinated by Israel in March 2004 a few weeks after Yassin’s assassination); Sheikh Isma‘il Abu Shanab, then a Hamas political leader in the Palestinian Authority (assassinated in August 2003); and Mahmoud al-Zahar, also a senior Hamas member in Gaza (who survived an assassination attempt a few weeks after Abu Shanab was killed).

Crooke began by explaining: “We are currently in an extremely grave situation. Europe doesn’t know what President Bush is going to say in his speech to the Middle East. . . .  There are people in the American administration like [Secretary of State] Powell, Armitage [Powell’s deputy], and George Tenet [then director of the CIA], who believe that progress is impossible without a political horizon, and there are people in the Pentagon opposed to any serious American involvement. . . . I would like to hear your opinion and position [because] Hamas is close to people on the ground [and] is an important political factor [, and]  we are . . . currently entering a difficult time . . . in the entire region. The main problem is the Israeli occupation.”

Yassin responded: “Our job is to provide the world with a clear view of reality. . . . The reality is one of deprivation and brutality. . . . The Israeli army conquered the land in the year 1948 and followed in our footsteps in 1967. . . . Is it conceivable that the international community should ask us not to resist the occupation . . . ?! . . . instead of supporting my position of self-defense, Europe includes me in the list of terrorist [organizations]. . . . ” [the EU having given that designation to Hamas’s military wing but not to its “political wing”].

Rather than dispute any of the terror chieftain’s claims—even about the alleged “conquest” of 1948, when both Israel and a Palestinian state were supposed to arise as mandated by the United Nations—Crooke replied: “I completely understand what you are saying. At the beginning of the tenure of the [current] American administration, Europe tried to work with Powell so that it could gain influence, but did not succeed. There is an understanding not only on the government level but also on the popular level, and there is sympathy with the Palestinian people. . . . ” 

Yassin: “We place great hope in Europe. . . . Instead of being dragged behind the American policy, it must at the very least say ‘no’ and refuse to accept that policy.”

Crooke hastened to reassure him: “We are trying to implement an independent policy, but whenever we want to work with the Palestinians on one matter or another—and I’m not trying to pass criticism on the Palestinian Authority here—we notice a Palestinian tendency to work with Washington”

Yassin: “. . . The Palestinian people reject America and believe that Europe can help them achieve their goals.”

After some more give-and-take in this vein, Crooke declared: “It is important to end the occupation. . . . it is necessary to initiate trust-building measures and a mutual lowering of the violence. I would like to ask you: If the Palestinians are once again presented with the same offer they were made in Taba, will it be possible to accept it?”

In reply, the Hamas men asked Crooke to send a copy of documents from the Taba peace talks of 2000-2001. Mahmoud al-Zahar then stated: “We agree with you that the problem is the occupation. . . .  We are talking about Palestine that was occupied in 1948 and [then] in 1967. . . . The armed struggle is justified according to all criteria [including] the Geneva [Convention]. . . .  Everyone understands that our [Hamas’s] interest is to be talking with Europe while the Authority prefers America.”

Yassin chimed in: “Israel does not want peace. . . . [It] attacks in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Tunis and Egypt. . . . What is more, it continues to build settlements.”

Crooke: “We believe that the settlements are illegal. The European position on this matter is not vague. . . .  The building of settlements must be brought to a complete halt. As for terrorism, I hate that word. I have spent some time in my life with freedom fighters like in Colombia. We were affected by the events of September 11. People cannot tolerate the sight of babies being killed, and that triggers an emotional response. When America reacted to the September 11 events, the Afghan people should not have paid the price for that.”

This struck a responsive chord in Yassin: “Time will tell that . . . it was global Zionism that paralyzed the American security, so that war could be declared on the Islamic world and on Hamas. About 100-120 Zionist-American agents [knew about it] and did not report it. I do not rule out the possibility that they attempted to seduce Hamas [operatives] and other Islamic operatives [to do it].”

Crooke: “What Europe has done … [changing the subject:] We do not consider the political wing of Hamas to be a terrorist organization, and the same complaints were made regarding Fatah.”

The meeting ended with some statements by Rantisi resembling those of his comrades. Crooke personally asked Hamas to keep the encounter a secret—to prevent, as he put it, Israel and the United States from taking advantage of such information; Hamas concurred.

This tête-à-tête was held at the height of the terror war. The suicide bombing of the Passover Seder in Netanya, for instance, took place just three months earlier. Hamas took credit, and Yassin announced that it was “a message to the Arab summit to confirm that the Palestinian people continue to struggle for the land and to defend themselves no matter what measures the enemy takes.”

That Crooke sought out Hamas as a legitimate, constructive force, and did not contest statements about Israel’s 1948 “conquest,” “Zionist” involvement in the September 11 attack, and so on, while implying that his interlocutors were "freedom fighters" who should not be criticized in any way, is all too indicative of which side Europe is really on.

P. David Hornik is a freelance writer and translator living in Jerusalem whose work has appeared in many Israeli, Jewish, and political publications. Reach him at pdavidh2001@yahoo.com.