Plenty of people must have rubbed their eyes in disbelief when they read the headline a few days ago, as provided by the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. The paper reported that the head of the Hamas Politburo Khaled Meshaal authorized Jordan’s King Abdullah to relay a message to US President Barack Obama, saying that Hamas is prepared to accept the principle of a two-state solution. To put it more simply, Hamas agrees to the ’67 borders. This stands in complete contradiction to the well-known and well-publicized ideology of Hamas, which Meshaal made a point of expressing in a speech he gave in Gaza just two months ago. In that historic speech, which he delivered after “Operation Pillar of Defense,” Meshaal declared before a cheering crowd that:

“Palestine was and will remain Arab and Islamic. We will not recognize the legitimacy of the Occupation, and we will never recognize Israel. No matter how long it takes, Palestine will be ours from the River to the Sea, from the North to the South.”

It certainly is a contradiction, but in appearance only. Anyone who has followed Meshaal’s thought processes, or the thought processes of Hamas’ other leaders too for that matter, would never define it as such. The difference between these two positions is like the difference between a dream and reality. Palestine is both Arab and Muslim in Meshaal’s world view, and he will never be able to abandon the idea of a Greater Palestine stretching from the Jordan River to the Sea (does that remind you of anyone?). That is the utopian ideal.

At the same time, Hamas’s leaders, and especially Meshaal, have come to realize over the years that without having two feet (or at least one foot) planted firmly on the ground, the organization has no right to exist. Furthermore, they have come to realize that this even means compromises and negotiations (albeit indirect negotiations) with the Zionist enemy. That is the reality, and it is stronger than any dream or covenant (the Hamas Covenant, released in September 1988, defined the boundaries of Palestine as “sacred waqf lands,” making any territorial concessions an act of heresy and a betrayal of the religion).