Straight Talk Needed From Hamas About Israel
For Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, there is no contradiction between attempting to reach a political agreement and the vision of Greater Palestine, writes Shlomi Eldar.
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.”
