Bridge for Sale Alert. Completely contradicting its Charter and the repeated statements of its leadership right up to the last few days, Hamas is now singing a moderate tune. Caveat emptor. From AFP, with thanks to Mackie:
The Hamas-led Palestinian government is ready to live side by side with all its neighbours, its foreign minister has said in a letter to the UN secretary-general.The letter from Mahmud al-Zahar also referred to a "two state solution" for the Middle East conflict, an outcome that would require recognition of Israel, a state which the the Islamist group denies has a right to exist.
"We are looking for freedom and independence side by side with our neighbours and we are ready for serious discussions with the Quartet," said a copy of the letter to Kofi Annan, the UN chief, obtained by AFP on Tuesday.
ADDENDUM: An important observation from Jihad Watch reader Sage: "In your piece on the recent letter al-Zahar sent to the UN, it is noted that the letter mentions a 'two-state solution'. I think it should also be noted that the relevant sentence in the letter reads: 'Israeli procedures in the occupied territories will put an end to all hopes to reach a final settlement based on the two-state solution.' There is no mention of Hamas actually favoring such a solution."
Note also, as Jihad Watch reader The Hindu points out, this is the same Mahmud al-Zahar who just the other day was dreaming of a map without Israel.
First this guy wants a map without israel and now is talking about a two state solution.
I repeat my recommendation for a straitjacket and a pacifier for this guy. Only this time, he needs sedatives.
I think that too much exposure to the Quran leads to "cognitive" schizophrenia.
Sure they want two states. The Islamic Republic of Palestine and a Caliphate above it and all other Muslim units.
...Can't go anywhere without the Jiziya....
Now, they are denying it:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1143498801620&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
This is right out of the Bill Clinton Administration playbook, "How can we fool 'em today?"
Sure lets have "Palestinian State" in Timbuktu.
Re: this article ; Actually this is what it is all about: HUDNA FOR HARD CASH SHOW!
And will the dhimmi western powers buy into his taquiya show? ----But of course!
Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar letter to Kofi Annan about living side by side with Israel in a two state solution (which he is now denying)
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/702826.html
People should or learn about the 10 year Treaty of Hudaibiya. It is the same old thing that Muhammad pulled. It is the same old thing that Arafat pulled with the Oslo Peace Treaty. And it will be the same thing that Hamas will pull.
Actually, Muslim scholars tell us there is no such thing as a permanent peace treaty. There is only a truce.
The State of Denial and the State of Confusion already coexist side-by-side.
They need to clairfy that the "two states" they mean are actually: Confusion and Siege.
Lisa-
Great minds think half-alike at least.
Continuation of lies and half truths to cloud the scene and make Hamas appear to be working to attain peace so they can get back on the dole.
De (Nile): River in Egypt, Often to referrd to as one river, but is in fact two, the blue Nile and the white Nile.
Said to have been the foundation of the Egyption civilisation (The guys who actually built the Pyramids, decendents now known as Copts)
Denial: Is what Egypt is in today, thinking it is a great civilisation. Along with Syria attacked Isreal, supported by Jordan, Iraq and others, didn't get very far.
Ironman Hondo,
Re: "Bill Clinton Administration playbook"
Having just returned from the UAE, where he advised on the ports deal, unknown to his wife - the junior senator from New York, for an undisclosed sum in remuneration, Mr. Clinton seems to have taken the triangulation brief of the Hamas to the UN. Even at this great distance, one can almost hear the cheers of elation coming out of State.
The sentence that Sage points out is interesting. As he says, the Hamas does not actually say that they support a two-state solution. They just leave a tantalizing hint for those minds that want an excuse to believe or claim to believe in the Hamas' ultimately peaceful intentions.
This is very close to the rhetorical method used by arafat and the PLO back in November 1988 when the PLO issued a "Palestinian Declaration of Independence" [or Declaration of a State] in their convention in Algiers. In that document, the PLO did not explicitly endorse the 1947 General Assembly Partition Resolution of 29 November. What they said was that the 1947 Partition recommendation could be used as an expedient for the benefit of Palestinian Arab purposes. What happened next was that the media and the foreign ministries throughout the world took what was no more than an acknowledgement of the 1947 Resolution's usefulness to the cause as an acceptance of that Resolution. In fact, the PLO has never accepted the 1947 Partition recommendation nor has it accepted Israel's existence. But those who want to believe or who want to pretend to believe were given a pretext, albeit false, to display in public.
Do ya suppose that Hoop gave Mahmud al-Zahar a call?
According to Ha-aretz/Reuters, Al Zahar denied that he referred to a two-state solution.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/702504.html
'Palestinian Foreign Minister and senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar on Wednesday denied referring to a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict, wording that might have hinted at Israel's right to exist.
A senior Palestinian diplomat at the United Nations said on Tuesday that Zahar had made the reference in a letter he sent to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan this week.
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"Such a sentence was not used in the letter," Zahar told Reuters. A copy of the letter seen by Reuters also showed no mention of a two-state solution.'
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, according to MEMRI, http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP112906 'Yemenite cleric Abd Al-Majid Al-Zindani, who heads the Al-Iman Islamic University, praised Palestinian suicide bombers and exhorted the crowd to donate to Hamas....Sheikh Al-Zindani, whom the U.S. has termed "a loyalist to Osama Bin Laden and supporter of Al-Qaeda," [1] has been on the U.S. and U.N. list of terror financiers since February 2004.'
Al-Zindani said in part of Hamas: "What is our duty towards this righteous jihad-fighting people, the vanguard of this nation? ...What is our duty towards this government? Without a doubt, our primary duty is to pray, and then to provide support."
Yemen refuses to give him up. This fundraiser was broadcast on Al-Jazeera.
Well, let's see.
Al Zahar wants money from Israel. He also wants to destroy Israel.
He wants money from the US. He also wants to destroy unbelievers, e.g., much of the US.
He wants money from the EU. Ditto.
He wants money from the Arab states. And if they give him a hard time, he will probably want to destroy them too. It seems to be the pattern.
I can think of a dozen reasons not to deal with this guy, starting with the fact that he is an outlaw. Even with a so-called "government", he is an outlaw.
Never give in to this criminal pirate.
Sorry about the sloppy editing.
Despite all that is known about the true, frank intentions of Hamas towards Israel --from the Hamas charter to more recent statements, some of them cited above-- the BBC continues to deliberately lie about the Hamas. Today, the BBC reported that Israel had arrested one of the ministers in the Hamas govt [this happened at a checkpost at an entrance to the city, according to Israel Radio]. Then, the BBC propagandist went on to claim that Hamas only wanted East Jerusalem, that is, not all of Jerusalem. In fact, the "moderate" arafat wanted all of Jerusalem, whereas the Hamas frankly states its policy of destroying Israel altogether. That is one lie by the BBC. Then, the BBC forgets that Jerusalem has had a Jewish majority population since the 1850s, according to various contemporary sources [Cesar Famin, Karl Marx, Gerardy Santine], and that Muslims have been a MINORITY in Jerusalem since at least 1800, that is, for more than 200 years [Prof. Yehoshu`a Ben-Arieh], with Jews and Christians together outnumbering Muslims at least since that time. BBC also forgets that Arab forces, sometimes enjoying the collaboration of British troops, drove out the Jewish population of "East Jerusalem" [what they have called by that name only since 1948]. The Jewish neighborhood of Shim`on haTsadiq [near the tomb of Simon the Just] was attacked several times in December 1947, and all but one family fled towards the end of the month [I believe that was on 12-29-47], the remaining family fleeing in the first ten days of 1948. Other Jewish neighborhoods were ethnically cleansed by Arab forces later in 1948. [Indeed, Jews were driven out of various neighborhoods of what later became "East Jerusalem" starting with the pogrom of 1920, continuing in 1929, and 1936-38]. BBC also seems unaware of the religious and national-historical importance of many sites in "East Jerusalem" to the Jews. Or perhaps the BBC does not want to be aware of such information.
How can the BBC be believed about anything?
Here's more from Mr "clean and transparent" (his words), Mahmoud al-Zahar:
http://english.people.com.cn/200604/02/eng20060402_255286.html
"...adding that the Palestinians never hated the Jews...."
Oh no. They only said they hated the Jews and then killed the Jews. There. Does that makes you feel better?
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, doesn't the world change when you understand Arabic? These guys must be dreaming too. From MEMRI, bless their little hearts:
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP113506
'Earlier this week, representatives of Arab and Danish student organizations met for a dialogue following the violent reaction to the publication of the cartoons by the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten. The following are excerpts from the dialogue that was covered live by Al-Jazeera:
"The Term 'Middle East' Does Not Appear in Our Dictionary... We Call it 'The Great Arab Homeland'"
Arab Students Union Chairman Ahmad Al-Shater: "I would just like to point to a certain term... which was used by my friend, the head of the delegation, and which also appeared in the correspondence with Mr. Klaus - the term 'Middle East.' I would like to emphasize to our friends - and I'm not saying this for propaganda purposes, but because it is in keeping with the constitution of the General Union of Arab Students..."
"The Sudanese People are so Angry... They Will Kill Danish Soldiers [in U.N. Forces] Before Killing the Others"
"As you know, Bush killed 110,000 people in Iraq, while Saddam did not kill even one third of this figure. Saddam did not kill even 30,000 people throughout his rule. I would like to welcome you on this visit, because the image of Denmark and the Danish people has become very negative in the Arab and Islamic world. In conclusion, I would like to say that tomorrow America will pass a resolution in the U.N. Security Council calling for international military intervention in Sudan. Among these forces, obviously, there will be Danish forces. I would like to inform you that because the Sudanese people are so angry over this affront, they will kill the Danish soldiers before they kill the others."
Arab Students Union Chairman Ahmad Al-Shater: "Don't translate that word for word. Just say that the Sudanese will put up resistance against them."'
Wonder what the Kurds et al think about the Great Arab Homeland?