Taking them at their word

Hamas’s new prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, Washington Post, February 26:

“We do not have any feelings of animosity toward Jews. We do not wish to throw them into the sea. All we seek is to be given our land back, not to harm anybody.”

Read the whole interview. It’s a fascinating insight into current Hamas thinking. It is impossible to know if he is telling the truth, but it’s important to begin negotiations based on his comments that Hamas is willing to establish an independent Palestinian state if Israel withdraws to 1967 borders.…  Another Hamas victor in recent elections discusses his ideas about Danish cartoons, Israel’s occupation and Palestinian statehood.

Meanwhile, former Israeli military heads are facing charges of war crimes in the US. The Israeli ambassador to the US claims that both men were merely enforcing Israel’s war against terror and bear no personal responsibility for actions that killed innocent Palestinians. Sounds like a familiar defence.

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