Negotiating with Hamas

The BBC's Mark Mardell was 'explaining' yesterday on 5Live what Israel had to do to gain the trust of the Palestinians ahead of any face to face negotiations. There was of course no mention of the Palestinians having to do anything. When Israel asks for the Palestinians to do something ahead of negotiations they are described as 'preconditions' by the BBC and portrayed as unreasonable, in this case there was no criticism of the requests being made of Israel. So whilst the BBC push the idea that Israel should stop building in East Jerusalem before talks commence, they have nothing to say about what Hamas and Fatah should do.

Here's some excerpts from an interview with Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, which aired on Future News TV on June 15, 2010 (my emphasis):

'Mahmoud Al-Zahhar: We have liberated Gaza, but have we recognized Israel? Have we given up our lands occupied in 1948? We demand the liberation of the West Bank, and the establishment of a state in the West Bank and Gaza, with Jerusalem as its capital – but without recognizing [Israel]. This is the key – without recognizing the Israeli enemy on a single inch of land.

This is our plan for this stage – to liberate the West Bank and Gaza, without recognizing Israel’s right to a single inch of land, and without giving up the Right of Return for a single Palestinian refugee.

[...]

Our plan for this stage is to liberate any inch of Palestinian land, and to establish a state on it. Our ultimate plan is [to have] Palestine in its entirety. I say this loud and clear so that nobody will accuse me of employing political tactics. We will not recognize the Israeli enemy.

As for the issue of a referendum – [the Palestinian Authority] is ready to impose its position on people by force. Whoever wants to hold a referendum, and believes that he can get all of Palestine for the Palestinians, can hold a referendum, but will not give up the platform of resistance, and the plan to liberate Palestine in its entirety. This is unequivocal.

[...]

If we could liberate the Negev now, we would continue [our military activity], but our capabilities dictate that after we got rid of the Israeli presence in Gaza, we must finish off the remnants of that occupation, and move on to the West Bank. '

So Hamas with a charter that calls for the destruction of Israel and a leader prepared to go on record now saying that 'Our ultimate plan is [to have] Palestine in its entirety. I say this loud and clear so that nobody will accuse me of employing political tactics. We will not recognize the Israeli enemy.' Are these the words of an organisation that Israel can negotiate with? What would the negotiations be about:
How long Israel could exist before its destruction?
How long Israelis would be given to vacate their country before being killed?

The BBC and other media make believe that Hamas really do want peace with Israel and that the Hamas Charter is outdated and irrelevant. They are wrong and I cannot believe that they do not know that. Hamas is dedicated to the destruction of Israel - here's an extract from their Charter that makes this very clear "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.' However the Hamas Charter also says that: 'The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him...' So it's not just Israel that Hamas want to destroy but all Jews, it's not a secret but the BBC do their best to keep it so.



For more on the Hamas Charter, try MidEast Web or my earlier bloggings.