Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Hamas says if Israel gives in completely, maybe there will be peace

Negotiating with terrorists even when terrorists control the government is a bad idea.

The political leader of Hamas said today that he would only accept a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if Israel withdraws to its pre-1967 borders and accepts the right of return of Palestinian refugees.
"When Israel says that it ... will withdraw from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and grant the right of return, stop settlements and recognise the rights of the Palestinians to self-determination, only then Hamas will be ready to take a serious step," Khaled Meshal told the BBC.

"There's a problem that happened to the Palestinians. They were a people that used to live on their land, and did not find justice from the international community," he said.

"There are roots to the problem, but in reality we now say that if Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders, there could be peace and security in the region, and agreements between the sides, until the international community finds a way to solve everybody's problems."

Asked whether, if Israel "changed", and was prepared to implement a two-state solution along the pre-1967 borders, Hamas would accept it, and live in peace alongside it, Mr Meshal said: "If Israel changes, come and ask me to change."


Nothing in these statements even deserves to be considered by Israel. As I said leading up to the stroy, If Israel changes, giving Hamas everything they want, all Hamas promises is maybe. I'm reminded of a great philospher whose name eludes me who made the brilliant remark that if you give a mouse a cookie, he'll ask for a glass of milk. So just substitute "terrorist" for "mouse," "your land" for "a cookie," and "the Death of all Jews" for "a glass of milk" and it totally fits the situation.