 By KHALED ABU TOAMEH In another sign of rapprochement between the two parties, Hamas has welcomed plans by senior Fatah officials to visit the Gaza Strip for talks aimed at resolving the crisis. The Fatah officials who are expected to visit the Strip include Nabil Sha'ath, Jibril Rajoub, Mahmoud al-Aloul and Fakhri Bsaiso. The sources said that Mashaal has agreed to sign a "reconciliation accord" with Fatah after the Egyptians promised to permanently reopen the Rafah border crossing between Sinai and southern Gaza. They said the agreement would be signed before the end of the year. The Rafah terminal has been formally closed since Hamas seized control of the entire Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007. Under pressure from human rights groups and many Arabs, the Egyptians occasionally open the border crossing for a day or two for "humanitarian cases." Cairo's pledge to reopen the border crossing on a permanent basis is seen as a significant victory for Hamas, which has been struggling hard in the past few years to end the blockade on the Gaza Strip. According to the sources, Hamas and Fatah are very close to reaching agreement over the reconstruction of the Palestinian security forces under the supervision of Arab countries. Again, this is seen as an achievement for Hamas, which has long been demanding an end to Fatah's exclusive control over the Palestinian Authority security forces. Read more here,,,, Source: JPost
 Lech Mintowt-Czyz | February 07
THE UN has halted humanitarian supplies into Gaza after Hamas forces seized an aid convoy.
Members of the Islamist group which controls the territory took control of 10 trucks in the second such confiscation within two days.
The aid had been intended for the victims of the Israeli offensive which killed 1300 Palestinians, left 5000 wounded and thousands homeless.
Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which supports much of Gaza’s 1.5 million population, said: “The Hamas government must return all of the aid that’s been confiscated... and we have to be given by the Hamas government credible assurances that this will not happen again.
“If it doesn’t happen, then we will continue with the suspension of our imports.”
The UN decision comes after an similar incident on Wednesday when Hamas took 3,500 blankets and 4,000 food parcels, which had been earmarked for 500 families in need, from an UNRWA storeroom in Gaza.
Hamas denied its officials had been involved in the storeroom theft.
The United Nations has refused to hand aid over directly to the welfare ministry run by Hamas, labelled by the West as a terrorist organisation but which won Palestinian elections three years ago.
Ahmed al-Kurd, welfare minister in Gaza’s Hamas government, said the supplies were taken by mistake.
“It was a misunderstanding between drivers,” Mr al-Kurd said. “We have told UNRWA they can come and take the goods. For some reason, they did not come.”
The aid row came as Hamas said it will reject a long-term truce with Israel being mediated by Egypt unless the deal includes lifting the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
The group's leader Khaled Meshaal, addressing a rally in Damascus, said Hamas has only received “vague” proposals from Egypt without an Israeli commitment to lift the siege.
He said: "We will not accept a truce unless it was in return for lifting the siege, opening the border crossings and acceleration of the reconstruction of Gaza." Source: The Australian
By Mshari Al-Zaydi It is as if the aim of the blood shed in Gaza and the tears shed by its people was to tell the Arabs and the world: Hamas is who you must talk to! The head of Hamas politburo Khalid Mishal excelled in declaring the “divine victory” on January 21 during his “divine speech” televised from Damascus, the capital of Hamas. He said, “The time has come for you to deal with Hamas,” (Asharq Al-Awsat, 22 January 2009). Khalid Mishal, and this declaration of his, was echoed in neighbouring Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Essam el Erian, a prominent figure and theorist in the MB, wrote an article celebrating the victory and exploring the different ways it can achieve regional gains for both Hamas and the Arab resistance camp. He listed the gains that Hamas had achieved (or rather what Hamas failed to achieve vis-à-vis the Israeli military’s brutal indiscrimination), which Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood sought to transform into self-gain to be used against the Egyptian government and all Arab governments that fail to comply with Islamic Shariaa and carry out Jihad in line with its own vision. Read more ...Source: Asharq Al-Awsat
Hamas officials, headed by Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Mash'al, are contending that Hamas' victory in Gaza has paved the way to Jaffa and Haifa, and are calling on the Palestinian Authority to join the jihad and the resistance. Following are excerpts from statements by Hamas leaders: Mash'al: "The Resistance Entered Every Home, and Has Become an Ideal Among the Arab Nation and Worldwide""What happened in Gaza was the first real serious war [fought by] our people on their territory, and therefore it constitutes a turning point in the war with the Zionist enemy. The occupation has failed both politically and in the [battle]field, in that it was compelled, after three weeks, to stop the fighting unilaterally, with no agreement, binding conditions, or stipulations restricting the resistance. "Two weeks prior to the ceasefire, the Zionist entity, through mediators, attempted to impose on us conditions of surrender, [i.e.] stopping the resistance in Gaza by [declaring] a long-term tahdia [calm] and disarming it. "However, we staunchly held our ground both in the [battle]field and in the political arena. We rejected these conditions, and they were forced to stop their aggression, [admit] defeat, and withdraw unconditionally. We were adamant in our rejection [of these conditions], since we put our trust in our people's choices and rights..." Read more ...Source: MEMRI
 A Palestinian aid worker from an Islamic charity distributes
food aid to residents as they line-up in a devastated area of Gaza.Gaza Strip - The Palestinian Authority must end its peace talks and security coordination with Israel if it ever expects to reconcile with Hamas, one of the militant group's senior officials said Sunday. Osama Hamdan also vowed that Hamas will continue to bring in arms to the Gaza Strip despite an Israeli blockade of the coastal territory. Hamdan's remarks are bound to complicate Arab efforts to reconcile the militant group, which controls Gaza, and the Fatah faction, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, ruling the West Bank. Hamdan is Hamas' representative in Lebanon and is close to top Damascus-based leader Khaled Mashaal. His tough conditions came a week after Israel ended a devastating 23-day war to stop Hamas rocket fire that Palestinian officials say killed about 1,300 people. Thirteen Israelis were also killed. Read more ...Source: Fox NewsHamas
Latest recipients of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
 Barry Cohen | January 26, 2009
I'VE not had the pleasure of meeting Israel's foreign affairs spokesman Yigal Palmor but he became my favourite diplomat after describing recent criticism of Israel as "unqualified bullshit". I wonder what he really thinks?
Since Israel decided that 60 rockets a day was more than any country should have to tolerate, the global media has accused Israel of every evil imaginable. They have been aided and abetted by, supposedly, non-political UN Relief and Works Agency officials who are more extreme in their anti-Israeli venom than Hamas terrorists.
The "bullshit" is exemplified by a Sydney Morning Herald headline from last week: "Israel kept UN aid out of Gaza." Israel has been accused of crimes against humanity for refusing to permit the passage of food, medical supplies, oil, electricity (used to make rockets) and other essentials required to destroy Israel.
The precedence, undoubtedly, was that set by Britain and the US during World War II. We all know how accommodating they were in ensuring Germany and Japan were well supplied with food and fuel.
There are times when one fears for one's sanity when listening to such rubbish. How many thousands more rockets must Israelis endure before they are permitted to defend themselves? What happens as the rockets become bigger and more accurate?
The few who concede Israel has the right to defend itself then argue that the rockets aren't very accurate. Some consolation if you have to run for air-raid shelters 60 times a day. Unlike Hamas, Israel protects its citizens by building air-raid shelters.
Imagine for a moment the reactions of the good burghers of Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney if rockets were fired into their neighbourhood. Contemplate what they would say to Kevin Rudd. "Wipe the bastards out" for openers. That has not been Israel's response. After 10,000 rockets over eight years, it has been remarkably restrained. However, when Hamas resumed attacks Israel decided enough was enough.
When three years ago Israel unilaterally handed Gaza over to the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Fatah had the opportunity, once again, to negotiate a permanent peace with Israel and the creation of a Palestinian state. Hamas preferred war, bloodshed and martyrdom. Having been democratically elected Hamas claimed a mandate. Israel, it appears, was expected to endorse the mandate that called for its own destruction.
To understand the minds of those Israel is dealing with, consider the statement of Hamas supremo, Khaled Meshaal. From the safety of Damascus, he described the recent war in which 1300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died, as an "unequivocal victory". And a defeat?
The word in vogue to describe Israel's destruction of rocket sites, weapons stores and Hamas terrorists has been "disproportionate": a word not much used during the London Blitz, which resulted in the deaths of 67,000 British civilians. Arthur Harris, commander-in-chief of bomber command, decided to "proportionally" flatten German cities: 600,000 German civilians died.
In the Pacific the US lost 1700 civilians, mostly at Pearl Harbor, while Australia lost 700, primarily in Darwin. The US response was to "proportionately" bomb Japanese cities killing 580,000 civilians. Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki remember it well.
Had Hamas decided not to deliberately place their civilian population, arms and combatants inside schools, hospitals and mosques, far fewer innocents would have been killed and injured.
What happens now? Hamas claims it will continue to bombard Israel while one Israeli soldier remains in Gaza, ignoring the fact that three years ago Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza. The rocket attacks increased.
So where to now? The most oft repeated cliche regarding the Israel-Palestine dispute is that it's a very complex matter. I beg to differ. The Islamic world and the Palestinians in particular must accept that Israel will always exist. Not through the next truce or ceasefire but forever.
Israel's critics demand that it negotiate with Hamas, Hezbollah and Fatah, to create a Palestinian state, conveniently forgetting that Israelis have tried repeatedly to do so without success. How do you negotiate with those who, at the end of the negotiations, say:"No matter what we agree to we will destroy you"?
It's a cliche to say that the Arabs can lose a hundred wars and survive while Israel cannot lose one. If the Palestinians are encouraged to believe that eventually they will triumph no one should be surprised that after each defeat they regroup, rearm and plan the next onslaught.
Yasser Arafat taught the Palestinians to believe that even if they lost a battle they would win the propaganda war. With their friends in the left-liberal media how could it have been otherwise? They must be convinced they can never destroy Israel.
Since its founding in 1948 Israel's proud boast has been that it has never asked any other country to fight its battles. It has had considerable support from the US but that support has not been one way. Israeli intelligence, military technology and scientific know-how has been Israel's payback. Israel is also the US's only reliable ally in the Middle East. It is almost certain that if Israel were under savage attack and in danger of going under, the US would come to its aid. There is, however, no formal agreement, pact or treaty to support that unstated undertaking. Which suggests the question, "Why not?"
The only way, to deter Israel's enemies is for the US to say unequivocally that it would never allow Israel to be destroyed. Most Westerners find it impossible to comprehend the mind of those Islamic fundamentalists who welcome death and martyrdom, particularly if it is achieved in an attempt to destroy Israel. On the assumption that not all Palestinians want to go to Paradise before the last possible moment, a declaration by the US and a formal agreement that it would intervene if Israel was under serious threat would have sane Palestinians looking for a peaceful solution. It's an idea the 44th President of the US might consider. Source: The Australian
 Abraham Rabinovich, Jerusalem | January 13, 2009
THE battered Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip is seeking an immediate ceasefire with Israel and is demanding that the organisation's political leader in Damascus, Khaled Meshaal, make the necessary concessions, according to Israeli television reports.
The Arab affairs analyst on Channel Two, Ehud Ya'ari, said last night the dispute amounted to a virtual split between the two Hamas centres of power.
Sharp differences emerged at a meeting in Cairo yesterday between two Hamas representatives from Gaza and a delegation from Mr Meshaal in Damascus.
They had come to hear an Egyptian ceasefire proposal outlined by Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.
Mr Suleiman said the agreement included the creation of a mechanism to prevent further smuggling of rockets and other armaments to the Gaza Strip in tunnels from Egypt, and a demand that Hamas hold political talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which it has been refusing to do.
"The Gazans not only accepted it," said Ya'ari, of the ceasefire proposal, "they demanded it."
However, the delegation from Damascus reiterated Mr Meshaal's rejection of the conditions set out in the Egyptian plan.
The Gazans travelled from Cairo to Damascus immediately after Monday's meeting to present their case to Mr Meshaal, and were to return to Cairo last night with his reply.
Mr Suleiman was to meet afterwards with a senior Israeli negotiator, retired general Amos Gilad, to pass Mr Meshaal's reply on to him.
A negative answer, presumably, would mean a continuation of the Israeli attack on Gaza.
In a speech on Saturday night, Mr Meshaal called the Israeli attack "a holocaust" and said it had put an end to any chance of compromise. He said there would be no end to rocket attacks until Israel pulled out of Gaza.
"The Gazans will tell Meshaal to knock off his rhetoric and agree to an immediate ceasefire," said Ya'ari, whose sources in Israel and the Arab world have made him one of Israel's most credible commentators.
A similar report was given on Israeli television's Channel One by the station's Arab affairs reporter, Oded Granot.
Israeli military intelligence chief Major General Amos Yadlin said earlier in the day that Hamas's resilience in Gaza was beginning to give way after the shock of the fierce Israeli attack and the lack of support for Gaza from the rest of the world, including Arab leaders.
But he said Hamas was still capable of putting up a fight and would not "raise a white flag".
Ya'ari, on the other hand, said Hamas in Gaza was eager to raise a white flag as quickly as possible by agreeing to accept the Egyptian ceasefire offer - without conditions, if necessary.
However, he said the Gaza delegates did ask Egypt if it would grant it two requests so Hamas could say it had won concessions.
One was for Egypt to temporarily open its crossing point to Gaza at Rafah until a permanent arrangement could be made. Egypt is insisting the crossing be manned not by Hamas but by the Palestinian Authority.
The second request, Ya'ari said, was that the ceasefire agreement be limited to six months. The Egyptian interlocutor replied that he would discuss the requests with Israel's General Gilad - perhaps the ultimate put-down for the Hamas delegation.
At a meeting of the Israeli cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the army in Gaza was getting close to the objectives Israel had set.
"But we require further patience, determination and effort," Mr Olmert said.
Referring to Israel's decision not to abide by the UN Security Council's call last week for a ceasefire, he said: "We have never agreed that anyone decide for us if we are allowed to strike at those who send missiles into our kindergartens and schools, and we never will." Source: The Australian
GAZA CITY Israel warned on Sunday it could send ground troops into Gaza as its warplanes continued pounding Hamas targets inside the enclave where more than 280 Palestinians have been killed in just 24 hours.
Hamas responded by firing rockets the deepest yet into Israel, with one hitting without causing casualties not far from Ashdod, home to Israel's second-largest port some 30 kilometres (18 miles) north of Gaza, medics said.
In the latest international call for an end to the violence, the United Nations Security Council after an emergency session urged an immediate halt to all military operations.
However Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak vowed to expand the mammoth bombing campaign, unleashed in retaliation for ongoing militant rocket fire.
"The IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) will expand and deepen its operations in Gaza as much as necessary," he told reporters before a cabinet meeting.
"We are ready for anything. If it's necessary to deploy ground forces to defend our citizens, we will do so," his spokesman quoted him as saying earlier.
Israeli television said the army had begun concentrating ground forces near the tiny Palestinian enclave, where medics said air raids have killed more than 280 people and wounded more than 600 since early on Saturday.
Warplanes continued to pound the impoverished and overcrowded territory of 1.5 million, with at least six people killed on Sunday as jets hit targets in northern Gaza , sending thick columns of smoke barreling into the air.
"Israel launched a military operation yesterday in the Gaza Strip in order to regain a normal life for the citizens in the south who have suffered for many years from incessant rocket, mortar and terror attacks," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
Israel is "aiming to change the situation on the ground whereby in the future there will be a tranquil border between Israel and Gaza," Isaac Herzog, the welfare minister, told reporters before the meeting.
Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian movement branded a terror group by Israel and the West, remains defiant.
Its exiled leader Khaled Meshaal called in Damascus for a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israel and promised more suicide attacks. Hamas last carried out a suicide bombing against Israel in January 2005.
The Israeli onslaught -- one of the bloodiest single days in the 60-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- has sparked massive international concern.
In New York, the UN Security Council called for an "immediate halt to all violence" and on the parties "to stop immediately all military activities," without mentioning Israel or Hamas by name.
The Israeli campaign has been slammed by many Arab nations and on Sunday, 30 Jordanian lawmakers demanded the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador.
Israel's main ally the United States has blamed Hamas "thugs" for provoking the campaign by firing rockets into the Jewish state from Gaza, and urged Israel to avoid causing civilian casualties in its bombing raids.
"If Hamas stops firing rockets into Israel, then Israel would not have a need for strikes in Gaza," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
Amid the bombing, Barak also authorised the passage of an aid convoy into Gaza on Sunday, his spokeswoman said.
Israel has kept Gaza largely sealed off since Hamas violently seized power there in June 2007, overrunning forces loyal to secular president Mahmud Abbas.
Egypt, which had slammed Israel for the bombing campaign, on Sunday blamed Hamas for not allowing hundreds of wounded to pass through the Rafah border crossing -- the only one that bypasses Israel -- to receive treatment.
"The wounded are barred from crossing" into Egypt, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said in Cairo, blaming "those who control Gaza. We are waiting for the wounded to cross."
Israel unleashed "Operation Cast Lead" against Hamas targets mid-morning on Saturday, with some 60 warplanes hitting more than 50 targets in just a few minutes, and Barak vowing it would continue for "as long as necessary."
Hamas has responded by firing more than 90 rockets and mortar rounds into Israel, killing one man and wounding a handful of others.
The Israeli bombing came after days of spiralling violence that followed the expiry of a six-month Egyptian-mediated truce between Israel and Hamas.
It also comes less than two months ahead of Israeli snap elections called for February 10. Source: AFP
December 15, 2008
THE Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which controls Gaza said overnight that a troubled Cairo-brokered truce with Israel will not be renewed when it runs out later this week.
But a spokesman for outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insisted his government remained keen to see the six-month-old truce extended beyond Thursday provided Hamas halted rocket and mortar fire against southern Israel.
"The truce was limited to six months and ends on December 19,'' Hamas political supremo Khaled Meshaal said in a television interview from Damascus with Hamas's Al-Quds satellite television.
"Given that the enemy is not respecting its commitments and the blockade is still in place against our people, for Hamas, and I think for the majority of forces, the truce ends after December 19 and will not be renewed,'' he said.
Meshaal's statement came on the day marking the 21st anniverary of the Islamist group's formation at the start of the first Palestinian uprising.
The ceasefire had already been marred by persistent tit-for-tat violence in recent weeks and Hamas complaints that Israel had failed to keep its side of the bargain by easing its crippling blockade of the aid-dependent Gaza Strip.
Senior Israeli defence ministry official Amos Gilad, who conducted the negotiations for the original truce that went into force on June 19, returned to Cairo on Sunday for talks with Egyptian mediators on an extension.
Neither he nor Egypt's pointman for the negotiations - intelligence chief Omar Suleiman - made any comment after their talks.
But the Israeli premier's spokesman Mark Regev later told AFP in Jerusalem: "Israel is interested in calm reigning in the south. It was and is still ready to respect the commitments obtained through the mediation of Egypt.''
Gilad -- a reserve major general and key aide of Defence Minister Ehud Barak -- has been an outspoken defender of the Gaza truce despite a flurry of cross-border violence since November 4 that has seen several cabinet ministers call for a major ground offensive.
"Experience shows that military operations don't always solve problems in the Middle East,'' he said last month. "You have to find the optimal solution. To date no appropriate military solution has been found for the Strip.''
But Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the Jewish state was determined to end the Hamas rule in Gaza.
"The state can and should provide an answer to the terror with its available military means. We can not allow Gaza to remain under the control of Hamas,'' Livni's office quoted her as saying in a statement.
Hamas had shown mounting frustration with the truce agreement since Israel sharply tightened its blockade of Gaza after last month's resurgence of violence.
For yesterday's anniversary, Hamas staged a show of strength, drawing huge crowds on to the streets of Gaza City that Hamas television said ran into the hundreds of thousands.
In an address to the crowds, the head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, boasted that US President George W. Bush's administration had failed to defeat his movement, which had only grown stronger.
"Bush declared war on the Palestinian people... He provided money and arms to the seditionists to wage a war against legality," Haniya said, referring to the deadly streetfighting with loyalists of Western-backed president Mahmud Abbas that preceded Hamas's takeover of Gaza in June 2007.
"Bush failed, we have not been overthrown," he said. And despite Israel's blockade, "Hamas is stronger and will remain stronger because it draws its strength from God"
Former US president Jimmy Carter met yesterday with Meshaal in Damascus for talks on the blockade, the truce, and Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who has been held hostage in Gaza for more than two years, Hamas said.
Two senior political officers of Hamas, Mussa Abu Marzuk and Mohammad Nasr, also took part in the meeting which lasted several hours. Source: The Australian from Agence France-Presse
 Following are excerpts from a public address delivered by Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on October 12, 2008: Khaled Mash'al: All the peoples say "no" to American hegemony. Therefore, our nation is doing well, and is capable of achievements, even in difficult times. Great nations always face many challenges. [...] The world today is turning to an international policy that is based on multipolarity. Look how Allah made a laughingstock of America. I tell you, brothers and sisters, the Arabs and the Muslims are second only to Allah in transforming international policy from unipolarity to multipolarity. This is taking place thanks to Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and to all the steadfast resistance forces of our nation. Today, Chavez defies the U.S, even though he lives in its backyard, while we, tens of thousands of miles away, fear America? [...] It has been proven that this oppressive world, which is based on usury and tyranny... Within moments, Allah makes all these systems collapse. What is important is that when Allah observes his slaves, He sees that they are taking action on the ground. Then, He mobilizes the entire universe to help them. Otherwise, how are we to believe the hadith that tells us that the trees and the stones will fight on our side? The day will come, within several years, when this world will change, submitting to the Arab Islamic will, Allah willing. View clip ...Source: MEMRIKhaled Meshal
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
The anti-Syrian Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa today quotes an associate of the Damascus-based political bureau chief of the Hamas movement, Khaled Mash'al, as saying that Hamas leaders in Damascus had told Iranian authorities of their rage at Syria's change in its relations to the movement.
The report added that Mash'al had asked to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to discuss transferring the Hamas command from Damascus to Tehran if Syria were to restrict it. Source: Al-Siyassa, Kuwait, November 5, 2008 H/T: MEMRI
 Ahead of four-party summit grouping top leaders of Turkey, Syria, France and Qatar to be held in Damascus on Thursday, Syria has begun to make concessions to Israel that put pressure in recent talks on Syria to severe relations of Hezbollah, Iran and Palestinian resistance groups.
As a result of this efforts, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has left Syria, and has moved to the Sudan, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai claimed on Tuesday.
According to the report, Palestinian sources told the paper that Mashaal had come to an understanding with Damascus whereby the Hamas chief would agree to leave the state.
The report further stated that indirect negotiations between Syria and Israel may have played a part in the decision.
"It is possible that Mashaal left for the Sudan under the framework of progress in negotiations between Israel and Syria," the sources told the paper.
Other agreements which may have been achieved in the talks include tacit Syrian complicity in the assassinations of Hizbullah chief Imad Mughniyeh and top Syrian advisor Mahmoud Suleiman, the sources told the paper.
Syria summit would discuss the Lebanon situation, the Turkey-mediated Syrian-Israeli talks, the Palestinian-Israeli talks and other regional topics. Source: WorldBulletin.netKhaled Meshal
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
 By Frank J. Gaffney Jr. Jimmy Carter's pathetic need for political rehabilitation following a presidency widely regarded as one of the worst in American history is once again making news. He reportedly will meet this week with Khaled Mashaal, Syrian-based leader of the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestinian arm, Hamas - an internationally recognized terrorist organization. Mr. Carter maintains this is no big deal since he has met with Hamas officials before. Indeed, in keeping with his Carter Center's self-appointed status as global election monitor, the former president did officiate in January 2006 when the Brotherhood's terrorists defeated those of Fatah led by Yasser Arafat's longtime crony, Mahmoud Abbas. In point of fact, it seems there is scarcely a serious bad actor on the planet with whom Jimmy Carter has not met. He is a serial tyrant-enabler, the very personification of Rodney King's risible appeal, "Can't we all get along?" Mr. Carter has come to epitomize the notion that "dialogue" is always in order, no matter how odious or dangerous the interlocutor - or the extent to which they or their agendas will benefit from such interactions. Read more ...Source: The Washington Times
 By Jacob Laksin The trouble with having an open mind, the novelist Terry Pratchett once observed, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. That caveat seems especially relevant in light of the news that Jimmy Carter will travel to the Middle East this week to meet with, among others, Khaled Meshal, the notorious Hamas commander living in exile in Damascus. It isn't clear who convinced the former president that the road to peace in the Middle East lies through one of its leading saboteurs. But Carter's justification for the trip – he intends to come with an "an open mind and heart to learn from all parties" – is an object lesson on the perils of open-mindedness. For one thing, there is little to be learned from Khaled Meshal. His resume speaks gruesomely for itself. A Hamas veteran, Meshal is suspected by Israeli authorities of being the mastermind of several high-profile terror attacks. The June 2006 abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit reportedly was carried out on his orders. Less compromising than even his counterparts in Gaza, who have at least paid lip service, however implausible, to the idea of honoring a peace treaty with Israel, Meshal makes no effort to conceal his true aim: destroying the Jewish state through a relentless campaign of terrorism. Read more ...Source: FrontPage MagazineDhimmi Carter
Latest recipient of The Dhimmi Award
By P. David Hornik Asked about former president Jimmy Carter's planned meeting in Damascus with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, "I find it hard to understand what is going to be gained by having discussions with Hamas about peace when Hamas is, in fact, the impediment to peace." She also said, "Hamas is a terrorist organization." Read more ...Source: FrontPage Magazine
 By Calvin Woodward WASHINGTON -- Former President Jimmy Carter said he feels "quite at ease" about meeting Hamas militants over the objections of Washington because the Palestinian group is essential to a future peace with Israel. Carter, interviewed Saturday for ABC News' "This Week," airing Sunday, also said he would oppose a U.S. Olympic boycott and hopes all countries will join in the Beijing games. He spoke from Katmandu, Nepal, where his team of observers from the Carter Center monitored an election that appeared likely to transform rule by royal dynasty into a democracy with former Maoist rebels in a strong position, judging by incomplete returns. Several State Department officials, including the secretary, Condoleezza Rice, criticized Carter's plans to talk in Syria this week with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in the first public contact in two years between a prominent American figure and the group. Carter said he had not heard the objections directly, although a State Department spokesman said earlier that a senior official from the department had called the former president. "I feel quite at ease in doing this," Carter said. "I think there's no doubt in anyone's mind that, if Israel is ever going to find peace with justice concerning the relationship with their next-door neighbors, the Palestinians, that Hamas will have to be included in the process." Read more ...Source: APDhimmi Carter
Latest recipient of The Dhimmi Award
 NEW YORK CITY - Former President Jimmy Carter is reportedly preparing an unprecedented meeting with the leader of Hamas, an organization that the U.S. government considers one of the leading terrorist threats in the world.
The Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Tuesday that Carter was planning a trip to Syria for mid-April, during which he would meet with Khaled Meshal, the exiled head of the Palestinian terror group Hamas, on April 18.
Deanna Congileo, Carter's press secretary, confirmed in an e-mail to FOXNews.com that Carter will be in the Mideast in April. Pressed for comment, Congileo did not deny that the former president is considering visiting Meshal.
"President Carter is planning a trip to the Mideast next week; however, we are still confirming details of the trip and will issue a press release by the end of this week," wrote Congileo. "I cannot confirm any specific meetings at this point in time."
Meshal, who lives in Syria to avoid being arrested by the Israeli government, leads Hamas from his seat in Damascus, where he is a guest of Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The State Department has designated Hamas a "foreign terrorist organization," and some groups hold Meshal personally responsible for ordering the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack once said of the prospect of meeting with Meshal, "That's not something that we could possibly conceive of." Source: Fox NewsDhimmi Carter
Latest recipient of The Dhimmi Award
 |
|
|
Copyright Muslims Against Sharia 2008. All rights reserved.
E-mail: info AT ReformIslam.org
|
|
|
Posts
