Hamas says they can’t be “blackmailed” into not killing Jews or trying to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamic State. Oh, and their spokemen continue the let’s-lie-to-the-world-until-they-buy-it routine.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - A top Hamas official said Tuesday the Islamic militant group will not be “blackmailed” by international threats to cut off aid to the Palestinians and is searching for new sources of funding.

Osama Hamdan, a member of the group’s exiled leadership, spoke a day after international donors that support the Palestinian government said millions of dollars of aid could be in jeopardy if Hamas does not change its violent ways.

Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide attacks, is poised to lead the next Palestinian government after winning legislative elections.

“We are looking for alternative sources and we will not allow ourselves to be blackmailed,” Hamdan said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from Beirut, Lebanon. “We will not accept any conditions from anybody. At the same time, we are ready for dialogue.”

Monday’s meeting of the so-called “Quartet” of Mideast peace makers - the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia - stopped short of issuing an outright threat to Hamas.

But they said it is “inevitable” that future aid to a Hamas-led government “would be reviewed” if Hamas fails to renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept existing agreements between the Palestinians and Israel. Hamas leaders have rejected the Western demands.

By the way, did you notice that Hamas’ description was whitewashed in this report? Somehow, the phrase “and is committed to Israel’s destruction” got edited out. It should go right after the phrase in bold. I’m sure it was just a careless copy editing mistake.

Not.

This is the only bright spot in the article:

But Hamas officials said Tuesday the group already is in touch with potential donors in Arab and Muslim nations. The officials declined to be identified because the contacts are in an early stage.

Analysts say that although most wealthy Gulf nations will not stand by and watch the Palestinians starve, the Arab and Muslim world is unlikely to provide the kind of cash Western nations have given.

Government officials in the oil-rich countries of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar, the most likely donors, are staying clear of the subject for now, refusing to discuss the issue despite repeated contacts from the AP.

The Gulf governments have pledged tens of millions of dollars to the Palestinians in the past but sent only a tiny fraction of that money.

Here’s hoping. Starve the beast in order to kill it. If Hamas can’t supply the goods, the people will turn on them.

Funny, I thought the elections were supposed to “moderate” Hamas. That’s what they all keep telling us, right?

Wrong.

Hamas has yet to suspend its efforts to perpetrate terror attacks against Israel despite having won the Palestinian parliamentary elections last week, a high-ranking IDF officer told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

According to the officer, the relatively low number of terror attacks in recent months was due to the military’s intensive crackdown in the West Bank and the almost daily arrest operations the army carried out in Palestinian cities. On Tuesday, IDF forces arrested 22 Palestinian fugitives throughout the West Bank, including seven Hamas operatives.

“There hasn’t been a change in the Hamas since the elections,” said the officer who commands a brigade stationed in the West Bank. “They are still highly motivated to carry out attacks and to obtain new technology to advance their weaponry and rockets.”

The officer said that the defense establishment had noticed an attempt by the Hamas to train operatives in the West Bank how to manufacture Kassam-style rockets that could be fired at Israeli cities along the coast.

You may have noticed that I’ve now added a Hamas category to my posts. I look forward to the day when it disappears, because that will mean Hamas will have disappeared.

Not that I expect it to happen. I’m just an optimist.

As I said yesterday, Iran is there to pick up the slack if the EU and US donations to the PA dry up.

Natan Sharansky says the election was not an example of democracy; I agree. Ba’athists were forbidden to run in Iraq. The Taliban was forbidden to run in Afghanistan. The Exception Clause allowed Hamas terrorists to run in the PA elections.

“Democracy isn’t hocus-pocus; it’s a process. An election between a terrorist organization that wants to destroy the State of Israel and a corrupt dictatorship that does not care about helping its own people is not democracy.”

Shocker: The president of Russia says Hamas must recognize Israel.

Something you won’t see in the mainstream media: The PA owes Israel $47 million in electric bills. When that gets deducted from the tax revenues, watch for the howling about stealing palestinian funds.

This poison was added to the documentation about Holocaust Remembrance Day, but you have to search pretty hard to find it. (Thanks to Judeosphere for finding it for me.)

Explanation of position of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the resolution entitled “Holocaust remembrance” adopted by the General Assembly on 1 November 2005

The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns genocide against any race, ethnic or religious group as a crime against humanity. Many abhorrent cases of genocide that have regrettably occurred throughout history necessitate a thorough and comprehensive examination by the United Nations of the pain and suffering that this horrific crime has inflicted on various peoples and groups, avoiding a restrictive approach to a particular ethnicity or religion.

Addressing historical events of horrific enormity, with a view to avoiding their recurrence, requires a commensurate degree of scientific scrutiny and rigour. Rendering political judgements on such events and closing the door to any scientific inquiry on their characteristics, scope and extent would seriously undermine the
sincerity of the endeavour, particularly in its preventive aspect, which should aim at precluding the reoccurrence of similar atrocities. The basic principles of democracy, including the right to freedom of expression and belief, should pave the way for exploring different aspects of historical events without any arbitrary restrictions.

Moreover, genocide and the immense sufferings associated with that horrific crime should not be manipulated for political purposes. Regrettably, the Zionist regime has routinely attempted to exploit the sufferings of the Jewish people in the past as a cover for its crimes being perpetrated today against Palestinians in the occupied territories, including massacre, demolition of houses, properties and farmlands, as well as acts of state terrorism. The international community should take strong action against such atrocious crimes of the Zionist regime and not allow it to manipulate humanitarian sentiments to pursue its illegitimate goals.

If there is anyone out there who doubts what the Holocaust [denial] conference Iran is sponsoring will be about, doubt no further.

This anti-Semitic filth now becomes part of the permanent record of the UN, adding to the hundreds of anti-Israel, anti-Jewish documentation already extant. And for this, the U.S. pays 25% of the UN’s costs.

Lovely.