Hamas is not an intelligent organization. All they had to do was lie to the world about recognizing Israel, or at least pretending to, and the money would have come pouring back. But no, their hatred of the Jewish state in the midst of the Islamic “waqf” is unbearable. Reuters’s first report:
Nov 14, 2006 — GAZA (Reuters) – The governing Islamic militant group Hamas said on Tuesday the agenda of a proposed unity government would not recognize Israel or accept a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“We reject the two-state solution, which is the vision of U.S. President George Bush, because it represents a clear recognition of Israel,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told Reuters. “Our position in this regard remains unchanged. We reject joining in any government that recognizes Israel.”
And the one where they throw in the spin:
Nov 14, 2006 — GAZA (Reuters) – The ruling Islamic militant group Hamas said on Tuesday a planned Palestinian unity government would not recognize Israel or accept a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict.
Hamas’s stance could undercut Palestinian efforts to form a unity government acceptable to Israel and its closest ally, the United States, casting doubts on whether an eight-month-old Western economic boycott would be lifted.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the agenda of the proposed unity government between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction “will not recognize Israel and will not include accepting the two-state solution.”
“We reject the two-state solution, which is the vision of U.S. President George Bush, because it represents a clear recognition of Israel,” Barhoum said. “Our position in this regard remains unchanged. We reject joining in any government that recognizes Israel.”
“Casting doubts” on whether the boycott would end. Gee, ya think? If the world holds still to the demand that Hamas recognize, negotiate, and honor past agreements with Israel, I’d say Hamas saying they would never do any of the three might be a cause for doubt. And I’m not even a paid media pundit!
O, come on, Hamas is smarter than you think. They know that the Europeans will turn on the aid spigot pretty soon whether they recognize Israel or not. Someone who expected the European governments to be resolute, now that would be a stupid person.