Hamas's official spokesman has issued a statement asking Israel to change its national flag.
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=97526
Hamas spokesman Mahmoud a-Zahar issued a demand Sunday evening that Israel remove the stripes from its flag.
"Israel must remove the two blue stripes from its national flag", a-Zahar said. "The stripes are symbols of occupation - they signify Israel's borders, stretching from the River Euphrates to the River Nile."
The Hamas official's comments followed Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz's assessment at the weekly Cabinet meeting that the newly elected terror group was "acting responsibly so far."
A-Zahar also told CNN's Late Edition that the world should not be asking Hamas to recognize Israel, but rather demanding that the Jewish State recognize that Muslims are the "owners of the land."
Although I generally support Israel, I have not been alarmed at the election of Hamas. I recognize the Palestinians had a difficult choice that was no choice at all; Fatah was corrupt and ineffective, and no one could expect them to be rewarded with more years in office. I am hopeful that Hamas can grow in office and bring order and hope to the Palestinian territories, and eventually the two countries can live side-by-side, if not in friendship, than it least in a respectful and constructive peace.
However, this particular statement is not encouraging. I hope they get stuff like this out of their system if they plan to accept reality and work with Israel toward some kind of solution that comes closest to satisfying both sides' needs to the best possible midpoint--because satisfying all of each sides' demands is physically impossible.
Anyway, I hope this poll is as even handed as possible. I'm really not trying to bait here, but it can be hard to fairly play devil's advocate to one's own positions. And I am sure I missed many potential responses.