Is Hamas an obstacle to peace? Can there be any doubt after this latest pronouncement by Haniya?
GAZA CITY — Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya on Monday told tens of thousands of Hamas supporters his group remains committed to the elimination of Israel, on the 22nd anniversary of its founding.
"We will never give up on Palestine from the river to the sea," Haniya told the crowd, referring to the pre-1948 borders of the British Palestine Mandate between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.
"It is not enough for Hamas to liberate Gaza, nor to establish an emirate in Gaza, nor a state, nor an independent entity... Hamas strives to liberate all of Palestine."
Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas's armed wing the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, which was responsible for scores of deadly attacks and suicide bombings in Israel, praised the group's military evolution.
"We have been able to build an army for resistance and to haunt the Zionist enemy," he said in a statement on a Qassam-linked website.
http://www.google.com/...
You mean haunt? Like a ghost? Boo!
Anyway, there it is in black and white as clear as day. As clear as an azure sky. As clear as the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean. It's as clear as could be. "Hamas strives to liberate all of palestine". it doesn't get more direct than that. Nor more anti-peace. Nor more inflammatory.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have turned out in the Gaza Strip to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of the founding of the Islamist group Hamas.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said the organisation would not recognise Israel and would not stop fighting.
Supporters filled the streets, waving banners and portraits of assassinated Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
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"We will never give up on a Palestine from the river to the sea," Mr Haniya said, referring to pre-1948 boundaries of the British Mandate in Palestine, before the state of Israel was established.
"It is not enough for Hamas to liberate Gaza... Hamas strives to liberate all of Palestine," he told thousands of cheering supporters
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
So for as long as I've been posting here I've been waiting for a speck of hamas moderation. I don't see any. I've been waiting for some pragmatism from them. I don't see any. I've been waiting for a conciliatory gesture. I havn't seen it.
For all the talk of the WB, settlements and the like there is another huge obstacle to peace, and they're in Gaza. Hamas can't reconcile with Fatah even, how can they ever make peace with Israel? And let's not forget who props up Hamas, Iran, supplying them with weapons which get smuggled in by the ton, and training as well. If Hamas can be cutoff from Iran then maybe we'd see some reconciliation come about because they would be severely weakened. As it is now they are reconstituting their arsenal thru smuggling tunnels, (which also smuggle in all kinds of merchandise - check my diaries) refortifying Gaza by constructing a more sophisticated tunnel network for militants to access battlefields underground, and constructing command and control centers flush in civilian apt. buildings according to articles I've read recently.
So they are not prepping for peace they are prepping for war. And this latest pronouncement...
"Hamas strives to liberate all of Palestine."
....makes that crystal clear. As clear as an azure sky.
moon