[...] Sayed Abu Musameh is one of the founders of Hamas and now a member of the legislature. One of the old guard moderates, he is also on the board of Hamas’s first research organization just opening here. It is called Beit al Hikma, the House of Wisdom, and seeks to build bridges with the West.Hudna in our times!
"We are not seeking all of Palestine, only the ’67 borders," he said. "Then there would be a truce for a very long period to pave the way for the next generation to resolve the issues we are paralyzed to resolve."
He added that Hamas’s rocket attacks on southern Israeli communities are a mistake and that the group’s links to Iran are out of necessity, not desire. He said that while the top Hamas leadership did not agree on these last two points, he was not the only advocate to believe them and more would do so if there were encouragement.Unlike certain prominent US newspapers.
Americans who have visited the top Hamas leader in Syria, Khaled Meshal, including former President Jimmy Carter and Henry Siegman of the U.S./Middle East Project, say a real change is under way, especially regarding the group’s willingness to live next to Israel. So far, few American or Israeli officials have taken their assertion seriously.
Indeed, Israel’s security officials who seem realistic about Hamas’s control in Gaza dismiss the idea that Hamas has changed in any fundamental way worth Israel’s time. They see the talk of a truce as tactical, not strategic, especially given the toxic words of its leaders and media and the continuing rocket and mortar attacks on Israel. [...]I guess they didn't say that taking Jimmy seriously was going to be esay. And then there is the more fundamental question of Hamas ideology. Does Hamas take its ideology seriously? Do the theological underpinnings of that ideology lend themselves to flexibility? Don't look to the Times for answers.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad
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