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.
Perhaps the reason why the Gulf oil plutocracies might not support Hamas is because their charity budget is pledged to al-Qaeda, Hizballah and other terror groups.
chsw
Iran will fund them. That is a nearly indisputable fact. We need to Nuke Iran.
Bush is trying to bring about a solution to the problem of lunatic mullahs having nukes without nuking Iran and killing millions. This is characteristic of his policies in general concerning the war. Bush and the dreaded neocons are the Muslims’ best friends, for they want to stop the jihad before its attacks on everyone else convince the rest of the world that “The problem is Muslims. No Muslims, no problem.”
Totally cutting off funds is likely the one way short of violence that the Palis can be brought to a reasonable frame of mind. As pointed out above, the Iranians will fund them anyway, but if all others cut them off there is a chance of restraining them. If Hamas can’t keep up the money-favoring (Pryce-Jones’ phrase) they won’t have nearly as much support among the Palis who want gummint handouts.
This also points out the unreliability of the Palis as negotiating partners. Arafat signed Oslo on behalf of the Palis as a whole. Now it’s true none of the provisions were carried out, but Hamas won’t even give them the lip service the Fatah thugs did. If each new Pali election brings about a repudiation of Palistinian Authority treaties, how can anybody negotiate with them?
The election of Hamas is clarifying, bringing the world face-to-face with the previously denied reality of the Palis’ genocidal goals. We shall see who is comfortable with the idea of genocide and who will not tolerate it. The complacent ones who are looking to tolerate it should reflect that the Jews of Israel are hardly the last victims the radical Islamists will come for.
As usual, reality is 180° from the Hamas position. Hamas is trying to blackmail Europe and the US: If you don’t cough up the cash, we’ll get it from folks you don’t like.
There might be some advantages if they do: (1) If the West has less of a stake in the Palestinians, they might be less supportive of them. (2) Most Arab states are afraid of political Islam, lest it turn around and bite them. If they do fund Hamas, they may work to keep it on a short leash, and chronically cash-strapped to boot. (3) Sunni Arab countries are also nervous of Iran. Perhaps a threesome of Iran, Hamas and the Gulf states will not play well together.
Whatever happens, Hamas is now in the driver’s seat and handcuffed to the steering wheel. When the terror comes again there will be no-one to pass the buck to.
I do believe that they are going to find out that it is much hotter in the driver’s seat than they expected it to be.
The last paragraph is also interesting–the Gulf states have pledged lots of money but delivered on little of it. And does anyone remember that Kuwait tossed out 300,000 Palestinians after the 1991 war? Apparently not.
As has been the case since 1948, the Arabs have no genuine interest in the Palestinians except as a means of deflecting resentment against their own barbarous governments.
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At least the phrase in bold was there. I would expect something along the lines of, “Hamas, an activist organization whose members are often found in the vicinity of suicide bombings…”
I say we give ’em a warning. 24 hours to get out of Gaza, then nuke the SOB’s.
24, 23, 22…. BOOM. Crap, I forgot how to count.
Eric – Good start, but to put more spin on it, you could say that Hamas recruits, many of whom are in their early teens, are often the primary victims of the suicide bombers.
Y’know, I may be sick and woozy, but I’m not too sick to point out that nuking nations is not the answer.
Nuking Gaza, Elmira, would harm millions in Egypt and Israel.
Nuking Iran would kill millions of innocents and put the world into an oil-price panic.
Let’s not let our comment threads devolve too far, okay?