Rattlesnake Ridge      

 
      BFF   

“Hamas yesterday declared itself bolstered by the Arab Spring and the exchange with Israel of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, as the group mounted a show of strength with tens of thousands attending a lavishly staged rally in the centre of Gaza City. Gaza’s ruling Islamic faction bussed in supporters from across the territory for a mass rally to mark its 24th anniversary at which their leaders’ rhetoric laid heavy emphasis on continued adherence to armed struggle and the eventual “liberation” of the whole land, including what is now Israel. Ismail Haniyeh, Gaza’s de facto prime minister, told the rally: “We affirm that armed resistance is our strategic option and the only way to liberate our land, from the [Mediterranean] sea to the River [Jordan]. God willing, Hamas will lead the people… to the uprising until we liberate Palestine, all of Palestine.”……….”

Hamas is in no position to liberate anyone. The fact that they had to trade one scrawny Israeli soldier for over one thousand of their people tells it all: an exchange rate of a thousand to one (like the dollar or euro to the, say, Somali or Bengali currency). This type of statement only feeds the hostility and belligerence of the American GOP right-wing, and possibly many Democrats as well, who are against a Palestinian state even in Gaza and the West Bank. Yet Mahmoud Abbas is quoted that Hamas had promised him to accept a solution based on Gaza and the West Bank.

Cheers
mhg


[email protected]