This Ongoing War: A Blog: 21-Dec-12: Los Angeles Times editorial: Meshaal's speech is outrageous, irresponsible and depressing

Friday, December 21, 2012

21-Dec-12: Los Angeles Times editorial: Meshaal's speech is outrageous, irresponsible and depressing

Meshaal with Hamas "prime minister" Ismail Haniya during a rally to mark 25th anniversary of founding of Hamas,
Gaza December 8, 2012 (Image Source: AFP Mahmud Hams)

Extracts from an editorial from the Los Angeles Times, December 19, 2012. The heading is "Hamas' hard line"

Israeli officials often complain that their country's policies are lambasted around the world while Palestinians are allowed to behave undemocratically or even violently without comment or moral judgment. So here is a slightly belated but heartfelt criticism of Khaled Meshaal, the top leader of Hamas.
Meshaal made his first trip to the Gaza Strip this month. While there he told a rally of tens of thousands that "Palestine is ours from the river to the sea and from the south to the north. There will be no concession on any inch of the land." He also said: "Today is Gaza. Tomorrow will be Ramallah and after that Jerusalem, then Haifa and Jaffa."
In other words, if you were hoping that Hamas might be persuaded to support a two-state solution, taking its lead from liberation movements in Africa, northern Ireland and elsewhere that have given up guns and bombs for negotiations, Meshaal's message was: Forget it. He, at least, will apparently not be satisfied with a West Bank and Gaza state, and continues to insist that all of Israel, including cities such as Haifa and Jaffa that have large Arab populations but are not part of post-1967 occupation, belongs to the Palestinians.
That's outrageous, irresponsible and deeply depressing, even from the leader of a well-known terrorist organization. It's depressing because Hamas is not just a militant fringe group but actually runs Gaza and has significant support among Palestinians. For years, Hamas has been coy about whether it would support a two-state solution; Meshaal was anything but...
Current prospects for peace are dim. Negotiations are stalled and the two-state solution has taken a beating. Yet it's hard to imagine that a resolution to the conflict lies in anything other than honest efforts to improve Palestinian life and good-faith negotiations to create an independent Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. That requires real leadership and courage on all sides.

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