Ha’aretz is reporting that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh “recognized Israel in 2006 letter to President Bush.”
At the end of the meeting, Haniyeh dictated a short message he asked Segal to transmit to President Bush. Haniyeh spoke Arabic and Youssuf translated his words into English. Segal took down the letter in his notebook and Haniyeh and Youssuf both signed it.
Haniyeh wrote in the missive, “We are an elected government which came through a democratic process.”
In the second paragraph, Haniyeh laid out the political platform he maintains to this day. “We are so concerned about stability and security in the area that we don’t mind having a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders and offering a truce for many years,” he wrote.
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In his own letter, Segal emphasized that a state within the 1967 borders and a truce for many years could be considered Hamas’ de facto recognition of Israel.
Actually, this is very similar to what Haniyeh told his Free Gaza supporters a few days ago.
The Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said on Saturday his government was willing to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
The Hamas leader spoke at a meeting with 11 European parliamentarians who sailed from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip to protest Israel’s naval blockade of the territory. Haniyeh told his guests Israel rejected his initiative.
Clare Short, who served in the cabinet of former British prime minister Tony Blair, asked Haniyeh to repeat his offer. He said the Hamas government had agreed to accept a Palestinian state that followed the 1967 borders and to offer Israel a long-term hudna, or truce, if Israel recognized the Palestinians’ national rights.
Now if you look closely at Haniyeh’s words, you might notice that he is referring to a palestinian state within the 67 borders, not a Jewish state. There is no recognition of Israel, implicit or otherwise. And even if there was, the offering of a hudna instead of peace is indicative of Hamas’ intention to destroy the Jewish state, with the hudna providing them with time to replenish their fighters, weapons and munitions.
So really what we have here is the same ol’ same ol’.
