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Russia incurred the criticism of the West by inviting Hamas to the Kremlin, arguing that engagement with the terrorist group would alllow them to moderate their stance towards Israel. Hamas, in turn, used its diplomatic opening today to announce that it will never recognize Israel's existence:
Hamas' political leader, on a groundbreaking visit to Russia, rejected on Friday any discussion about the militant group's refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist, dealing a setback to Moscow's efforts to persuade it to soften its stance."The issue of recognition (of Israel) is a decided issue," said Hamas' exiled political leader, Khaled Mashaal, upon arrival in Moscow for talks with Russian officials. "We don't intend to recognize Israel." ...
After arriving in Moscow, Mashaal accused Israel of blocking the Mideast peace process and said Israel's "occupation" of Palestinian lands will top the agenda in the Moscow talks.
"No conditions will be put forward during our visit to Moscow," Mashaal said. "We will listen to Russia's position and clarify ours."
I'd say that Mashaal's position hardly requires clarification, but apparently in Moscow it does. Despite having campaigned for the destruction of Israel for the entirety of its 19-year history and the litany of statements from Hamas that it will not change that goal, Vladimir Putin invited the terrorists to Russia anyway. That seems a rather strange action to take, with Putin defending the Caucasus against Islamists similar to Hamas. One has to wonder how the planned tour of the Kremlin will be received by Russian commanders in Chechnya and other restive territories on the southern border.
Putin will live to regret giving Islamofascist terrorists this kind of credibility, but he won't be the only one. It turns out that South Africa has also invited Hamas for a state visit. That is a disappointing but not terribly surprising development. All this does is to legitimize terrorism rather than force the Palestinians to take responsibility for producing true negotiators for peace. Russia and South Africa have endorsed a long and bloody war with their diplomatic recognition of Hamas.
I wonder why the UN has not balked at this. When was the last time that member states offered diplomatic access to officials of a group that explicitly calls for the annihilation of another member state? Why bother to join the UN if it doesn't offer any diplomatic defense for its members, especially one that the organization played such a role in founding? Need I wonder at all?
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