'I'm the man,' Meshal says in first comments since crisis broke [ Khaled Meshal of Hamas ]

Haaretz ^ | Wed., July 12, 2006 Tamuz 16, 5766 | Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff

[SunkenCiv]

Khaled Meshal... reiterated the Hamas promise not to hurt Shalit and the position that he would be released only in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. What Meshal did do was to declare that he and not the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, in Ramallah, or Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza, is the sole spokesman for the Palestinian people in the territories and beyond... At a time when Israel is claiming to have no partner for negotiations, Meshal declared that the road to a future military or diplomatic agreement goes through his Damascus office... Meshal praised Haniyeh, who offered Israel a cease-fire. The offer originated with Meshal, but it apparently was no coincidence that it was voiced by Haniyeh. It made the PA prime minister seem conciliatory while the leader of Hamas abroad was portrayed as a courageous warrior against Israel... Like Arafat during the 1980s, Meshal is trying from his place of exile to render the leadership of his organization in the territories meaningless.

[SunkenCiv]

Sure would be a shame if, by this time next week, Damascus was nothing but a bomb crater.

[SunkenCiv]

Al-Arabia: Meshal Left Syria
Arutz Sheva IsraelNationalNews | 7/5/6
Posted on 07/05/2006 4:04:42 PM EDT by SmithL
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1660825/posts

Khaled Meshal says Hamas puts struggle against Israel before politics
Haaretz | 17/03/2006 | Amira Hass
Posted on 03/17/2006 11:17:07 AM EST by Hannah Senesh
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1598174/posts

Hamas leader Khaled Meshal rejects Rice call to disarm
www.haaretzdaily.com | 17:46 05/10/2005
Posted on 10/05/2005 5:35:51 PM EDT by Esther Ruth
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1497250/posts

[Captain Rhino]

All that Israel needs are some reliable GPS coordinates...

[martin_fierro]

Sure would be a shame if, by this time next week, Damascus was nothing but a bomb crater.

But ... but .. the archeological artifacts...!

(I kid because I love)

[nikos1121]

BWahahahahahahahahaha! So why have elections you dumb SOB, (ie Meshal)? I mean, if you were Abbas and the PM of Gaza wouldn't you be a little pissed off right now of this guy?

These people are crazy. F-ing crazy. If Iran and Syria now get into the mix they're crazy too.

Take this SOB out.

[Convert from ECUSA]

Really. I'd just about cry my eyes out if that happened........NOT!!!

[reagan_fanatic]

Hope his life insurance is paid up.

[LilyBean]

Are there any left? You know how much respect Arabs have for anything unrelated to Mohamhead and Allah. Ah, that would be none. And if all they have left is only related to Mohamhead and Allah, it would be of no loss anyways. Prolly just a few statues made out of camel chit or something.

[Camel Joe]

Israel has its own satellites and GPS coordinates, they also have their own space program and enough missiles of every sort to get the job done with or without "glowing" results.

[SunkenCiv]

Heh... I agree with LilyBean. ;')

[SunkenCiv]

I mean, if you were Abbas and the PM of Gaza wouldn't you be a little pissed off right now of this guy?

Was Biggie Small pissed off at Tupak? Oh, wait...

The factions of the PLO (whatever it may wish to call itself for PR purposes) have always been just common street gangs -- very well armed ones. George Habash of the PFLP faction wound up living in exile in Damascus (of course) under Syrian protection, part of Syria's "Greater Syria" ambitions.

One of the requirements of the Oslo "Agreement" was that the PLO strike out the PLO charter language calling for the liquidation of Israel. A few years later the trustee or whatever of the charter said, no, of course it was not removed. There isn't any way to negotiate with an organization which has so many alibis.

My view is the same as the late (assassinated) Meir Kahane -- they must go. When your neighbor tries to kill you just because you've moved in next door and/or aren't like them, it is time to, uh, convince them of the error of their ways, and to make sure posterity recalls the consequences of being an a-hole.

[SunkenCiv]

[singing] "Kaboom, kaboom, ya da da da da da, ya da da da da da..."

[SunkenCiv]

It's their part of the world, they know how many steps it takes to walk to some of their targets. :')

[monkapotamus]

[Esther Ruth]

Some days are rough, ya just don't know which shirt to wear.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel.

..................

[winner3000]

(Sure would be a shame if, by this time next week, Damascus was nothing but a bomb crater.)

No, Israel is too busy hitting the Lebanese who don't arm Hezballah, and cannot stop them. Meanwhile the people who actually arm and finance Hezballah (Syria and Iran) are never attacked by Israel.

[SunkenCiv]

No, Israel is too busy hitting the Lebanese who don't arm Hezballah, and cannot stop them. Meanwhile the people who actually arm and finance Hezballah (Syria and Iran) are never attacked by Israel

No, Israel is attacking Hizbollah targets in Lebanon, and of course the airports in order to deny arrival of ammo, weapons, and reinforcements (or avenues of retreat) by air. Israel has attacked Syria in the past, and has defended itself against Hizbollah, which is a terrorist arm of the Iranian gov't. The Lebanese (real Lebanese) don't want Hizbollah there, and having the Israelis throw them out of Lebanon will suit the Lebanese just fine.

[SunkenCiv]

Nasrallah has dismissed international law
Daily Star | 7-13-06 | Chibli Mallat
Posted on 07/13/2006 4:05:52 PM PDT by SJackson
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1665286/posts

[winner3000]

Israel has attacked way more than Hezbollah, and that's where their rhetoric and their actions don't jive. Blowing up the oil next to the airport hurts regular Lebanese, and in fact enhances Hezbollah who probably have stocked everything they need for months before carrying on their attack. And I wish someone would explain to me why Israel would attack a LEBANESE ARMY post between Syria and Lebanon... I am sure that Israel wants to beat Hezbollah, but they also seem to have the ulterior motive of keeping Lebanon weak based on their actions. It's not too difficult to go from there to all kinds of conspiracy theories, which are the specialty of the Middle East. Israel's actions allow this to happen.