Mesha'al: Obama must drop conditions for Hamas talks

Date: 11 / 06 / 2009  Time:  12:28
Bethlehem – Ma’an –

Senior Hamas leader Khaled Mesha'al urged US President Barack Obama to drop conditions for talks with his movement in an interview published in the newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat on Thursday.

"Obama addressed Hamas with a new language, which we hope will be translated into views and a policy on the ground. We hope he will cancel the conditions set for holding talks with Hamas," Mesha'al told the London-based Arabic-language newspaper.

In a landmark speech in Cairo last week, Obama acknowledged that Hamas has the support of some Palestinians, but reiterated that Hamas should recognize Israel and renounce violence before it can be included in peace talks.

(Recognizing Israel before reaching a peace agreement means that Palestinians accept the historical Israeli theft of their lands.

Renouncing violence is the Zionist derogatory term referring to the lawful resistance of foreign occupation forces, a right stated clearly in international law)

Mesha'al, who has been in Cairo himself for talks with Egyptian officials, said that Obama was applying a double standard in his approach to opponents of the US in the Middle East.

He told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, "Obama said he would turn over a new leaf in the region and launch a dialogue with the Iranians and the Syrians without preconditions. So why is he setting conditions for Hamas?"

He added that the Obama’s "perception regarding the Palestinian state is still vague, due to the fact that he did not address the issue of territory, borders, the capital, the right of return and the timetables for its establishment. These are essential points."

Mesha'al, the Damascus-based head of Hamas’ powerful Political Bureau, disagreed with Obama’s comparison of the Palestinian struggle to the African-American struggle, and a comparison Obama did not make in the speech, to Apartheid South Africa.

"We in Palestine are facing an occupation," he said. "An occupation must be fought with weapons according to all the criteria of international laws.

"However in the situation of racial separation in the United States they fought against it for civil rights, and this is a big difference between the two situations. Obama's comparison to the situation in South Africa is erroneous, since they used armed resistance there as well as diplomatic means."

Mesha'al: "Obama should hold talks with Hamas without preconditions"

Thursday June 11, 2009 12:03 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agecnies

Hamas political bureau chief, Khaled Mesha'al, praised the speech of the US president Barack Obama, but added that the president is holding unconditional talks with Syria and Iran, yet refraining from holdings talks with Hamas.

Mesha'al added that the speech was positive and smart, but added that the most important factor is the actual implementation of Obama's words.

The Hamas leader stated that Obama dropped all preconditions on talks with Tehran and Damascus, but kept the preconditions on Hamas.

“His speech was positive, a new language that needs implementation, but he should have dropped the preconditions”, Mesha'al stated, "Obama said he is starting a new era with the region, with the Arabs and Muslims, this era should include holding talks with Hamas".

In an interview with the Middle East newspaper in Cairo, Mesha'al stated that it is a positive signal that Obama’s speech did not include the word "terrorism", and added that Obama made a mistake by comparing the Palestinians with the African Americans.

He also said that Obama did not mention the Israeli war on Gaza during his speech, and refrained from talking about “Israeli crimes, illegal land grab, and the roadblocks in the West Bank”