By Ryan Jones
Apr 16, 2006
Overall Hamas leader Khaled Mashal Saturday again gave the lie to the international media's ficticious portrayal of Hamas as a movement reluctantly moderating itself towards recognition of and coexistence with Israel.
Speaking to a conference in Tehran supporting the "Palestinian cause" against the Jewish state, Mashal stated emphatically that:
"The Palestinians will never recognize Israel."
If the predictions of his host, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, prove true, recognition of Israel won't be an issue Mashal and Hamas have to deal with very much longer.
As the conference kicked off Friday, Ahmadinejad told the gathering, which included representatives of most "Palestinian" terror groups, that the land Israel calls its own "will be freed soon."
"Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation. The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm."
Islam, which is the cornerstone of both Hamas' and Ahmadinejad's stated policies, views Israel's rebirth on lands once under its dominion as an afront and a primary obstacle in its path to global subjugation to the will of Allah. Removing the Jewish state is recognized as the first step to getting back on track.
Holding firm to Islam's assurance of ultimate victory, Hamas leaders continue defy Western demands that they moderate and accept Israel's sovereignty, confident that American and European financial pressure will soon crumble under the weight of humanitarian concerns and political considerations.