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Last update - 17:33 05/05/2009
Meshal: Hamas seeks Palestinian state based on 1967 borders
By Haaretz Service
Tags: Israel News, Khaled Meshal 

Hamas seeks the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza based on their borders before the Six Day War, the group's political leader Khaled Meshal told The New York Times in an interview published Tuesday.

The Damascus-based official added, however, that his Islamist militant organization would only agree to a "long-term truce" that would be valid for 10 years.

Meshal's interview with the influential newspaper, the first given by the Hamas leader to an American news outlet in a year, is part of the Islamist organization's efforts to reach out to the West at large and the Obama administration in particular. It came in light of Washington's readiness to play a more forceful role in advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
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"I promise the American administration and the international community that we will be part of the solution, period," the Hamas leader told The New York Times.

He told the paper that gunmen in the Gaza Strip have unilaterally ceased firing rockets at Israel for the time being, and that Hamas has limited its offensive activities against Israel following a reevaluation of its policies.

"Not firing the rockets currently is part of an evaluation from the movement which serves the Palestinians' interest," Meshal told the newspaper. "After all, the firing is a method, not a goal. Resistance is a legitimate right, but practicing such a right comes under an evaluation by the movement's leaders."

The Hamas leader welcomed President Barack Obama's tone as it relates to American policy in the region. "His language is different and positive," Meshal said, though he was less complimentary of Obama's secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.

"[Hers] is a language that reflects the old administration policy," he said.

Meshal vowed Hamas would not recognize Israel's right to exist, arguing that this was an error committed in negotiations held by Fatah leaders with Jerusalem over the course of the Oslo Accords.

"Did that recognition lead to an end of the occupation? It's just a pretext by the United States and Israel to escape dealing with the real issue and to throw the ball into the Arab and Palestinian court," Meshal said.

Meshal, the head of the Hamas Political Bureau in Damascus, was reelected to his post for four additional years, the Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported last month.

The decision was the result of an election held in recent days by senior Hamas leaders.

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      1.   Alrgiht, Lets get this show on the road! 09:06  |  Left 05/05/09
      2.   WHY not PEACE?? Why limit it to 10 yrs? Time to arm for the 09:08  |  PETER SM 05/05/09
      3.   Article and Hamas are very misleading 09:09  |  Richard 05/05/09
      4.   10 Year Truce? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? 09:10  |  Yosemite 05/05/09
      5.   Gazans must be masochists 09:20  |  MARK KLEIN, M.D. 05/05/09
      6.   Unbelievable chutzpah 09:42  |  David 05/05/09
      7.   Sure.....stand by ten years, then we blow you up. 10:08  |  Douglas 05/05/09
      8.   Hamas is no one to demand anything 10:13  |  Jo 05/05/09
      9.   Hamas are the major obstacle to peace 10:13  |  Peter Williams 05/05/09
      10.   These guys still live in 6th century! 10:17  |  Yosi 05/05/09
      11.   Hamas has agreed to accept referendum on `67 borders 10:24  |  Ivar 05/05/09
      12.   Can`t any of you understand what they are saying??? 10:27  |  Johnboy 05/05/09
      13.   Problems 10:30  |  Sherlock Holmes 05/05/09
      14.   Very interested to know 10:32  |  TonyL 05/05/09
      15.   Palestinian coming from Egypt + state already exists in Jordan; 10:56  |  sam 05/05/09
      16.   Iran is the real issue 10:58  |  Joseph 05/05/09
      17.   No DEAL 11:01  |  Dirk 05/05/09
      18.   IVAR SAUDI plan says peace not Hudna.Does it take 10 years 11:03  |  PETER SM 05/05/09
      19.   10 Year Truce is Not a Peace Deal 11:21  |  John Q. Public 05/05/09
      20.   Meshal is dancing between raindrops. 11:27  |  Tzfonit 05/05/09
      21.   That "truce" wouldn`t last 2 years 11:31  |  Rafé 05/05/09
      22.   dumbfounded 11:39  |  i cant believe 05/05/09
      23.   Actually, they`re not, Johnboy. 11:43  |  Tzfonit 05/05/09
      24.   Ivar, you forgot one thing... 11:45  |  Tzfonit 05/05/09
      25.   Total BS Johnboy 11:50  |  Peter Williams 05/05/09
      26.   #5M.KleinM.D. I think Meshal conceded Jerusalem is Israel with t 12:00  |  Susanna/Shoshana 05/05/09
      27.   Johnboy 12:10  |  TonyL 05/05/09
      28.   Hamas, still as fundamentalist as always 12:14  |  Antony 05/05/09
      29.   Palestinian state for 10 years? 12:43  |  10 years 05/05/09
      30.   Recognizing Palestinians 12:54  |  Marvin 05/05/09
      31.   IVAR All "refugees" have a right of return,to Palestine! 13:02  |  PETER SM 05/05/09
      32.   Hamas on the road to oblivion. Klum da va from & for Hamas. 13:08  |  Michael J 05/05/09
      33.   10 yer truce 13:15  |  Hilda 05/05/09
      34.   Peace in our Lifetme 13:21  |  Razi 05/05/09
      35.   That`s 10 years more than most 14:00  |  Roo 05/05/09
      36.   Read between the lines 14:01  |  James 05/05/09
      37.   Just wait Akiva Eldar`s article supporting the "10 year old truce 14:15  |  Absolute Sweden 05/05/09
      38.   10 years more than most 14:25  |  Roo 05/05/09
      39.   well diagnosed dr.klein.and your prognosis? 14:30  |  avi king 05/05/09
      40.   Wake up holocaust denyers, peace refuseniks! 14:37  |  Ivar 05/05/09
      41.   1967 Borders 15:17  |  Frank 05/05/09
      42.   10 year truce - then how about a 10 year state? 15:22  |  frank 05/05/09
      43.   Hudna? Let`s go for it 15:35  |  Christopher 05/05/09
      44.   Stupid comment 15:36  |  Nano 05/05/09
      45.   Reciprocity is required 15:39  |  Arie 05/05/09
      46.   Meshal will overplay his hand. 15:45  |  Albert Amato 05/05/09
      47.   TonyL and Hamas are just like the Irgun and Stern Gang 16:26  |  American in NY 05/05/09
      48.   #12 Johngirl - what offer? 17:24  |  *BEN JABO 05/05/09
      49.   BSnews.not Feel flattered 17:25  |  *BEN JABO 05/05/09
      50.   HUDNA ("cease fire"): a term with ISLAMIC religious implications 17:28  |  Jae 05/05/09
      51.   Part 2 on Hudna aka stall, recover, decieve, and overthrow 17:30  |  Jae 05/05/09
      52.   Tzfonit # 23 Israel cannot cough up the word Hamas 18:22  |  American in NY 05/05/09
      53.   How about a ten year truce 21:35  |  Jess Ghannam 05/05/09
      54.   The only Hudna should pertain to time period until agreement & 23:30  |  Smadar 05/05/09
      55.   How about ONE YEAR and see how it goes.... 23:45  |  Douglas 05/05/09
      56.   #6 23:52  |  Edwin 05/05/09
      57.   He must think the west are idiots if he thinks this is an offer. 23:59  |  ks 05/05/09
      58.   Hamas and the 1967 borders as the defn of peace 01:18  |  WHG 06/05/09
      59.   stupid hamasd 01:36  |  don muntean 06/05/09
      60.   #25 You have got to be kidding, Peter Williams. 01:37  |  Johnboy 06/05/09
      61.   #48 Oh, spare me this nonsense, BEN JABO 01:44  |  Johnboy 06/05/09
      62.   Meshal:hamas seeks Palestinian state 01:57  |  Jo 06/05/09
      63.   JONBOY 02:38  |  OZ 06/05/09
      64.   hudna 02:43  |  oz 06/05/09
      65.   Mashal and his ideas 02:47  |  Michelle 06/05/09
      66.   hudna 02:57  |  BAR KOCHVA 06/05/09
      67.   #54 Exactly right, OZ 03:58  |  Johnboy 06/05/09
      68.   American in NY-47 `Idealism` 04:19  |  Another American 06/05/09
      69.   Johnboy, these wingnuts want war... 06:15  |  BBSNews 06/05/09
      70.   Why can`t Clickfool post here anymore yet Peter M is allowed to 07:46  |  lydia 06/05/09
      71.   AMinNY Stern/Irgun had no charter for obliterating the Brit.Empir 08:00  |  PETER SM 06/05/09
      72.   Nice try 10:15  |  Baruch Gold 06/05/09
      73.   #67 That`s one bad analogy you got there, PETER SM 11:13  |  Johnboy 06/05/09
      74.   johnboy # 12 No, the mind is static & they live in the past 1/2 13:51  |  American in NY 06/05/09
      75.   johnboy # 12 No, the mind is static & they live in the past 2/2 13:52  |  American in NY 06/05/09
      76.   Another American # 68 valid comparison 13:56  |  American in NY 06/05/09
      77.   Yes Mashal, yes 16:28  |  Maureen 10/05/09
      78.   That train has left the station 21:59  |  Itzak 22/05/09
      79.   ten years WTF???? 22:36  |  ALF 22/06/09
      80.   Context 10:56  |  Matthew Houston 18/10/09
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