If You're A Terrorist, The Washington Post Wants You (Updated)

Circulation at the Washington Post must be hurting again--today another terrorist gets an op-ed.

Back in 2005, Hamas terrorist leader Mahmoud al-Zahar gave an interview to an Italian newspaper:

Hamas will not compromise on one inch of Greater Palestine, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar told an Italian newspaper earlier this week.

Speaking to the Corriere Della Sera newspaper, al-Zahar said Hamas would "definitely not" be prepared for coexistence with Israel should the IDF retreat to its 1967 borders.

"It can be a temporary solution, for a maximum of 5 to 10 years. But in the end Palestine must return to become Muslim, and in the long term Israel will disappear from the face of the earth."

Now, to further his agenda, al-Zahar has The Washington Post which has kindly given him the podium. One of his key claims is that Israel has the chutzpah to have found a way to stem the tide of suicide bombers:

Israeli military strikes on Gaza have killed hundreds of Palestinians since then with unwavering White House approval; in 2007 alone the ratio of Palestinians to Israelis killed was 40 to 1, up from 4 to 1 during the period from 2000 to 2005.

Oh, and about those pesky 1967 borders:

A "peace process" with Palestinians cannot take even its first tiny step until Israel first withdraws to the borders of 1967; dismantles all settlements; removes all soldiers from Gaza and the West Bank; repudiates its illegal annexation of Jerusalem; releases all prisoners; and ends its blockade of our international borders, our coastline and our airspace permanently. This would provide the starting point for just negotiations and would lay the groundwork for the return of millions of refugees. Given what we have lost, it is the only basis by which we can start to be whole again.

Al-Zahar stated very clearly 3 years ago that withdrawal to 1967 borders would not result in co-existence, but would just be a stepping stone to taking over Israel. If he feels differently now, let him go ahead and say so.

Instead, once again Al-Zahar gets to make outlandish claims, ignore the murder of Israeli citizens by Hamas, and get recognition as a regular government official.

Who needs Jimmy Carter when you have The Washington Post?

UPDATE: Speaking of Carter, the following from Clifford D. May's piece on Carter (""Carter's Confusion") applies equally to The Washington Post as well:

The Hamas Charter asserts that “initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to [Hamas’] principles. . . . There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad.” And by Jihad, Hamas does not mean an internal struggle for personal improvement. [emphasis added]

To assume that al-Zahar is in any way claiming that there is a possibility for peace requires a certain level of ignorance of Hamas and its goals. Now, through The Washington Post, ignorance of Hamas and its true goals can be easily spread to its--albeit--declining readership.

Technorati Tag: The Washington Post and Mahmoud al-Zahar.