Israel would follow sould.

Oh, you mean something along the lines of the Gaza withdrawal? That bit of unilateralism sure worked out swell didn’t it. I’m afraid they’re is a little too much bad blood bet. the sides for there to be that must trust on Hamas’ part that Israel would “follow suit.” I wouldn’t trust Israel to do so but I’m glad at least one of us does.

Hamas rejects cease-fire proposal
Hamas has rejected a proposal put forth by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to broker a cease-fire between the Islamist group and Israel.

Amir, you’re doing sloppy reading. The Hamas rep merely rejected an effort by the group’s arch enemy Abbas to broker a ceasefire. It didn’t reject a ceasefire per se. It of course has oftentimes stated its willingness to negotiate a ceasefire with Israel.

the arguments you make on behalf of Hamas are BEYOND pathetic and ridiculous. Anyone with a brain can see that.

PCM: I don’t make any arguments “on behalf of” Hamas. I am not a proponent of Hamas.

And if you don’t like what you read here go somewhere else. I surely didn’t invite you here.

Apparently, there are a good number of other readers who find that I do indeed have a brain & might surmise that you’re the one whose mental & analytical capacities are lacking. Not to mention that you’re an insulting twerp & deeply annoying to boot. I think I’m going to offer you an extended hiatus from commenting here.

You’re not interested, Richard, because the arguments you make on behalf of Hamas are BEYOND pathetic and ridiculous. Anyone with a brain can see that.

“But unfortunately events have taken such a turn for the worse in Gaza that I’m sure those efforts have been put on hold.”

Yep, blame those damn Jews again!

Hats off to Amir for helping to expose you for what you are: a close-minded, arrogant, spoiled sore loser who’s decided to walk off with the ball, all because he’s losing the game.

Hamas rejects cease-fire proposal
Hamas has rejected a proposal put forth by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to broker a cease-fire between the Islamist group and Israel.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum described the proposal as “an extortion attempt” and said that Abbas allows Israel to continue its “massacre.”

It looks like I’m the one living in the real world after all.
Hamas as spelled out its plans in detail and ACTS ACCORDINGLY.
Yet you refuse to see the obvious.

“it (Israel) will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”

I like this document too & would have been honored to sign it. But that’s not the pt. This document is honored in the breach perhaps, but is little more than window dressing. Saying Israel observes the Declaraction more faithfully today than it did 50 years ago is true, but isn’t saying much since placing the Israeli Arab community under military administration was a grave injustice to them & serious violation of the very Declaration to which you claim Israel tries so faithfully to adhere. Israel currently honors and observes none of these principles regarding its Arab population.

As for my knowledge of how the Hamas covenant is observed within the Hamas movement–many newspaper articles have been written precisely on this subject. Look up “Hamas” at this blog & you’ll find at least one from an Israel paper I believe. There was also at least one in the NYT which I may’ve written about.

Your average Gazan might not have read the Hamas charter, but the leaders of Hamas certainly have.

And you know this how? THrough personal knowledge? You’re wrong. The reporter in one of those articles I mentioned above asked Hamas leaders about anti-Semitic provisions of the covenant & first they flat out denied they were there & second when told they WERE clearly hadn’t read the document at all. I’ve also reported here on efforts to rewrite the Hamas covenant organized by Hamas leaders. But unfortunately events have taken such a turn for the worse in Gaza that I’m sure those efforts have been put on hold. Staying alive is a little more important than rewriting musty old documents.

Todays leaders of Hamas probably participated in writing it.

Again, you know this how?

Finally, this is the LAST comment dealing with the Hamas covenant. I’m not going to discuss it nor are you (at least not here). It’s irrelevant period. If it’s relevant to you then peddle those wares elsewhere. I’m simply not interested.

I suggest you read up on the Israeli Declaration of Independence & tell me how close is Israel to realizing its principles. Founding documents of organizations & countries tend to either be ignored or not implemented. They’re essentially meaningless unless followers actually use them to inform their actions or behavior.

I followed your suggestion and read Israel’s declaration of Independance from beginning to end. I admit that I hadn’t done that before. So arguing with has been educational as well. Israel’s Declaration of Independance is a document that I would be proud to have signed. I think I could agree with every sentence in it. It tells us something of the values of the people that founded the state of Israel. It’s not true that the document is ignored. Since Israel does not have a constitution (as you have pointed out many times) the Declaration of Independance is one of the documents used by the Israeli Higher courts to test the validity of laws passed by the Knesset or decisions by other Israeli institutions. Laws and decisions which are found by the courts to be discrimanatory or contrary to the principles in this document are reversed or cancelled (maybe not always to your satisfaction). How close is Israel to realizing these principles? Well, I think they are closer today then they were 50 years ago when the Israeli Arab population was living under military rule, and I hope that in the future we will be even closer to realizing these ideals. The point is this is a document that I think Israel should strive to live up to.
But, whereas the Israeli Declaration of Independance says “it (Israel) will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.” the Hamas charter says: “This Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS), clarifies its picture, reveals its identity, outlines its stand, explains its aims, speaks about its hopes, and calls for its support, adoption and joining its ranks. Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious. It needs all sincere efforts. It is a step that inevitably should be followed by other steps. The Movement is but one squadron that should be supported by more and more squadrons from this vast Arab and Islamic world, until the enemy is vanquished and Allah’s victory is realised.”
According to the Hamas charter I am it’s enemy. I have no intention of waiting around to see if they live up to their ideals or fall short of them. Thank you very much.

Most Hamas leaders & members don’t know what’s in this document which you claim informs Hamas’ every currnet action. Hamas’ activities are based on current reality & pragmatic considerations (at least pragmatic in their terms, if not yrs). Their founding document is completely irrelevant to them.

And you know this, how?