Will Hamas Become Moderate?

In the wake of their election victory there was much discussion of Hamas being "forced" to become moderate by their new position of power. Somehow I don't think that's going to happen. The following is from Memri, a transcript of a speech by Hamas leader Khaled Mash'al at the Al-Murabit Mosque in Damascus. There is a fair bit here but please do take the time to read it all.

"They do not understand the Arab or Muslim mentality, which rejects the foreigner. Our Arab forefathers, before the advent of Islam, rejected the aggressors and the foreigners.

"I say to the [European countries]: Hurry up and apologize to our nation, because if you do not, you will regret it. This is because our nation is progressing and is victorious. Do not leave a black mark in the collective memory of the nation, because our nation will not forgive you.

"Tomorrow, our nation will sit on the throne of the world. This is not a figment of the imagination, but a fact. Tomorrow we will lead the world, Allah willing. Apologize today, before remorse will do you no good. Our nation is moving forwards, and it is in your interest to respect a victorious nation.

"Today, you are fighting the army of Allah. You are fighting against peoples for whom death for the sake of Allah, and for the sake of honor and glory, is preferable to life. You are fighting a nation that does not tire, even after 1,000 years of fighting. Today, you are facing peoples filled with faith, with the love of Allah, with the love of Allah's Prophet, with bravery, glory, and pride - a nation that knows its way, a nation that knows what it is, a nation that respects itself. How can you possibly defeat us?

"Before Israel dies, it must be humiliated and degraded. Allah willing, before they die, they will experience humiliation and degradation every day. America will be of no avail to them. Their generals will be of no avail to them. The last of their generals has been forgotten. Allah has made him disappear. He's over. Gone is that Sharon behind whose back they would hide and find shelter, and with whom they would feel relatively secure. Today they have frail leaders, who don't even know where our Lord placed them.

"Allah willing, we will make them lose their eyesight, we will make them lose their brains.

"Hamas has a vision. Hamas has a plan. Hamas can manage the political battle, just like it managed the military battle, but in a different language, with different tools, and recognizing Israel is not one of them. Nor is giving up the rights, giving up the right to resistance, and nor is giving up the weapons of the resistance.

"Nevertheless, we want to deal with politics, but there is a difference between the politics of the weak and defeatists, which we will constantly repeat - the kind of politics that does not impress the enemy and so it does nothing - because, like in the marketplace, products praised too much become cheap. If we continue to praise our products, constantly saying: 'We love peace,' 'We have given up the option of war,' 'Peace is our strategic option,' 'For God's sake, Israel, give us a few scraps of land' - By Allah, we will be degraded in the eyes of our enemies."

At one point the crowd chants: "Death to Israel. Death to Israel. Death to America."

I'll say it again- time for America to stop giving these people millions of dollars in aid.