The true face of Hamas...

They've been very clear what they are all about.

On February 14, Al Jazeera broadcast an interview in Sudan with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal - the one who recently met with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Teheran. "We say to the Islamic nation: You want neither to pay charity nor to wage jihad?... How are we supposed to liberate Palestine? How are we supposed to regain the Al-Aqsa Mosque? How are we supposed to be a great nation facing the world? By Allah, we have no choice but to sacrifice our property and our souls... There is no other way."

In another interview in Arabic on Dream TV 2 (Egypt, February 13), senior Hamas leader, Moussa Abu Marzouk, also didn't mince words, stating "We say that all of Palestine, from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea, belongs to the Palestinians."

The interviewer then pointed out, "That's the voice directed at your own people, while the voice directed outside speaks about 1967."

Abu Marzouk responded: "We use one voice in all forums. But we also say that we are dealing realistically with the current phase - an independent Palestinian state with full sovereignty over the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. That is what we presented to our people in our election platform."

Probing further, the interviewer asked, "Is this a partial or phased solution?"

Abu Marzouk confirmed, "Yes, it is a temporary and phased solution. This is not the permanent solution." (All translations by www.memri.org.)

In other words, Hamas is happy to play along to a minimal degree with the West's desire to support the Palestinians, on the assumption that the Palestinians have sincerely accepted a two-state solution that includes Israel. But Hamas leaders continue to explain, to anyone who is willing to listen, that their talk of the 1967 borders has nothing to do with an intention to live in peace with Israel.