The Invisible Hand

Peaceful Non-Existence Watch

You would think a German publication such as Der Spiegel would be a tad more sensitive when interviewing an anti-Semitic fascist in its pages.

Instead, our old Euro comrades give Hamas leader Mahmud al-Sahar the benefit of the doubt regarding the death cult's suicide murder "operations."

SPIEGEL: The week before last, your associate Rantissi barely escaped an Israeli rocket attack. Do you also fear for your life?

Sahar: Fear is paralyzing. That's why such feelings are the wrong reaction in the current situation.

SPIEGEL: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has threatened to hunt down all terrorists. And you are at the very top of the list of prominent targets.

Sahar: We take precautions, of course. But the Israelis have targeted all Palestinians. During the past few weeks, more than 50 people have died here in the Gaza Strip, and more than half were women and children. That is the goal of the Zionists: To break our backbones with violence.

SPIEGEL: Your approach is no less violent. Your suicide bombers are spreading fear and dread. Has this bloody strategy been worth it for the Palestinians?

Sahar: At least we have achieved one thing: No one in Israel can feel safe anymore, whether in Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel Aviv, or Jaffa. In the past, Israel usually conducted its wars at its borders. Now, for the first time, there is fighting in the interior, in the heart of the country.

Charming. "No less violent." How very enlightened.

So the "Zionists" want to conquer all of what . . . Jordan? the Arabian peninsula? the entire Muslim world? Why haven't they done it already? After all, they face no real military opposition.

And what is Hamas' goal? Why, to end the "occupation" of course.

Sahar:The goal is not to kill. We are human beings, we have wives and children. We want a life with dignity and national independence, the end of the occupation.

Simple right? If Israel withdraws from the "occupied" lands and there will be peace.

Yes, except that Hamas believes all of Israel is occupied land!

Need proof? Listen as our bloodthirsty friend discusses a possible ceasefire with Israel.

SPIEGEL: Abbas wants there to be only one Palestinian military organization in the future, the state security forces. Is that acceptable to Hamas?

Sahar: Not as long as the occupation continues.

SPIEGEL: Could there be a civil war if the Prime Minister insists on disarmament?

Sahar: Suppressing Hamas, as Yassir Arafat tried to do six years ago, is impossible. The Autonomous Authority will not even be capable of playing the Israelis' dirty game.

SPIEGEL: That sounds like confrontation. Nonetheless, your organization is also discussing a cease-fire.

Sahar: Such a step could only be considered after the Israeli troops withdraw from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Then we could negotiate a cease-fire, provided it is based on mutual interests.

So withdrawing from Gaza and the West Bank wins Israel a temporary cease-fire with Hamas.

But only after Israel withdraws from the Earth itself will Hamas stop murdering its citizens.

That simplifies things.