Hamas leader Khaled Meshal talks to the New York Times:
[H]e urged outsiders to ignore the Hamas charter, which calls for the obliteration of Israel through jihad and cites as fact the infamous anti-Semitic forgery, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." Mr. Meshal did not offer to revoke the charter, but said it was 20 years old, adding, "We are shaped by our experiences."
There's no explanation for why a document that should now be ignored is not to be revoked or amended, but let's pass over that. It's 20 years old and, so Meshal appears to suggest, no longer pertinent. Read on, McDuff:
On the two-state solution sought by the Americans, he said: "We are with a state on the 1967 borders, based on a long-term truce. This includes East Jerusalem, the dismantling of settlements and the right of return of the Palestinian refugees." Asked what "long-term" meant, he said 10 years.
Only half as long, then, as it took the Hamas Charter to fall into the to-be-ignored category. How very reassuring.
