After Mecca / Hamas is still Hamas

[oberliner]

The more time that passes since the signing of the Mecca agreement between Hamas and Fatah, the clearer it becomes that the real winner in the current round of internal Palestinian conflict is Hamas.

From the declarations of senior Hamas leaders and its spokesmen and from informal conversations with central activists, it it clear the organization does not intend to make significant changes in its hard-line ideological stance. In the words of its Gaza spokesman, Ismail Radwan, "The organization has changed nothing in its stances toward the conqueror and Zionist enemy," Radwan told Haaretz.

At most, according to Radwan, Hamas will accept the 1967 borders as a temporary solution, and that only on condition that "the Palestinian refugees will return to their homes and all prisoners will be released." Then Hamas would consider the possibility of a hudna . Radwan is not part of Hamas' extremist wing. He is considered a representative of the mainstream, led from Damascus by the head of the Hamas political bureau, Khaled Meshal. Yesterday in Moscow, Meshal was cool to the praise he heard from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the PA unity government, and immediately reiterated that Hamas would not recognize Israel.

When Hamas activists summarize the events in Gaza over the past months, their conclusion is clear: Fatah lost the battle.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/831418.html