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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas supremo plans triumphant return to Palestinian Territories
2006-01-30
Khaled Mashal, the exiled supreme leader of Hamas and one of Israel's most wanted men, has signalled his intention to return to the Gaza Strip following the organisation's landslide victory. The European Union is said to be facilitating Mr Mashal's return from Damascus next week, when he will begin talks with Mr Abbas over a possible political partnership with Fatah. Quoting sources close to the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, the Palestinian newspaper Al Quds said that the EU was lobbying the United States, which was in turn appealing to Israel not to block Mr Mashal's repatriation. A spokeswoman for the Israeli Embassy in London told Times Online that Israel would be powerless to prevent Mr Mashal from entering Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

She said: "The Gaza Strip is not our responsibility. If Mr Mashal wants to go there it is none of our business. It's for the Egyptian Government to decide whether to allow him to through - I am happy to say that Israel does not have one Israeli soldier or person at that crossing. "But if he wanted to move from Gaza to Ramallah [in the West Bank] it is a different matter. He is a terrorist. There is no way this person who sent terrorists to kill hundreds of Israelis over the past five years will be allowed into Israel."

Mr Mashal, a former physics teacher considered by Israel to be the director of Hamas's terrorist arm, escaped an assassination attempt by Mossad agents in Jordan in 1997. He retains a hardline stance against Israel, and his potential return to help steer his victorious organisation is likely to further enrage Israeli authorities.

Ehud Olmert, Israel's acting Prime Minister, last night repeated that Israel would not negotiate with an administration that included a terrorist organisation. He demanded that the Palestinian Authority act on a pre-election promise to disarm militant groups. "Israel will demand that the entire international community compel the PA and its chairman to implement the commitment to eliminate Hamas as a terrorist organisation that calls for Israel's destruction," the government announced following three hours of talks last night.
Posted by:Dan Darling

#22  OP - such a dreamer....LOL
Posted by: Frank G   2006-01-30 21:53  

#21  "...the Palestinian newspaper Al Quds said that the EU was lobbying the United States, which was in turn appealing to Israel not to block Mr Mashal's repatriation."
Repatriation, as in returning to one's land, as in "ashes to ashes and dust to dust." Gaza is becoming amazingly target-rich.
Posted by: Darrell   2006-01-30 21:24  

#20  Gaza is a problem. It's too narrow for a good ARCLIGHT box. An ARCLIGHT strike with a full cell (3 Buffs) covers an area 2.5 miles wide and 12.5 miles long. The kill zone is 5.5 miles either side of the strike, and 2.5 miles before and after. Gaza is from 4.4 to 7.9 miles wide. We'd have to waste an awful lot of weaponry, or fly in trail formation instead of spread. Of course, that may allow us to do the entire 20 miles of Gaza in a single strike, but we'd have to warn the Israelis beforehand to pull back from the border - by about five miles. The "collateral damage" would be too great. Too bad we don't have a half-dozen battleships capable of tossing volkswagen-size shells into Gaza every 17 seconds any more. I'm beginning to believe the only good Palestinian is a dead Palestinian. It's not like the other Arabs can't replace them in a year or two - just not in Gaza or the West Bank.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2006-01-30 19:24  

#19  Now, why would the EU be helping in his return?

Because everyone could live in Happyland?
Posted by: Captain America   2006-01-30 17:11  

#18  Nice find Lotp. I just knew Massachusetts held at least a few redeaming qualities.

Posted by: Besoeker   2006-01-30 16:53  

#17  Ah, found it:

when Oliver Wendell Holmes, an eminent Bostonian, refused to uphold his prosecution of the Northern Securities Company, ... T.R. raged in the White House that night: "I could carve out of a banana a man with more back bone than that."
Posted by: lotp   2006-01-30 16:49  

#16  Teddy Roosevelt, I think, but I can't remember who he was talking about.
Posted by: lotp   2006-01-30 16:47  

#15  Mae West? mojo?
Posted by: 6   2006-01-30 16:39  

#14  Nice to see that Mashal has both posterboys for the Hamas Corporate Retirement Program™ right behind him. Just look for the little red dot to be sure you've got the genuine article.

I give him two weeks or less in Gaza.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-01-30 15:13  

#13  the fact that Mashal is still alive after all these years plus some other stuff makes me think that he is double or triple or quadruple agent.

One of the other hints here is that he has strongly pushed Hamas to curtail itty bitty terrorism strikes and go for big terror strikes; while this was doable prior to the fence, big terror strikes are much harder now and Hamas has wasted a lot of its best men on such things.

I think that's part of the reason why Israel has a relatively cool-it attitude on this fellow.
Posted by: mhw   2006-01-30 14:18  

#12  I know, Jim. And damned poor divisions they are. Badly led, too.

Ok, so you're hip to Nappy quotes. Place this one:

"I could carve a better man from a banana."
Posted by: mojo   2006-01-30 13:47  

#11  Mashal surely realizes hes less safe in Gaza then in Damascus, but he has to go back, cause if he dont, the local Hamas people can gain too much power, and make him less relevant, other than as bagman for Assad.

The MSM and the naive are focusing soley on Israel vs Pals, as usual. Some of y'all RBers have gone to the next level, and are analyzing Hamas vs Fatah, and storing up popcorn.

But the next level of analysis is Hamas vs Hamas, and Fatah vs Fatah, which may be the most intense conflict in the coming weeks, even as the other two continue.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2006-01-30 13:16  

#10  I recognise the snarky takeoff on the comment "How many Divisions does the Pope have"
(Good shot)
But that's exactly what we're fighting right now those "Supposedly" god's (Allah's) divisions.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2006-01-30 13:02  

#9  So if Mashal meets a hellfire welcome, it was because Allan willed it. I'm OK with that logic
Posted by: Frank G   2006-01-30 12:51  

#8  God?

How many divisions does HE have?
Posted by: mojo   2006-01-30 12:10  

#7  Isaiah 14
Posted by: The Lord   2006-01-30 11:38  

#6  Oh, God will be "taking care" of Hamas all right! LOL

Speaking of which, what do you think of the job God is doing "taking care" of the Jordanians and Egyptians who now wish to be thought of as "Palestinians"? Apparently God wants to rub their noses in Israel's success. Go figure!
Posted by: ryuge   2006-01-30 11:31  

#5  ok truthy, lets see allan work, it is put up or shut up.
Posted by: djohn66   2006-01-30 11:06  

#4  IP address comes from the Netherlands. However, here's the funny part:

Part of this IP block has been used for proxy/cache remarks: service at the National level in Saudi Arabia. All remarks: Saudi Arabia web traffic will come from this IP block.

If you experience high volume of traffic from
IP in this block it is because your site is very
popular/famous of Saudi Arabia community.

Or at least with the Islamofacists.
Posted by: Pappy   2006-01-30 10:57  

#3  "When all the cheering and hppy bullets die down they are going to find that they are quite alone in the world."
Did you forget God?
He will be taking care of Hamas, watching over them, defending them and providing them with all the financial resources they need. Finally, He will exterminate that zionist den at the time of His choosing.
Posted by: Truth has come.com   2006-01-30 10:29  

#2  I don't think these mooks realize what they have done to themselves. When all the cheering and hppy bullets die down they are going to find that they are quite alone in the world. Alone and broke, because hamas isn't going to recognize Israel, and they sure as hell aren't going to disarm.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2006-01-30 08:25  

#1  Once Mr. Mashaal enters the Territories, he comes within reach of Israel's missiles. No wonder the spokeswoman expressed helplessness to keep him out; "Come into my parlour, said the spider to the fly."
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-01-30 07:07  

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