Hamas's Western Cheerleaders

" ‘Israel will exist, and will continue to exist, until Islam abolishes it, as it abolished that which was before it.' [From the words of ] the martyr, Imam Hassan al-Banna, Allah's mercy be upon him." — Opening paragraph of the Hamas Covenant

Since the Palestinian Arab unity government was established in March, some in the West have made a concentrated effort to speak in defense of "a new, improved Hamas."

Diplomats from European coun tries, led by Norway, have begun to meet regularly with representatives of the terrorist organization. Switzerland and China also have announced that they will now deal with Hamas.

Even Western writers have be gun to discuss this new Hamas which is "ready for peace." Robert Novak's "Olive Branch From Hamas," an April 16 Washington Post column, is one example.

Hamas's cheerleaders in the West, including Mr. Novak, have been quick to accept everything the organization says in English about its peaceful intentions while ignoring statements in Arabic about its plans to "slaughter the Jews."

A case in point is a Hamas spokesman and frequent inciter to suicide attacks during the second intifada, Ismail Radhwan. After a long hiatus, Mr. Radhwan returned to official Palestinian Authority TV on March 30 to give the Friday sermon, preaching that Islamic tradition dictates that Muslims must fight and kill the Jews.

Mr. Radhwan regularly led Friday sermons when suicide attacks in Israel were at an all-time high, and he discussed the virtues of "martyrdom operations" and what happens to a "shahid," or suicide bomber when he detonates himself.

Even when "a martyr's organs are being chopped off and he turns into torn organs that spread all over, in order to meet Allah, Muhammad and his friends, it would not be [considered] a loss," Mr. Radhwan said as he began his sermon at the Sheik Ijlin Mosque in Gaza on August 17, 2001 — just a week after the Sbarro pizzeria bombing in Jerusalem that killed 15 people, seven of them children.

Last week, as the voices of Hamas's Western cheerleaders grew louder, the acting speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council and a Hamas member, Ahmad Bahr, visited Sudan and was given the honor of leading the Friday sermon on live Sudanese television.

Note that his official duty is to speak for the Palestinian Arab government. In the sermon, Mr. Bahr said, "America and Israel will be annihilated, Allah willing."

Those capable of making such a statement clearly are not capable of carrying an olive branch.

Mr. Stalinsky is the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.