Bill Clinton told us yesterday that Hamas will compromise. But  the Middle East Media Research Institute has just translated an Al Jazeera interview with the Hamas leader, Khaled Mash'al. He makes his message pretty clear: 

"... we are committed to the liberation of the land and to Jerusalem. We will not agree to any kind of disregard [of our right] to Jerusalem. We are Committed to... the Resistance and Adhere to its Weapons (i.e., suicide bombers). ... As for Recognizing [Israel] and Amending Our Charter — Hamas is not the kind of movement that succumbs to pressure... We will not recognize it, no matter how much time passes... We will establish our state on any piece of land we liberate, providing we have real sovereignty over this land, Allah willing."

The strategy, of course, is to entice willing dupes like Bill Clinton, just as Yasser Arafat did when he created the Palestinian terror state. On Al Jazeera Mash'al spells out the strategy in the terms of Mao Zedong,  talk—talk, war—war.

"... by our own decision, we can either calm or escalate the situation, depending on what is required at each stage.  ... (a) period of calm (is) one of the tactics of the resistance."

The international Left is already ratcheting up the pressure to promote Hamas in spite of its rejection of the Oslo Accords. They will be suckered by Mash'al just as surely as they were by Arafat. Watch for the media to start repeating Hamas propaganda. They are really nice people; and so religious. All they want is a little ethnic cleansing for the sake of peace.

We've seen this story before. Here is the letter signed by Yasser Arafat at the time of the Oslo Accords:

"The PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security. The PLO accepts United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. The PLO commits itself...to a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two sides and declares that all outstanding issues relating to permanent status will be resolved through negotiations...the PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence and will assume responsibility over all PLO elements and personnel in order to assure their compliance, prevent violations and discipline violators...the PLO affirms that those articles of the Palestinian Covenant which deny Israel's right to exist, and the provisions of the Covenant which are inconsistent with the commitments of this letter are now inoperative and no longer valid."

We know what happened to that solemn commitment. Now watch it all happen again.