Former U.S. President Clinton supports dialogue with Hamas

[Violet_Crumble]

In a weekend interview with BBC television, former U.S. President Bill Clinton called for a dialogue with the Hamas-led Palestinian government if several conditions are met, in particular a halt to violence.

Clinton noted that the late Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat signed agreements with Israel that honor the two-state principle.

"He had made private assurances, and he made public assurances, that he did not support terror any more and would try to restrain it. So if Hamas would say, suppose they say, 'OK, look, we can't change our theory, we can't change our document, we can't change our history, but we're in government now and the policy of the Palestinian government is no to terror and yes to negotiations. As long as we're in government, we'll honor that policy.' If they did that, I would support dealing with them," Clinton said.

Clinton's comments on Hamas followed critical remarks about the Bush administration's foreign policy in general and its policy in Iraq and the territories in particular.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/701166.html

[Behind the Aegis]

1. conditionally.

[IndianaGreen]

2. By tomorrow Hillary will say that she disagrees with Bill

and the ever-scheming Clintons would have shown the gullible that Hillary is her own person.

[Tom Joad]

3. Israel should just get the hell out of the occupied territories

[AusGail]

4. I agree with you 100%

[Violet_Crumble]

5. I just took a peek at yr profile...

Welcome to DU. Mollymook holds a lot of good memories of school holidays down the coast when I was a kid. If you haven't already found it, us Australians have got our own forum if you want to join in...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=199

Violet...

[Rhiannon12866]

6. Welcome to DU, AusGail

It's great to have you with us! And I certainly agree with you, as well...

Rhiannon:-)

[Coastie for Truth]

7. Hamas should just

recognize the right of the Israelis to a national homeland. It could be a "win-win" game.

[Andromeda]

11. And Hamas should just stop

firing rockets at Israel.

[King Mongo]

12. pressure both sides

It is only fair that both sides recognize that both exists as unoccupied independent nations. There is no reason why both sides together should not be pressured towards recognizing such.

[Andromeda]

10. So it's not possible, in your view,

for Hillary to have a different opinion than her husband---if, in this case, she does---without some devious motive at work?

[IndianaGreen]

13. It isn't possible for the Clintons to do anything without triangulation

that has been their track record and I see nothing in Hillary to leads me to believe otherwise.

Remember when Hillary said she wasn't aware of Bill's involvement with Dubai?

[rfkrfk]

8. if Hamas wants something, why don't they just ask for it?

Hamas is in power, time to deliver

[Andromeda]

9. The headline is misleading...

certain conditions have to be met before he would support dealing with Hamas. If past behavior is any example it's going to be a very long wait, like when hell freezes over.