Far more people are talking to Hamas than anyone might think
Members of Parliament from France, Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe have met with Hamas leaders since late last year, according to senior Hamas terrorist Osama Hamdan. Hamdan said this week that an increasing number of European parliamentarians were holding direct meetings with Hamas.
According to the British Independent, two French MPs traveled to Damascus earlier in the month to meet Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal. One week earlier, two British MPs had traveled to Beirut to meet with Hamdan.
"Far more people are talking to Hamas than anyone might think,” a senior European diplomat told the paper.
Official EU policy is to boycott Hamas, which is internationally recognized as a terrorist group. Hamas seeks the destruction of Israel and the creation of a worldwide Islamic Caliphate, and views deliberate attacks on civilians as an acceptable tactic.
Hamas and its backers are reportedly hoping that the recent Cast Lead counterterrorism operation in Gaza and the new administration in the United States will lead to a change in policy.
However, senior diplomats in Britain and elsewhere said that the MPs who visited Hamas terrorists did so of their own initiative. There has been no change in EU policy regarding the group, they stated.