A GAME OF LET'S PRETEND

Playing pretend (SAUL SINGER, JPost)

The whole world - even Russia and Egypt - is ostensibly demanding that Hamas recognize Israel's right to exist. Yet what is really being demanded is that Hamas pretend to accept Israel, like the PLO did in 1988. Unfortunately, as we have seen, pretend recognition can only produce pretend peace.

Luckily, perhaps, Hamas has shown few signs of giving up its hallmark honesty as to its goals. As Mahmoud al-Zahar, a key Hamas leader, explained to an Israeli paper during the campaign in October: "Some Israelis think that when we talk of the West Bank and Gaza it means we have given up our historic war. This is not the case." Speaking in Sudan this week, Khaled Mashaal, Hamas's Damascus-based leader, said: "Our goal is to free Jerusalem and to purify Al-Aksa Mosque... Don't fear, we will not recognize Israel."  Referring to the prospect of a Western aid cutoff, he added: "We are a nation which is ready to starve and die."

All this is considered bad news. The good news, we are told, would be if Hamas, as many diplomats still expect, changed its tune and "recognized" Israel. But what does recognition really mean?

It is not inconceivable that massive international pressure could induce Hamas to "recognize" Israel, despite its leaders' current bravado. But, in reality, all the international community is demanding is what it demanded of the PLO: that it recognize Israel's reality - which is hard to miss - rather than accept that Israel has any real right to exist.