Much ado about Meshaal

It is not to say that journalists shouldn't pursue an interesting story where they can. And interviewing Khaled Meshaal, the under-assassinated head of Hamas, is a good story.

This article, however, is almost totally devoid of anything new, aside of that dramatic description of the circumstances surrounding the interview itself. Yeah, I know, there was a video shown on CNN, which was also kinda shallow. But the opening lines of the story just take the cake:

Sitting in a room with the top Hamas leader - a man Israel would prefer dead - is not an easy feeling, knowing that at any second a missile could shatter the building, killing everyone inside, myself included.

It is not that there was any real concern - after all, Israeli jets have not launched missiles at any targets in Damascus for quite a long time. But what wouldn't one do for a bit of a drama?

So what were the main messages conveyed by Meshaal?

We did not blackmail Israel, and we gave free information to Gilad Shalit's father and his family that Gilad Shalit is still alive.

Read Jack talking about this crap.

Hamas changed a lot and great efforts have been made to conform with the realistic positions of Palestinians and Arabs.

Yeah, right. It will be an overwhelming message to the citizens of Sderot, remember?

"We have decided to make Sderot a ghost town," said a spokesman for Hamas who gave his name as Abu Ubeideh. "We are not going to stop launching our rockets until they leave."

I do not recall Meshaal or any other Hamas VIP rescinding this policy and I do not see the end to this practice. Do you?

"I am 51 years old, and the past 10 years have been a gift from above," he told CNN.

Not only is it true, it is also not his fault...

Palestinians and the Arab world will cling to his words, but perhaps his most captivated audience will be the state of Israel.

Nope.

As if to stress that renewed peace drive of Hamas, comes this news:

Hamas may carry out a mega-terror attack, the Deputy Shin Bet Chief, known only as Y, told cabinet members Sunday. "There were clear orders from the Hamas headquarters abroad to Hamas here to carry out a mass casualty attack in Israel," he said.

That sounds more likely...

Cross-posted on Yourish.com.

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