In a Washington Post op-ed piece this morning, Mahmoud al-Zahar, the founder of Hamas, explains what the Israelis need to do for peace:
A “peace process” with Palestinians cannot take even its first tiny step until Israel first withdraws to the borders of 1967; dismantles all settlements; removes all soldiers from Gaza and the West Bank; repudiates its illegal annexation of Jerusalem; releases all prisoners; and ends its blockade of our international borders, our coastline and our airspace permanently. This would provide the starting point for just negotiations and would lay the groundwork for the return of millions of refugees. Given what we have lost, it is the only basis by which we can start to be whole again.
Note that this would constitute the starting point for negotiations. At least al-Zahar makes a concession that the Holocaust actually happened, remarking, “Sixty-five years ago, the courageous Jews of the Warsaw ghetto rose in defense of their people.”
His big threat seems to be “demographics”; that is, that the Palestinians will out-breed the Israelis. But that notion seems to be undercut when he points out how many of his own kids and sons-in-law have been blown up.