Khaled Mash'al, the political bureau head of the terrorist group Hamas, has little patience for Palestinians who suggest reconciliation with Israelis. This is not at all surprising, because his group, Hamas, is dedicated to the permanent destruction of Israel by violent means. Indeed the Hamas Covenant, written in 1988, declares: "There is no other solution for the Palestinian problem other than jihad [holy war]. All the initiatives and international conferences are a waste of time and a futile game."

Consider Mash'al's reaction to a speech delivered at the Aqaba peace summit by former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Abu Mazen, who, calling for an end to the armed Intifada, declared: "We will exert all of our efforts using all our resources to end the militarization of the Intifada, and we will succeed. The armed Intifada must end, and we must use and resort to peaceful means in our quest to end the occupation and the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis. And to establish the Palestinian state . . . our goal is clear, and we will implement it firmly and without compromise: a complete end to violence and terrorism."

In response to these words, Mash'al condemned what he called "the conspiracy being woven against the Palestinian people," a conspiracy he believed was being carried out with Mazen's passive acquiescence. Mash'al accused President Bush of conspiring with Israel to keep the Palestinians eternally subservient. And he denounced Mazen for speaking "[about] the [Palestinian] resistance as terror, and about putting an end to the armed resistance."