Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Leaders of the Palestinian group Hamas will not have a seat at the next week’s Mideast peace talks in Washington. But as The World’s Matthew Bell reports from Jerusalem, some moderates within Hamas still believe that the US can be a fair mediator in seeking a two-state solution.

Read the Transcript
This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman and this is The World, a coproduction of the BBC World Service, PRI, and WGBH in Boston. Next week, Barack Obama will formally launch his personal attempt to make history. Holding the first round of direct Middle East Peace Talks in 20 months. Mr. Obama will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Hillary Clinton will be there and so will US special envoy, George Mitchell. But it’s those who won’t be there that’s got some experts wondering how effective these talks might be. The World’s Matthew Bell begins our coverage in Jerusalem.

MATTHEW BELL:  Hamas will not have a seat at the White House dinner table next week. Nor will it be taking part in the peace talks aimed at creating a Palestinian state. That’s significant because the Islamic militant group controls the Gaza Strip. The territory is home to 1.5 million Palestinians who aspire to be citizens of a new independent state. Hamas also has a presence in the West Bank, which is ruled by the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority under President Mahmoud Abbas. At an IFTAR banquet last night in the West Bank city of Ramallah to break the Ramadan fast, Hamas supporters and politicians showed up in numbers.

AZIZ DWEIK:  My name is Aziz Dweik. I am the speaker of the Palestinian parliament.

BELL: In a blue suit and tie and a neatly trimmed beard, Dweik is one of the more moderate, practical members of Hamas’ political wing. He says the only reason peace talks are happening next week is because the White House is forcing the Palestinian president to attend. Mahmoud Abbas has said that even if there’s a 1% chance of reaching a comprehensive peace deal with Israel, he has to go for it. But Dweik says Abbas is kidding himself.

DWEIK: The Israelis have no 1%, one in one-millionth intention really to make peace with the Palestinians. At this point in history it is an American bargain and it is not a Palestinian bargain.

BELL: So, what does that mean? If attending a US-sponsored summit to talk with the Israelis is a waste of time, I ask Dweik, is it time to go back to war?

DWEIK: All the peoples of the world have their own ways to defend their rights and I think the Palestinians are not in any sense less than any other people in the world.

BELL: Comments from the exiled leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal in Damascus, Syria this week were more direct. Meshaal said the talks are illegitimate and they do not commit our people to anything. Meshaal then called for resistance, which is seen by Israel and the west as just another word for violence.

NASHAT AQTASH: When it comes to Hamas as an ideology, few people are supporting Hamas.

BELL: Nashat Aqtash is a political consultant who helped Hamas win the Palestinian legislative election in 2006.

AQTASH:  When it comes to Hamas as a political platform to solve the Palestinian problem in the failure of the peace process, it’s 80% supporting Hamas.

BELL: Palestinian skepticism that yet another round of peace talks will accomplish anything isn’t lost on the Palestinian president. Abbas has also acknowledged that Hamas should eventually play a role in any deal with Israel. A former deputy prime minister for Hamas, Nassar Al-Shaer says there are internal divisions in Hamas. There are radicals and there are moderates who he says still believe that the US can be a fair mediator in seeking a two state solution. But he says the US simply must engage with Hamas.

NASSAR AL-SHAER: If you would like to make peace, you need to talk to the people with whom are you making peace. The people? You need to [INDISCERNIBLE]. And you need to listen to them. If you put them in black list from the beginning, this means that there will be no peace. You are going wrong direction.

BELL: Hamas officials have said they would be willing to end the conflict if Israel returns to the borders of 1967, gives up East Jerusalem for the capital of a new Palestinian state, and lets Palestinian refugees return to Israel. Some experts see these statements as a sign of moderation. There’s another school of thought however, that looks at the Hamas charter, which calls for the destruction of the state of Israel, and it says Hamas is a terrorist organization that can’t be reasoned with. For The World, I’m Matthew Bell in Jerusalem.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.