Starling Meets Raven: Turkish FM Meets Hamas Chief Haniyeh

Photo Credit: Abed Rahim Khatib/ Flash90

Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, November 23, 2019.

Our sages of blessed memory said (Bava Kamma 92b), “Not for naught did the starling go to the raven, but because it is its kind.” A good lesson to remember in light of a Saturday report from Turkey’s official news agency Anadolu headlined: Turkish foreign minister meets Hamas leader Haniyeh to discuss Gaza cease-fire.

After Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last December compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hitler, his Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan went ahead and met with Hitler’s heir, Hamas’s political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh.

Here’s a funny note: according to Anadolu, “Fidan and Haniyeh discussed the immediate establishment of a cease-fire in Gaza, increasing humanitarian aid, the release of hostages, and a two-state solution for lasting peace.”

Someone should tell Yahya Sinwar, Hitler’s other successor, that his brother-in-arms has defiled the Hamas charter which vows the annihilation of the Jewish State.

Lasting peace, indeed…

A Turkish diplomatic source told TASS a similar message: “During the meeting, they discussed a possible and soonest implementation of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, ways to increase humanitarian aid, the release of hostages, and the settlement of the conflict based on the formation of two states to reach the lasting peace.”

Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov greets PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife in Moscow. July 11, 2018. / Kobi Gideon / GPO
On Friday, TASS reported, citing Hamas’s Telegram channel, that a delegation led by the head of the terrorist group’s international relations bureau chief Musa Abu Marzouk met in Moscow with the Russian presidential envoy for the Middle East and African countries, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.

For the record, there was nothing about lasting peace in the Hamas statement, but, on the other hand, “the Hamas delegation appreciates Russia’s diplomatic efforts, as well as official and popular humanitarian aid provided to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”

The Hamas representatives “reaffirmed the right of the Palestinian people to freedom and return to their homes, as well as resistance to the illegal occupation by all available means,” Hamas stated.

As to Bogdanov, back in 2018, when he was only Russia’s deputy foreign minister and Boss Putin had not yet staged a murderous attack on Ukrainian civilians, Bogdanov said Russia would consider moving its embassy in Israel from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, but only after Israel agrees to establish a Palestinian State.

Bogdanov also insisted that the images of civilians being killed in Syria by the regime were staged propaganda.

TASS commented on Bogdanov’s promise, explaining that “Jerusalem is a major thorn in the side of Palestine’s relations with Israel that occupied the city’s eastern part in the 1967 war. They (the Israelis, apparently) insist Jerusalem is ‘the eternal, indivisible capital’ of Israel.”

Yes, they do insist.