Hamas, Hezbollah coming in out of the cold?

There are too unusual developments in the ever-changing political landscape of the Middle East. In recent Lebanese elections, Hezbollah captured 23 seats in the parliament. See The Chicago Tribune's coverage here. As yet, this "sheep's clothing" still covers a wolf, for the group has its own heavily armed militia, ready and willing to launch attacks on Israel.

Curiously, Hezbollah is considered a legitimate political party by Arabs states, as well as the EU. But at the same time, Israel, the U.S. and other Western nations regarded as an Islamic terrorist organization.

Another terrorist group in the region appears to be a thing to come in out of the cold. The non-military wing of Hamas is fielding candidates for the upcoming Palestinian Authority parliamentary elections. This terrorist group hasn't even pulled the wool over itself to change its public persona. It seeks the destruction of Israel. Hamas regularly trains and sends out suicide bombers against Israeli targets, both military and civilian. The U.S., Britain, the EU and Canada classify it as a terrorist group and refuse to meet with its leadership.

British Foreign Minister Jack Straw recently ran into controversy on a diplomatic mission to China, when news of British meetings with low-level Hamas representatives became public. Mr. Straw explained that his government was facing a dilemma. On the one hand, it refuses to meet with terrorists. On the other hand, London is committed to having contact with elected by the Palestinians. Two Hamas party member are mayors of towns in the Palestinian territory. You can read the CBC article, "Britain Admits Contact with Hamas" article on Abbas and Sharon's showdown over East Jerusalem in the current issue of World News and Prophecy.

Interestingly, the sixth prime minister of Israel, Menachem Begin was a terrorist who at one time had a high bounty on his head. Of course, he laid down his arms and truly became a legitimate political leader. Here is an excerpt from a biographical sketch on this colorful and courageous man.

He...joined the Free Polish Army. The stint took him to Iran and then Palestine. He learned English from listening to BBC Radio. He then served in the British Army in Palestine as an interpreter until 1943.

At that time, he became the leader of the liberation movement Irgun Tzvi Leumi- Etzel- whose means were more violent than the mainstream Haganah, with which he disagreed over how to push the British out of Palestine.

In 1946, under his leadership, the Irgun blew up a wing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, where the British were headquartered. Some 90 people- Jews and Arabs, as well as British- were killed, despite warnings that there would be a bombing.

Begin's picture, that of a wanted terrorist, was posted in all British prisons and offices in Palestine. The British conducted an extensive manhunt for Begin, who had a price on his head that began at $8,000 but was raised to $50,000. Begin escaped the British dragnet by disguising himself as a bearded Orthodox rabbi.
You can read the entire biography here.