In an interview with the New York Times that lasted a total of 5 hours and was conducted over a two-day period, Hamas chief Khalid Mishal said "In order to understand Hamas you must listen to its point of view directly, Hamas is pleased whenever people want to hear directly from its leadership, rather than hearing about the movement from others"

What is the meaning of these words?

It is clear that Mishal wants to send a message to President Barack Obama's administration along the following lines: Don't listen to others about us, and don't speak to them about us, rather speak directly to us.

The militants, mujahedeen, nationalists and Islamists in our region are puzzling, for in the morning they attack their own people for being subservient agents of America, whilst in the evening – perhaps due to the time difference – they themselves want to speak [directly] to America.

Iran wants to open direct communication with Washington, Syria and Hamas also want to do this, not to mention the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria and Egypt, and even Izzat Al Douri [former Iraqi commander and current leader of the illegal Baathist party in Iraq] who is currently in hiding – if he is even still alive- wants to negotiate with America.

The reason for this is very simple; all of the above movements and countries with counterfeit slogans want to become part of the international community. They can no longer tolerate isolation, because the price of this has become too high, but they do not want to say so [openly] otherwise people will tell them; [if that is the case] why have you shed all this blood, and why have you brought all this destruction down upon us?

And so [now] here is Khalid Mishal telling the New York Times that Hamas is eager for a ceasefire with Israel, and ready to complete the deal [for the release] of the kidnapped Israeli soldier, which is the complete opposite of what Hamas and the chorus of [other] Arab blood traders told the public at the time.

At the time they were saying to let Israel kill as many innocent people as possible, as this will force them to stop their attack due to international pressure, which is what happened in the 2006 Lebanon war. After this Hamas declared victory, which is literally what one of the Hamas leaders in New York announced on the same day that the Arabs were trying to push through a UN resolution to stop the war in Gaza.

This is not everything of course, Khalid Mishal also told the American newspaper that Hamas has issued the order to halt the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel, and that Hamas is able to control the rocket fire, not just with regards to its own members, but also with regards to the rocket fire of other groups [in the Gaza Strip].

As for the reason behind the halting of rocket fire from Gaza, Mishal said that Hamas is currently under a process of reviewing this, and that the firing of rockets is a means to an end, and not the end itself, and that what is important is to serve Palestinian objectives.

My God…why did they call us traitors and [foreign] agents when we said that these rockets are merely made from tin, and only graze the exterior of the houses [causing minimal damage] yet result in an Israeli response that kills hundreds?

Why did they call us traitors and [foreign] agents when we said that Hamas has no right to bring harm to the innocent and defenseless whilst its leadership shelters in their cellars, and in mosques and schools?

It is unfortunate that Khalid Mishal now begins to speak with reason, after nearly 1,400 Gazans were killed, more than 5,000 were wounded, and a cost to the [Palestinian] economy of almost 1.9 billion dollars.

All of these victims received no help from those that cried for them [during the war] or the traders, for everybody today is busy with the theatrical play of "Mama America."