Fatah spokesman: Hamas leader Mashaal speaks "with two tongues," one for foreign media and one for Arab audience
On October 23, 2010, PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida reported on Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal's statements about peace to Newsweek magazine:
Headline: "Mashaal: Hamas prepared to accept agreement with Israel which receives approval of most Palestinians"
"Khaled Mashaal, head of the Hamas Political Bureau, said that Hamas would be prepared to accept an agreement with Israel if the latter would agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital, in addition to the right of return, and if the new state would have full sovereignty over its land and borders, with no [Israeli] settlements. In a statement to the American magazine 'Newsweek', Mashaal said: 'Hamas will accept an agreement with Israel if most of the Palestinians approve it.' He added, 'We shall honor the decision of the Palestinian people.'"
The following day, PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida published Fatah's response to Mashaal's statements to Newsweek, accusing Hamas of doublespeak:
"Ahmed Asaf, Spokesman for the Fatah movement, said that Hamas's positions concerning Palestinian principles [including] the establishment of a Palestinian state within the borders of June 4th, 1967, as expressed by Khaled Mashaal to a reporter for the American magazine 'Newsweek', show that Hamas speaks with two tongues: the one strident and loud, when Hamas speaks to our Palestinian and Arab people, challenging the positions of Fatah and the PLO, and the other gentle and showing great flexibility, so as to obtain certification, as it were, for Hamas in the West."
Headline: "Mashaal: Hamas prepared to accept agreement with Israel which receives approval of most Palestinians"
"Khaled Mashaal, head of the Hamas Political Bureau, said that Hamas would be prepared to accept an agreement with Israel if the latter would agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital, in addition to the right of return, and if the new state would have full sovereignty over its land and borders, with no [Israeli] settlements. In a statement to the American magazine 'Newsweek', Mashaal said: 'Hamas will accept an agreement with Israel if most of the Palestinians approve it.' He added, 'We shall honor the decision of the Palestinian people.'"
The following day, PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida published Fatah's response to Mashaal's statements to Newsweek, accusing Hamas of doublespeak:
"Ahmed Asaf, Spokesman for the Fatah movement, said that Hamas's positions concerning Palestinian principles [including] the establishment of a Palestinian state within the borders of June 4th, 1967, as expressed by Khaled Mashaal to a reporter for the American magazine 'Newsweek', show that Hamas speaks with two tongues: the one strident and loud, when Hamas speaks to our Palestinian and Arab people, challenging the positions of Fatah and the PLO, and the other gentle and showing great flexibility, so as to obtain certification, as it were, for Hamas in the West."