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Hamas is very upset about the bad wrap they have been getting recently.

Question: What do terrorists do in an attempt to sway hearts and minds toward their warped ways?

Answer: They call on the MSM to take them on a sightseeing tour. True to MSM form, they hopped right on board that propaganda wagon and away they went.

This is the result:

Never mind the international isolation, growing poverty and reports of violent retribution against its defeated Fatah rivals. In Hamas’ own eyes, its takeover of Gaza has made the coastal strip “safe, clean and green.”

Safe? Somehow I doubt that, but if there is an ounce of truth to that statement it is because everyone lives in fear at the end of a rocket launcher. You would be hard pressed to find someone who will volunteer to step out of line with an AK-47 pointing at their head.

In an attempt to get that message across, Hamas took two busloads of foreign journalists on an air conditioned tour of Gaza on Monday — including a stop in a refugee camp where the deposed prime minister waved from his balcony and a prison visit hosted by one of Hamas’ most powerful military men.

Wow, “an air conditioned tour of Gaza”, complete with a “deposed prime minister” waving from his balcony. Sounds great.

Another bonus to this “tour” is that these lucky reporters got to meet one of “Hamas’ most powerful military men” in a terrorist style “meet and greet”.

The tour was colorful and revealing — a glimpse into how the Islamic militants see themselves and want to be seen. There were eight stops.

What are we supposed to think of terrorists who think nothing of waging jihad with their Jewish and Christian enemies or who use civilians as human shields? Are we to believe that the same terrorists that aired Farfur the mouse on their terrorist network are good guys? We all remember Farfur the mouse, he was the mouse character designed to look like a crazy Mickey Mouse. These nut jobs hijacked the West’s beloved Mickey character to brainwash children into waging jihad against their enemies as future suicide bombers.

“The Hamas satellite TV channel has responded to the international controversy over its hatred-spouting Mickey Mouse clone by having the character beaten to death by an Israeli and becoming a Shahid, martyr for Allah.”

Nonetheless, the AP sympathizers continued on the Hamas guided tour.

• Stop One. Ismail Haniyeh’s house.

“It’s not a luxurious house,” Hamas tour guide Ahmad Asmar said before the buses pulled up to the home of Haniyeh, whom Hamas still considers prime minister even though he was fired by Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah-affiliated president, after Hamas’ takeover. Haniyeh lives among the people in the Shati refugee camp on the Gaza City beach. Dressed in a suit and tie on a hot summer day, Haniyeh suddenly appeared on his balcony and waved to the reporters.

This is a complete joke. Am I supposed to think that the ex-Prime Minister is a real man of the people? Sorry, I don’t.

• Stop Two. Yasser Arafat’s house.

“It is our job to keep this house secure,” said senior Haniyeh aide Ghazi Hamad, disputing Fatah and media claims that the home of the late Palestinian leader had been looted and vandalized. Hamas officials stressed that they respected Arafat and the Fatah movement he founded. Arafat’s picture remains posted on the walls of many buildings controlled by Hamas.

I could care less about Arafat’s house or his portraits, but the picture to the right is of Hamas looting the house including stepping on one of Arafat’s pictures. Hmmm, a bit of a contradiction?

Stop Three. Presidential guest house.

The guest house, where Abbas used to entertain foreign dignitaries, remains just as it was when Fatah abandoned it in defeat. A photograph of Arafat and Nelson Mandela adorns the wall of one room, and in the bedroom, a photo of Arafat and Bill Clinton. Even the ashtrays and water glasses have been left untouched. Hamad said it’s Hamas’ duty to preserve such places “until we reach a political compromise” with Fatah. At the moment, that’s[sic] looks unlikely. Fatah, whose defeat in Gaza has left it in charge of the West Bank and eligible for fresh diplomacy with Israel and the West, says it has no interest in talking to Hamas.

Oh isn’t that perfect. I bet they can hardly wait to put up a picture of President Hillary right next to first lady Bill.

• Stop Four. The Palestinian parliament.

Acting parliamentary speaker Ahmad Bahar offered journalists a long explanation of how the Hamas-controlled legislature favors human rights, Palestinian unity, press freedom and a swift end to Israeli occupation. The rub: Since Hamas’ takeover, the Palestinian parliament has not been functioning, and no resumption is likely any time soon.

Somehow I find it very unlikely that people who preach “hatred of the Jews, hatred of America, and the joys of blowing oneself up in the middle of a crowd of infidels” is remotely interested in human rights.

• Stop Five. National Security Headquarters.

The head of the Executive Force, Hamas’ main security force in Gaza, was flanked by black-clad gunmen as he told the reporters that their job is “sacred” and that they have an obligation to tell the world the truth about Hamas. Abu Obeida said Hamas respects human rights and holds no political prisoners — denying claims by human rights workers that at least nine Fatah loyalists have been killed and more than 20 others arrested since Hamas’ takeover.

“We are working according to the law,” Abu Obeida said before taking journalists to a jail in the same compound. Prisoners prayed and cooked and answered journalists’ questions, with many saying their conditions had improved since Hamas took power. “I can open the refrigerator” to show how nice the food is, said 46-year-old inmate Menahed Ehlayel. No one on the tour, in the jail or anywhere else, said anything negative about Hamas, which much of the world has branded a terrorist organization.

This is classic. The reason nobody said anything negative about Hamas is because THEY ARE IN JAIL, or worse, DEAD. That’s what happens to people who say negative things about Hamas. What a hack job. Are these reporters for real? This is the epitome of stupidity.

• Stop Six. A Roman Catholic church.

A Hamas minder tried to stop a reporter from asking Father Manuel Musallam, Gaza’s only Catholic priest, about who was behind the ransacking of a Catholic convent and nearby school during June’s Hamas-Fatah fighting. Musallam answered anyway, saying Haniyeh had offered his support in finding the perpetrators. “We suffer with them, but we haven’t suffered from them,” the priest said of Hamas and Gaza’s other Muslim inhabitants. Still, a number of Gaza’s 3,000 Christians have privately expressed concern about Hamas’ intentions.

Well, at least the MSM threw in the obligatory “a number of Gaza’s 3,000 Christians have privately expressed concern about Hamas’ intentions”. You think?

• Stop Seven. The Rafah border crossing.

Hamas gunmen guard the perimeter of Gaza’s main gateway to the outside world, its border crossing with Egypt. Like all other Gaza crossings, the Rafah border has been shut since Hamas’ takeover, leaving thousands of Gazans stranded on the other side. The reporters were taken within a few yards of the Egyptian side. Three truckloads of wheat flour passed by from another nearby crossing — part of the daily humanitarian aid flow that sustains the vast majority of Gaza’s 1.4 million people. Hamad said Hamas would like to see Abbas’ forces regain control of border crossings such as Rafah, aware that Israel would never permit Hamas to conduct security checks there. Fatah has ruled this out.

Who would have thought that Hamas was such a great bunch of humanitarians? I had no idea that they were providing wheat flour to all their refugees. That seals it for me, I have been completely convinced by the MSM’s story. Those guys in Hamas really aren’t the terrorists I once thought but are actually all sweetness and light.

What are we all worried about? In fact, Israel should lower its arms and reach out with that hand shake. Hamas along with the rest of the Middle East would be receptive, right?

• Stop Eight. Haniyeh speaks.

The tour ended with a speech by Haniyeh at an upscale Gaza City hotel. To get there, the buses drove along the beach, where thousands of Gazans have been flocking since Hamas’ takeover improved the internal security situation in Gaza. Veiled women sat waist-deep in the ocean with their children as Hamas security forces guarded the beach. Haniyeh described how Hamas’ takeover had ended factional fighting and the murderous chaos that had taken over Gaza’s streets. Father Musallam sat next to Haniyeh, who began his speech by saying Christians were “a very important part of our people.”

The only thoughts I have regarding this story is that the AP reporters along with the rest of the MSM truly are terrorist cheerleaders who would like to see nothing more than the West along with Israel to go down in flames. For me, this goes down as one of the worst, misleading reports I’ve ever read. It makes me wonder if Hamas wrote it for them?

Trackposted to Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Rosemary’s Thoughts, DeMediacratic Nation, Conservative Cat, and Right Truth, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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