Hamas Leader Plays Final Hand: Trying to Lift Group’s Pariah Status<br />It’s one of the greatest pressures the people of Gaza feel." Doggedness comes with a price, and Mr. Meshal is trying to balance<br />that toughness with the need to open up, in a reflection of the shifting political landscape — and just maybe tilt toward more expansive politics that might one day bring Hamas out of the cold.<br />Mr. Meshal, who spent his career shifting from one Arab capital to another, had his own close scrape: In 1997, a year after he became the leader of Hamas, Israeli spies sprayed poison into his ear on a street in Jordan, sending Mr. Meshal into a coma and setting off an angry diplomatic showdown between Jordan and Israel<br />that ended with the delivery of a lifesaving antidote.<br />He said the document — the product of four years of dialogue among leaders in Gaza, in prison<br />and in exile — at the very least showed that Hamas was open to changing its ideas.<br />"On one hand, they are attempting to appeal to hard-liners by not giving up their core principles,’’ said Mr. Thrall, the author of a forthcoming book on the Israeli-Palestinian<br />conflict, "The Only Language They Understand.’’ "On the other, people like Meshal were hoping the document could lead to openings with Sunni Arab states and the West.<br />Meshal said that We are making it clear that ours is a liberation project — not about religion or the Jews,<br />The favorites to succeed Mr. Meshal are Ismail Haniya, a Hamas leader in Gaza, and Abu Marzouk, who is said to be living in exile in Cairo.
