The Jerusalem Post has published details of a sermon preached last Friday by Sheik Ahmad Bahr, acting Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council. The sermon underlines just why Hamas is so totally beyond the pale that not even the European Union or Condi Rice will deal with it.

Ahmad Bahr began: ‘“You will be victorious” on the face of this planet. You are the masters of the world on the face of this planet. Yes, [the Koran says that] “you will be victorious,” but only “if you are believers.” Allah willing, “you will be victorious,” while America and Israel will be annihilated. I guarantee you that the power of belief and faith is greater than the power of America and Israel. They are cowards who are eager for life, while we are eager for death for the sake of Allah. That is why America’s nose was rubbed in the mud in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Somalia, and everywhere.

Bahr continued and said that America will be annihilated, while Islam will remain. The Muslims ‘“will be victorious, if you are believers.” Oh Muslims, I guarantee you that the power of Allah is greater than America, by whom many are blinded today. Some people are blinded by the power of America. We say to them that with the might of Allah, with the might of His Messenger, and with the power of Allah, we are stronger than America and Israel.’

The Hamas spokesperson concluded with a prayer, saying: ‘Oh Allah, vanquish the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them all, down to the very last one. [italics added] Oh Allah, show them a day of darkness. Oh Allah, who sent down His Book, the mover of the clouds, who defeated the enemies of the Prophet, defeat the Jews and the Americans, and bring us victory over them.’

Horrifying? Undoubtedly. Unequivocal? Most assuredly. No-one who is sentient and decent could possibly have anything to with such a bunch of genocidal psychopaths. Right?

Er, not quite. There is someone. It happens to be the British Prime Minister.

Last February, Tony Blair suggested that the British government might be prepared to do business with ‘the more sensible elements of Hamas’ in order to restore negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. This was about as rational as suggesting in 1942, say, that one might do business with the more sensible elements of the SS. But hey — this is Britain. It does appeasement. Produce a sect of fanatics who are totally beyond reason and bent on wiping out every last Jew and American, defeating the west and taking over the world and Britain will be beating a path to their door, cap in hand. This is because, in its unsurpassed cynicism, Britain believes there is no-one on the planet who is not basically turnable, susceptible to bribes or threats or flattery or what have you because everyone is out for their own self-interest.

I am told that shortly after making this remark about talking to the ‘more sensible elements of Hamas’, Blair was rudely disabused of such fantasies, not by Israel or America but by two somewhat unexpected sources. The first was Mahmoud Abbas, the front end of the Palestinian pantomime horse. The second was King Abdullah of Jordan. Both told Blair with great force that there were no sensible elements of Hamas, and talking to anyone inside that murderous organisation would be a total disaster because it would merely strengthen it.

Both men, of course, fear with very good reason that Hamas will destroy them. Britain does not. Sometimes, self-interest calls the bluff of even the most profound cynic. But how appalling — and how terrifying — that given half a chance the British government would feed Israel to the Hamas monster, while pretending to itself all the while that it was a pussycat. How little Britain has learned, even now, about the Middle East.

Since Blair was told these home truths by the Arab world, there has been no more talk from HMG about opening a dialogue with the ‘more sensible elements of Hamas’. Instead, when he was asked last month in the Commons by the Tory former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind for an assurance that the Government would not deal with the Hamas-led Palestinian authority ‘so long as it continues to support suicide bombing and the complete destruction of the state of Israel’, Blair retreated behind the formula that Hamas

…must accept the right of Israel to exist and that it must pursue a negotiated settlement through negotiation and not through violence. That will remain our position.’

That’s what might be called a non-assurance assurance. Appeasement of genocide has been put back into the British box of diplomatic tricks but only for the moment. It will slither out again.