The full text of the new Hamas document you can
find here
I do not see that they have reneged
on Article 7 of
their Charter and Hadith Bukhari, Volume 4,
Book 52, Number 177 which
quotes the Prophet Muhammad
Lt.
Col. (ret.) Jonathan D. Halevi
On May 1,
2017, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal presented Hamas’ much anticipated political
document, which does not abrogate the Hamas Charter but outlines the strategies
that the group has tailored to its current political circumstances.1
The
main points of Hamas’ new political document are:
§ Full
reliance on Islam as the group’s sole source of authority for its strategies
and objectives.
§ Denial
of the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in the Land of Israel, while
claiming that Israel’s establishment as a state is entirely illegitimate and
depicting Zionism as the enemy of humanity. Hamas claims it “does not wage a
struggle against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against
the Zionists who occupy Palestine.”
§ Conferral
of an “Arab-Islamic” and “sacred Islamic” character on all of Palestine,
entailing the complete denial of any bond or right of the Jewish people or of
Christianity to the land. [Hamas believes, based on the Koran and Islamic
sources, Jesus was neither a Jew nor a Christian but a prophet of Islam who
received the Islamic doctrine from Allah.]
§ Justification
of the current nature of the struggle to liberate Palestine, that is, the armed
struggle, while granting legitimacy to the existence and activity of the
“struggle organizations” – namely, the Palestinian terror organizations and
their activity.
§ Willingness
for a Palestinian state to be established within temporary borders (1967 lines)
as a step toward continuing the armed struggle to destroy Israel – “from the
river to the sea.”
§ Recognition
of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), while also demanding new
elections to its institutions and denying the validity of the organization’s
political line and of the agreements it has signed with Israel.
§ Praise
for the “free people” in the world who support the Palestinian struggle against
Israel.
What’s
behind Hamas’ Document Release?
An
analysis of Hamas’ policy in recent years, together with the wording of the new
political document, indicates that the objectives of this document are to
demonstrate an ostensible political flexibility and thereby create a dialogue
with the West, international institutions, and the United Nations, thus gaining
recognition for Hamas as a legitimate political actor while working to annul
its designation as a terror organization. Hamas’ senior officials are again
trying to foster the impression in the international community that time is
working in the Palestinians’ favor, and that alliance with Israel will not pay
off in the long run.
Political
deceit: Hamas
does not recognize the authority of the United Nations, its institutions, or
its resolutions, including Resolution 181 on partitioning the Land of
Israel/Palestine. In recent years, however, the group’s policy has changed. It
is now prepared to take part in the political game as long as it serves its objectives,
does not contravene the basic Islamic tenets that guide it, and brings the jihad closer
to the goal of liberating Palestine and destroying Israel.
Laying
the groundwork to take over the PLO: At present, Hamas’ overriding aim is to translate the
political power it has accumulated via its control of the Gaza Strip and the
support it receives from Islamic states such as Iran to take over the
representative Palestinian institutions that are recognized by the
international community. Hence, Hamas is demanding to join the PLO. Although
portrayed to the outside world as a reconciliation process, it is actually an
effort to conquer this organization – internationally recognized as the sole
and exclusive representative of the Palestinian people – from within. If Hamas
can gain control of the PLO, it will secure the legitimacy it needs to rule all
the Palestinian territories. It believes it can then use the international
community to support its jihad struggle against Israel.
Challenging
the Palestinian Authority:
The Palestinian arena is in a zero-sum struggle between the PA, which does not
rule Gaza, and Hamas, which is openly contesting the legitimacy of PA rule and
working to oust it and take over the PLO institutions. Hamas keeps striving to
undermine the PA’s control of the West Bank. It does so by stepping up the
intifada in its different forms, waging a propaganda campaign to deny the PA
government’s legitimacy, and building up the organizational infrastructure to
take part in the succession battle after Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) leaves the
scene.
For the
time being, Hamas seeks to maintain the status quo in the conflict with Israel.
At this stage, Hamas has no interest in initiating a round of military conflict
with Israel in Gaza unless it believes it would further the goal of toppling
the PA and assuming control of the PA’s West Bank institutions.
To subvert
Israel’s power and its exercise of the right to self-defense, Hamas will employ
diplomatic, legal, and propaganda means, using diplomatic pressures,
resolutions of international institutions, sanctions, and rulings of
international courts. Hamas assigns a special importance to liberal
organizations and activists in the world who support the Palestinian struggle.
