The
Hamas Charter ("The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement")
rejects all peace talks with the State of Israel and stresses
the terrorist organization's commitment to destroy Israel through a
long-term holy war (jihad). The 1988 charter - an overtly antisemitic
and anti-Western document which expresses Hamas' radical Islamic outlook
- is valid till today.
The
charter's extremist stance is uncompromising with regard to Israel. It
expresses total opposition to any agreement or arrangement
that would recognize Israel's right to exist.
Hamas'
charter views jihad as the means to capture all of "Palestine" from the
Jews and to destroy the State of Israel. It states that
Palestine is comprised of sacred Islamic land and it is strictly
forbidden to give up an inch of it because no one (including Arab
rulers) has the authority to do so. Repeated statements from Hamas
leaders define Palestine as including not just the West Bank
and Gaza but all of the current State of Israel.
In
the introduction to the charter, there is a quote attributed to Muslim
Brotherhood founder Hassan Al-Banna that "Israel will exist
and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it...." Hamas'
terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians are seen as links in the
jihad chain.
It
views the "problem of Palestine" as a religious-political Muslim issue,
and the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation as a conflict between
Islam and the "infidel" Jews. Article 15 of the charter states that the
jihad to liberate Palestine is the personal duty of every Muslim, an
idea expounded by al-Qaeda founder Abdallah Azzam.
Overt
and vicious antisemitism, inspired by both Islamic and European
sources, is articulated extensively throughout the document. The
all-out jihad against the Jewish people is legitimized by demonizing
the Jews and warning that they want to take over not only the Middle
East but also the rest of the world.
The
document includes antisemitic myths directly lifted from "The Protocols
of the Elders of Zion" regarding Jewish world control, while
the Jews are also held responsible for all world and local wars, as
well as prominent revolutions. Anti-Jewish conspiracy theories abound.
The Jews are also presented as worthy only of humiliation and lives of
misery. That is because, according to the charter,
they angered Allah, rejected the Koran and killed the prophets.
With
regard to international relations, the charter manifests an extremist
worldview which is as anti-Western as that of global jihad
organizations.
The
charter points out the ideological difference between Hamas, with its
radical Islamic worldview, and the secularly-oriented Palestine
Liberation Organization, but does refer to the need for Palestinian
unity to face the Jewish enemy.
In
recent years, senior Hamas officials have continued to emphasize their
commitment to the terrorist organization's charter and have stated that
they will never change a single word of it.
Appendix:
The Hamas Charter: Excerpts
Calls for the Destruction of Israel
·
"Israel
will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it" (The Martyr, Imam Hassan
al-Banna, of
blessed memory)." [Introduction]
·
"The
Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement,
whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives
to raise
the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine…" [Article 6]
·
"There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad." [Article 13]
·
"The
Slogan of the Islamic Resistance Movement: Allah is its target, the
Prophet is its model, the Koran its constitution: Jihad is its path and
death for
the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes." [Article 8]
·
"In face of the Jews' usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised." [Article 15]
·
"The
Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine is an Individual Duty: " "The day
that enemies usurp part of Moslem land, Jihad becomes the individual
duty of every
Moslem. In face of the Jews' usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory
that the banner of Jihad be raised." [Article 15]
·
"The
basic structure of the Islamic Resistance Movement consists of Moslems
who have given their allegiance to Allah whom they truly worship, - "I
have created
the jinn and humans only for the purpose of worshipping" - who know
their duty towards themselves, their families and country. In all that,
they fear Allah and raise the banner of Jihad in the face of the
oppressors, so that they would rid the land and the
people of their uncleanliness, vileness and evils." [Article 3]
Rejection of Peace Negotiations
·
"Leaving the circle of struggle with Zionism is high treason." [Article 32]
·
"The
Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an
Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgment
Day. It, or
any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should
not be given up. Neither a single Arab country nor all Arab countries,
neither any king or president, nor all the kings and presidents, neither
any organization nor all of them, be they
Palestinian or Arab, possess the right to do that." [Article 11]
·
"Now
and then the call goes out for the convening of an international
conference to look for ways of solving the (Palestinian) question….
These conferences
are only ways of setting the infidels in the land of the Moslems as
arbitrators." [Article 13]
·
"The
Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: "The Day of
Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the
Jews), when
the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will
say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.""
[Article 7]
·
"The
Zionist plan is limitless. After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to
expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the
region they
overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan
is embodied in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", and their present
conduct is the best proof of what we are saying." [Article 32]
·
"For
a long time, the enemies have been planning, skillfully and with
precision, for the achievement of what they have attained. They took
into consideration
the causes affecting the current of events. They strived to amass great
and substantive material wealth which they devoted to the realization
of their dream. With their money, they took control of the world media,
news agencies, the press, publishing houses,
broadcasting stations, and others. With their money they stirred
revolutions in various parts of the world with the purpose of achieving
their interests and reaping the fruit therein. They were behind the
French Revolution, the Communist revolution and most
of the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there. With their
money they formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs,
the Lions and others in different parts of the world for the purpose of
sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist
interests. With their money they were able to control imperialistic
countries and instigate them to colonize many countries in order to
enable them to exploit their resources and spread corruption there. You
may speak as much as you want about regional and
world wars. They were behind World War I, when they were able to
destroy the Islamic Caliphate, making financial gains and controlling
resources." [Article 22]
·
"The
Zionist invasion is a vicious invasion. It does not refrain from
resorting to all methods, using all evil and contemptible ways to
achieve its end. It
relies greatly in its infiltration and espionage operations on the
secret organizations it gave rise to, such as the Freemasons, The Rotary
and Lions clubs, and other sabotage groups. All these organizations,
whether secret or open, work in the interest of
Zionism and according to its instructions. They aim at undermining
societies, destroying values, corrupting consciences, deteriorating
character and annihilating Islam. It is behind the drug trade and
alcoholism in all its kinds so as to facilitate its control
and expansion." [Article 28]
·
"Our
struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious….The Movement
is but one squadron that should be supported by more and more squadrons
from this
vast Arab and Islamic world, until the enemy is vanquished and Allah's
victory is realized." [Introduction]
·
"Peoples
should augment by further steps on their part; Islamic groupings all
over the Arab world should also do the same, since all of these are the
best-equipped
for the future role in the fight with the warmongering Jews." [Article
32]
The Conflict with Israel as a Religious Struggle
·
"The Movement's program is Islam." [Article 1]
·
"It
is necessary to instill in the minds of the Moslem generations that the
Palestinian problem is a religious problem, and should be dealt with on
this basis."
[Article 15]
·
"The
Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of Moslem Brotherhood
in Palestine. Moslem Brotherhood Movement is a universal organization
which constitutes
the largest Islamic movement in modern times." [Article 2]
·
Palestine
is an Islamic Waqf land consecrated for Moslem generations until
Judgment Day. This being so, who could claim to have the right to
represent Moslem
generations till Judgment Day?" [Article 11]
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Note:
This document is based, in part, on "Analysis of the Hamas Charter" by
the ITIC (The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information
Center).