The Lebanese al-Mayadeen news channel published on Monday a leaked new charter for the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. The charter was allegedly planned to be officially released by Khalid Mashaal, the president of the political office of Hamas, at his last press conference before leaving office. The leak has since been confirmed by Hamas official Ahmad Yousif.
Toufic Haddad, the author of the book Palestine Ltd: Neoliberalism and National Liberation in the Occupied Territory, offered his analysis of the document and said it illustrates the movement’s maturation as a major domestic political actor. Haddad pointed out that it responds to broader regional and international trends of sectarianism and the “war on terror” by repeatedly emphasizing Islam and Hamas’ tolerance, moderation and opposition to all forms of oppression, including making a clear distinction between Zionism and Judaism, a distinction that has been noted elsewhere.
Mondoweiss obtained the details of the charter released by al-Mayadeen and translated the full text. This translation was provided by a resident of Aida refugee camp who would rather not have their name published out of fear of reprisals from Israeli authorities.
In the name of God the merciful
The Islamic resistance movement Hamas (IRMH)
The Political Charter
Thank Allah, the god of people, our prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Mohammed the master of missionaries and the imam of the mujahideen, and peace to his family and partners, all of them.
The IRMH published since its establishment, and during its jihad journey, considering it one of the items of the Palestinian national movements, different charters clarifying their point of view and their political vision.
And in this charter, the movement shows its principals and destinations in which it depends on to build its vision, its speech and to determine its behavior and political performance.
The definition of the movement:
- The IRMH is a liberation, Islamic and Palestinian national resistance movement. It aims to liberate Palestine and to fight against the Zionist Project, its reference is Islam in its principles and goals.
Palestine’s Land:
- Palestine, with its historical known borders from Jordan’s river in the east to the mediterranean sea in the west, from Ras Al Nakora in the north to Om Al Rashrash in the south, this land is Palestinian and a united regional unit. Displacing Palestinians and creating a Zionist entity does not cancel the right of Palestinians to their entire land, and does not validate the Zionist entity to violate this land.
- Palestine is an Arab and Islamic land, it is holy and blessed and it has a special place in the heart of all Arabs and Muslims.
Palestine’s People:
- The Palestinians are the Arab citizens who lived in Palestine before 1947. Anyone who was displaced or stayed in Palestine, anyone who was born from an Arab Palestinian father after 1947, inside or outside the country is Palestinian.
- The Palestinian personality is an original quality, does not disappear, and it is transmitted from a father to children. The displacement that happened to Palestinians from the Zionist occupation does not make them lose their personality and belonging, as well as, having another nationality does not make them lose their identification or national rights.
- Palestinians make up one nation, with all Palestinians inside the country and abroad, and with all its items religious, cultural or political.
Islam and Palestine:
- Palestine is in the center of the Islamic and Arab world and it retains a special importance. In Palestine is the al-Aqsa Mosque, which Allah blesses, and it is the holy land that god blesses as well. It is the first destinations for Muslims, and Prophet Mohammed’s place where he started his journey to the sky and heaven and the Nativity of Jesus. It is the land of thousands and thousand of all prophets and messenger who passed in history and it is the land of the people who have the right to stay until Allah finishes this existence.
- Hamas understands Islam in all its details, and it is appropriate for all places and times in its neutral spirituality, and Hamas believes that it is the religion of peace and forgiveness, and under its shadow all different religious followers live safe and in safety. As well as it believes that Palestine was and will stay as an example of coexistence, forgiveness and civilian innovation.
- Hamas believes that the message of Islam came with morals of justice, truth, dignity and freedom, and is against injustice in all its shapes, and criminalizes the criminals whatever their sex, color, religion or nationality are. Islam is against all shapes of religious extremism, sectarian extremism and ethnic extremism, and it is the religion that teaches its followers to fight against the tyranny and help weak people and it teaches its followers to sacrifice their time, money and themselves in the defense of their dignity, land, people and holy places.
Jerusalem:
- Jerusalem city is the capital of Palestine, it has its religious, historical and civilian place in an Arab, Islamic and human way, and all its Islamic and Christian holy places headed by Al Aqsa mosque is a non-negotiable right for Palestine, Arab and the Islamic nations. We do not surrender it or give any part of it, and all the occupation’s procedures in Jerusalem such as Judaization, settlement of the city as well as the forgery of the truth, are illegal.
Refugees and the Right of Return:
- The Palestinian cause is basically a cause of an occupied land and displaced people, and the right of return for all Palestinians who were displaced from the 1948 or 1967 lands, which means from the whole of Palestine. Palestinians have the natural right to go back to their land, which is a personal and general right for all Palestinians. Confirming this right is all the religions, human rights and international law, and it is non-negotiable for anyone, whether Palestinian, Arab or foreign.
- Hamas refuses all projects that aim to destroy the refugees’ cause, including all attempts to naturalize them as citizens in other countries and alternative home projects. Hamas considers the compensation for Palestinians after displacing them and occupying their land as an essential right, established after their return, and it does not cancel or reduce their [physical] right of return.
The Zionist Project:
- The Zionist Project is a racist, aggressive and separatist project based on violating others’ rights and is against Palestine’s people and its vision for freedom, liberation, sovereignty and the return of the refugees. And the Israeli state is the tool of this project and its foundation.
- The Zionist Project does not just attack the Palestinian people, it attacks the Arab and Islamic nations as well, and it establishes a real danger and gravelly threatens its security and interest. At the same time, the project is against the future of the union, development and liberation of that nation. The Zionist Project threatens international peace and security, as well as the interests of humanity and stabilization.
- Hamas differentiates between Jews as people of the holy book, and Judaism as a religion and the occupation and the Zionist Project as something separate, and it sees that the conflict is with the Zionist Project not with the Jewish people because of their religion. And Hamas does not have a conflict with the Jews because they are Jews, but Hamas has a conflict with the Zionists, occupiers and aggressors, and will fight anyone who tries to attack the Palestinian people or occupy their land whatever their religion, nationality or identity may be.
- Hamas refuses the persecution of any human being or violation of any human right because of religion, ethnicity, sector or nationality. Hamas sees that the Jewish problem and the “anti-semitism” and the injustice against the Jewish people is a phenomenon related to European history, not to the history of Arabs and Muslims or their heritage. The basic cause of the formation of the Zionist movement was the phenomenon of anti-semitism. The Zionist movement was able to occupy Palestine with the help of the western colony, and this movement is the most dangerous model of settler occupation, which was removed whole world and should be removed from Palestine.
The Position on the Occupation and the Political Arrangement:
- The Balfour Declaration and the British mandate convention on Palestine is illegal, and the UN decision for Palestine’s division, and all its consequences and other conventions similar to it and the creation of Israel was illegal from the beginning, and it is against the Palestinian’s rights, its determination, human rights, international law and the right of sovereignty.
- We do not recognize the Zionist state. All shapes of occupation, settlements, Judaization and the forgery of truth are illegal. These rights do not dissolve with time.
- We do not leave any part of the Palestinian’s land, under any circumstances, conditions or pressure, as long as the occupation remains. Hamas refuses any alternative which is not the whole liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea. And the creation of the Palestinian independent state with its sovereignty, with Jerusalem as its capital, on the borders of the 4th of June 1967, with the return of the refugees to their homes from where they were displaced is a common national consensual formula, and it does not mean the recognition of the Zionist state or the surrendering of Palestinian rights.
- Hamas refuses all conventions or initiatives and any projects that aim to destroy the Palestinian cause or take away the rights of the Palestinian people.
- Hamas confirms that no peace in Palestine should be agreed on, based on injustice to the Palestinians or their land. Any arrangements based on that will not lead to peace, and the resistance and Jihad will remain as a legal right, a project and an honor for all our nations’ people.
The Resistance and the Liberation:
- The liberation of Palestine is the Palestinians’ duty in the first place, and the Arab and Islamic nation’s duty in general, and it is a human responsibility according to human justice and rights. And all the organizations and institutes such as: Palestinian, Arab, Islamic or human are all integrated organizations with no problems or disharmony.
- The resistance against the occupation, with all different tool or instruments, is a legal right legalized by religious, traditional or international law, and especially the armed resistance that is the strategic option to protect our principles and get back our rights.
- Hamas refuses to hinder the resistance or its weapons, and confirms the right of our people to develop resistance tools and equipments. Hamas confirms that the resistance leadership can decide the level of resistance and can utilize a variety of the different tools and way to administrate the conflict, without compromising the resistance.
The Political System:
- The real state is the fruit of the liberation, and there is no alternative to the creation of the Palestinian state, with its sovereignty on the entire Palestinian land with Jerusalem as its capital.
- Hamas believes in administering of the Palestinian relations under the belief of pluralism, democracy, bilateral conversations and partnerships, which makes stronger the union of the Palestinian line to achieve our national goals and the aspirations of our people.
- The PLO is a national diagram for Palestinian people inside the country and abroad, which we should keep, with the importance of its development and reconstruction on a democratic basis, including the participation of all the parts and organizations of the Palestinian people, which conserve Palestinian rights.
- Hamas confirms the importance of building Palestinian national organizations and references, using a democratic basis, starting with free and fair elections, and on the basis of resistance and national partnership, with a program and a clear strategy, confirming our rights and to achieve the aspirations of our people.
- The Hamas movement confirms its total rejection of Oslo’s conventions, its consequences and its results, which made contradictory compromises of the benefits of the Palestinians.
- The Hamas movement confirms that the role of the Palestinian Authority must be in the service of the Palestinian people, and its security in order to protect the people’s rights and the national project.
- Hamas confirms the importance of the independence of the Palestinian decision, and not to relate it to any external issues, and confirms at the same time, the responsibility of Arabs and Muslims and their duty to liberate Palestine from the Zionist occupation.
- The different parts of the Palestinian community: personalities, idols and civilian social institutes, the youth, students, women and workers unions, who work to achieve the national goals, are an important resource for the social construction and for the resistance and liberation project.
- The role of the Palestinian woman is a basis for the construction of today and the future, as it was always in the making of Palestinian history, and it is a central role in the resistance, liberation project and the construction of the political system.
The Arab and Islamic Nation:
- Hamas believes in the union of the nation with all its items such as religious, ethnic and sectarian, and it sees the importance in avoiding anything which may destroy this union.
- Hamas believes that the Palestinian cause is the central cause for the Arab and Islamic nation.
- Hamas believes in cooperation with all the countries that support the Palestinian people’s rights, and refuses to be involved the internal issues of other countries, or their conflicts and problems. Hamas adopts the policy of opening relations with different countries of the world, especially Arab and Islamic nations, and it aims to build stable relations, which aim to unify the needs of the Palestinian cause, the interests of the Palestinian people and the interest, development and security of the nation.
The Human and International Side:
- The Palestinian cause is a cause with an international and human dimension, and it is a civilian and human mission to be in solidarity and to support it, which reflects human morals, justice and equality.
- The liberation of Palestine from a legal and human regard is a project that encompasses the needs of self-defense, and it is the natural right of the people to achieve sovereignty.
- Hamas believes in the morals of cooperation, justice, freedom, respect and people’s determination in its relations with the world’s countries and people.
- Hamas welcomes the positions of the commissions and countries that recognize the rights of Palestinian people, and condemns any side or organizations that support the Zionist state, or help in covering their crimes and aggressions against the Palestinians.
- Hamas refuses any attempts of dominance over Arab and Islamic nations, as well as any attempts of dominance over other nations and people of the world, and condemns any type of colonization, occupation, injustice and aggression in the world.
I sort of quibble over only allowing “Palestinian” ethnicity to be passed through the father.
The cynical side of me notes that the Zionists, at the same time they were conducting a campaign of mass murder on ethnic grounds, promised the “State of Israel would be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex;” I would trust Hamas more than the Zionists in maintaining equality regardless of creed, although, they do have a religious agenda.
The phrases regarding forgiveness speak a lot. Despite my quibbles, I think it’s a pretty positive document.
1. If Hamas has moved beyond the vile Anti-Semitism of its present charter it’s a positive development. On the other hand the new charter in article 10 mentions only Muslim and Christian holy places, ignoring Jewish ones. The text , in general , denies the Jewish presence.
2. There’s a clear contradiction in article 19. Establishing a Palestinian state on the pre-67 lines implies accepting partition and two states. However in the very same article there’s the “from the river to the sea” formulation. If the pragmatic line gains the upper hand it may be possible for Hamas to become part of the solution.
IMO, there’s too much “Arab” and WAY too much “Islamic” in this new charter. Hamas and “Jewish State” are both nuts – they’re just different flavours of nuts.
Unlike the zionistis, at least they acknowledge and recognize Jews as people, which most Muslims do, because of their religion, it is zionism that they don’t have to recognize. It is zionist policies that keep them occupied, make the lose their lands, and live under siege. Not Judaism.
On the other hand, no people will want to recognize those who have kept them in limbo for the past 60 years, or have warm feelings for those who bomb them, and kill their children. That is too much to ask and expect.
“The Palestinians are the Arab citizens who lived in Palestine before 1947”
As racist as JSIL which only considers Jews to be nationals.