Why Making Real Time Sense Of Israeli-Gaza War Is So Difficult - Part IV Hamas

This is Part IV on this topic.  Previously:

Preview:  GUERRILLA WARFARE - A brief discussion of guerrilla warfare, then you can watch the classic film on the Algerian war for independence from France:  The Battle Of Algiers.

Part I of this series is here.  It identifies and briefly discusses the following topics I think important to be aware of when confronting the Israeli-Gaza war.

1.  PROPAGANDA, MISINFORMATION, OBLITERATION OF TRUTH

2.  THE PROBLEM OF NETANYAHU 

3A.  HISTORIC ANTI-SEMITISM

3B.  THE HOLOCAUST

Part II is here.  It looks at:

4. GENOCIDE

5. ZIONISM

6. ISRAELI MISTREATMENT OF PALESTINIANS 

7.  TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL - PALESTINIAN AND ISRAELI EDUCATION

Part III is here.  It covers

8.  RUSSIAN IMMIGRANTS AND ISRAEL'S RIGHT WING TILT 

9.  IGNORANCE

10.  GUERRILLA WARFARE]

11.  FACTORING IN WHAT'S HAPPENING BEHIND THE SCENES

Part IV, in the end focuses on Hamas, mostly on the 1988 Hamas Charter and the 2017 update.   It has been the most difficult one for me.  I had never read the Hamas Charter of 1988 or the revised charter of 2017.  

And to be clear, I'm just scratching the surface.  My point in these posts is NOT to teach anyone about this subject, but rather to reinforce the idea that few people know the many issues, the complicated histories, the religious nuances, the political machinations to have a strong basis to form anything but the most tentative opinions on the Israel-Gaza war.  Including me.  

But what I've found preparing this post is that Hamas appears to be an extreme Islamic organization not that different from ISIS and the other organizations that want to set up states that adopt laws directly from their interpretation of Islam.  

Doing this research in English is a handicap though. It's relatively easy to find information online about Hamas from Western sources, but finding English reports from Arab or Islamic sources takes a little more work.  Then comparing translations to make sure that what you have is relatively authentic takes longer.  

11.  HAMAS

I've been stuck on this one for several weeks.  I looked up Hamas.  I couldn't find a Hamas website.  I found other sites that posted Hamas' 1988 Charter.  Most are from Western institutions.  Here are two:

Yale University Law Library

Wilson Center 

But I did find one by what ostensibly is an Muslim/Palestinian site:

The Journal of Islamic Studies (I got access to this journal through JSTOR, "a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources founded in 1994" that is not directly open to the public.  I have access through the University of Alaska Anchorage library.  If you don't have a university access, you might also try your local library to get access through them.)

The first 'Topic' in Part I of this series of posts is called  Propaganda, Misinformation, and Disinformation.  It's there to remind readers that there are nations out there trying to  misinform the world, even to obliterate any sense of verifiable truth, to create opportunities to change the world to their advantage.  

So, with that in mind, I wanted to make sure what I was reading was real, that it was not propaganda intended to make Hamas look bad.  I've reviewed the various versions of the key document - The Hamas Charter.  They basically say the same things, though different translations use different wording.  For example, it's called a Covenant in one translation, a Charter in another, and a Manifesto in yet another.

I went to all that trouble because I found the Charter (the Islamic Studies version's word) to be alarming.  It's in the same mold as ISIS documents - an Islamic extremist document that weaves Islamic justifications for everything it says. Its tone is:  "We know the Truth and anyone who differs from us is wrong." [See, for example Article 11.]  It calls for the Israeli government to be destroyed and for an Islamic state of Palestine to take over all the land that is now Israeli, Gaza, and the West Bank.  

So I wanted an Arab, Muslim, or Palestinian version to compare to the Western translations.  As I said, while the translators used different words and phrasing, the basic tone and content is the pretty close in the three I looked at.  

It's the kind of document that gives Right Wing Israelis like Netanyahu easy justification for their need to wipe out Hamas.  Because Hamas' goal is to wipe out Israel.  That doesn't give Netanyahu justification to kill tens of thousands of Palestinians who are not Hamas supporters.  But I suspect that Netanyahu feels Palestinians are all Hamas or Hamas sympathizers.  And, again, the Charter gives ammunition for that sort of interpretation.  It tells us that every Muslim is obligated to join the fight to throw out the Jews - including women and children.  [Note:  the 2017 revision distinguishes between Jews and Zionists.]

"When an enemy occupies some of the Muslim lands,   Jihad becomes obligatory for every Muslim. In the struggle against the Jewish occupation of Palestine  the banner of jihad must be raised. (Article 15) (emphasis added)

The Muslim woman has a role in the battle for the liberation which is no less than the role of the man, for she is the factory of men. (Article 17)"

And, presumably, because the Charter seems to justify Netanyahu's stated goal to wipe out Hamas, there's even an Israeli Missions Around the World website which has a page of quotes from the Hamas charter.  

These would appear to be parts of the Charter that Israel would like to share with the world to make their point that Hamas is a terrorist organization whose goal is to wipe out Israel and Israeli Jews and that Hamas will never give up that goal. And thus Israel feels justified in taking extreme action against Hamas.  

Presumably, these are some of the worst things Israel thinks are in the Charter.  But are they accurately portraying the charter?  I'm going to offer you, in the charts below, on the left the Israeli wording and on the right the wording from the Institute of Palestinian Studies.  In some cases I added a little more from the Palestinian translation in [brackets] to give the citation a bit more context.  Again, you can read the whole Charter at the links above to the Yale Library version, The Wilson Center version, and the Islamic Studies Journal. (You'll probably need to get access through a library for the last one.)

I'd note that a revised Charter was publicized in 2017 which I'll address below.  But first let me offer you what Israel says is most offensive along with the same sections as translated by the Institute of Palestinian Studies in the Islamic Studies Journal.  

Israeli Translation

Institute for Palestinian Studies Translation

Goals of the HAMAS: "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)

Differentiation and Independence Article 6: The Islamic Resistance Movement is an  outstanding type of Palestinian movement.  It gives its loyalty to Allah, adopts Islam as a system of life, and works toward raising the  banner of Allah on every inch of Palestine.  [Therefore, in the shadow of Islam, it is  possible for all followers of different religions  to live in peace and with security over their  person, property, and rights. In the absence  of Islam, discord takes form, oppression and destruction are rampant, and wars and battles  take place.]

On the Palestinian side I've added a little more of what they wrote in [brackets] to give more context. 

Israeli Translation	Institute for Palestinian Studies Translation
On the destruction of Israel: "Israel will exist and will continue  to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."  (Preamble)	Israel will be established and will stay  established until Islam nullifies it as  it nullified what was before it. The  Martyred Imam Hasan  al-Banna  (may Allah have mercy upon him)

Israeli Translation	Institute for Palestinian Studies Translation
"Ranks will close, fighters joining other  fighters, and masses everywhere in the Islamic world will come forward in response to the call of duty, loudly proclaiming: 'Hail to Jihad!'. This  cry will reach the heavens and will  go on being resounded until liberation is achieved, the invaders vanquished  and Allah's victory comes about."  (Article 33)	The ranks join the ranks and the Mujahids join Mujahids and other groups which come forth  from everywhere in the Muslim world answering the call of obligation, repeating “come to Jihad” " -a call bursting forth into the heights of the Heavens, reverberating until the liberation is completed and  the invaders are rolled back and the victory of Allah  descends.

Israeli Translation

Institute for Palestinian Studies Translation

The exclusive Moslem nature of the  area: "The land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [Holy Possession] consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgment Day.  No one can renounce it or any part, or abandon it or any part of it." (Article 11)

The Islamic Resistance Movement [firmly] believes  that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [Trust]  upon all Muslim generations till the day of Resurrection.   It is not right to give it up nor any part of it.  (Article 11)   [Neither a single Arab state nor all the Arab states,  neither a King  nor a leader, nor all the kings or leaders, nor any organization -Palestinian or Arab-  have such authority because the land of Palestine is an  Islamic Trust upon Muslim generations until the day of Resurrection. And who has the true spokesmanship for all the Muslim generations till the day of Resurrection?]

Israeli Translation	Institute for Palestinian Studies Translation
The call to jihad: "The day the enemies  usurp part of Moslem land, Jihad  becomes the individual duty of every  Moslem. In the face of the Jews'  usurpation, it is compulsory that the  banner of Jihad be raised." (Article 15)	Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine is Obligatory  When an enemy occupies some of  the Muslim  lands, Jihad becomes obligatory for every Muslim.  In the struggle against the Jewish occupation of  Palestine, the banner of Jihad must be raised.

Israeli Translation

Institute for Palestinian Studies Translation

Rejection of a negotiated peace settlement: "[Peace] initiatives, and so-called peaceful  solutions and international conferences are  in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic  Resistance Movement... Those conferences  are no more than a means to appoint the  infidels as arbitrators in the lands of Islam...  There is no solution for the Palestinian  problem except by Jihad. Initiatives,  proposals and international conferences  are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility." (Article 13)

Initiatives, Peace Solutions and International Conferences The initiatives conflict, what are called "Peaceful  Solutions" and "International Conferences" to solve  the Palestinian problem.As far as the ideology  of the Islamic Resistance Movement is  concerned, giving up any part of Palestine is like giving up part of its religion.There is no  solution to the Palestinian Problem  except by Jihad. The initiatives, options, and  international conferences are a waste of time  and a kind of child's play.  The Palestinian people are nobler than to be  fiddling with their future, rights, and destiny.

Israeli Translation

Institute for Palestinian Studies Translation

Condemnation of the Israel-Egypt  Peace Treaty: "Egypt was, to a great extent, removed  from the circle of struggle [against Zionism]  through the treacherous Camp David  Agreement. The Zionists are trying to  draw other Arab countries into similar  agreements in order to bring them  outside the circle of struggle. ... Leaving the circle of struggle against  Zionism is high treason, and cursed be  he who perpetrates such an act."  (Article 32)

[World Zionism and Imperialist powers try with  audacious maneuvers and well formulated plans  to extract the Arab nations one by one from the  struggle with Zionism, so in the end they can deal  singularly with the Palestinian people.] It already  has removed Egypt faraway from the circle of  struggle with the treason of “Camp David,"  and it is trying to extract other countries by  using similar treaties in order to remove them from  the circle of struggle.”

Again, above, for the IPS translation I've added with [brackets] the previous sentence that the Israeli translation left out.  

I did the same with the quote below.  

Israeli Translation

Institute for Palestinian Studies Translation

Anti-Semitic incitement: The Day of Judgment will not come about  until Moslems fight Jews and kill them.  Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks  and trees, and the rocks and trees will  cry out: 'O Moslem, there is a Jew  hiding behind me, come and kill him."  (Article 7)

[Even though the Islamic Resistance Movement  looks forward to fulfill the promise of Allah no matter  how long it takes because the Prophet of Allah  (saas) says:] The Last Hour would not come until the  Muslims fight against the Jews and the Muslims  would kill them, and until the Jews would hide  themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone  or a tree would say. Muslim or Servant of Allah  there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him;  but the tree of Gharqad would not say it, for it is  the tree of the Jews (Bukhari and Muslim).3

For more on the tree of Gharqad.

The Israeli site has a few more quotes and then a summary of the Israeli issues with the charter.  You can see that here.

The language of the 1988 Hamas Charter basically calls for an Islamic state - ISIS like - to take control of all the area now occupied by Israel and the Palestinian territories.  It calls for getting rid of all the Jews.  It says attempts at Peace Treaties are useless.  Little, perhaps none, of the Charter is reasonable for Israel to accept as written.  It's essentially a declaration of war.  No country in the world, that has the power to oppose it,  would accept a close neighbor who says similar things about them.  

A revised Covenant was published in 2017. Hamas says that it is merely the consolidation of various changes made by leaders over the years, but which hadn't been codified in a single statement.  

I've read several versions and explanations of the differences between it and the original 1988 Charter.  The Guardian's overview, which came out in 2017, is perhaps the most succinct and direct (though not necessarily the most accurate.)

"Hamas has unveiled a new political programme softening its stance on Israel by accepting the idea of a Palestinian state in territories occupied by Israel in the six-day war of 1967.

The new document states the Islamist movement is not seeking war with the Jewish people – only with Zionism that drives the occupation of Palestine.

The new document also insists that Hamas is a not a revolutionary force that seeks to intervene in other countries, a commitment that is likely to be welcomed by other states such as Egypt."

Here are some other analyses of the changes: (let me warn you - these are not easy reading)

Institute for Palestine Studies' overview of the changes

Rand - "Hamas' Strategic Rebranding"

The Wilson Center 

My main takeaway after reading the Hamas Charter is to sadly shake my head about those who have championed Hamas.  You can only support Hamas if all you know about them is that they are fighting to stop Israeli atrocities.  But if you read their Charter, even with the 2017 modifications, you know this is a radical Islamist extremist group that only recognizes their version of Islamic doctrine.  

The idea that Hamas is fighting to give Palestinian culture its land and culture back seems to me to be terribly wrong.  There never was a strict Islamic state ruled by Islamic law in Palestine.  Not under the British and not under the 400 years of control by the Ottoman Empire. 

There are so many trails to follow to understand this.  For instance, how did Hamas come to power in Gaza?  Here are two links to start your research on that question:

Wikipedia's History of Hamas 

Al Jazeera - History Illustrated, The Story of Hamas And Its Fight For Palestine 

Those two citations are not meant to be exhaustive or even adequate.  They just give a sense of the history that led to Hamas' official formation until now.  Just expanding one's awareness of their ignorance.

Everyone knows about the Hamas attack on October 7 so I don't have to discuss that, except to put it into the context of Topic #10 GUERRILLA warfare and terrorism.  The point is often for the militarily weaker side to commit acts of terror to provoke the more powerful enemy to make horrible counter attacks that will make them look bad in public opinion.  Hamas was wildly successful in this objective.  With help, undoubtedly, from Russian and Iranian misinformation campaigns.  

The Israeli response has been a public relations nightmare.  But my sense is that the far right in Israel simply assumes that an anti-Semitic world will disapprove of anything they do.  That logic lets them do terrible things.  

But I'd remind them that much of the world saw Israelis as heroes after the 1967 war and when they made the Entebbe rescue.  

12.  WHY GETTING JEWS OUT OF ISRAEL SEEMS EASIER THAN NATIVE AMERICANS GETTING EUROPEANS OUT OF THE UNITED STATES?

Topic#12 (it was #13) was at the end of the last post as a heading that I postponed to this post - it made more sense after discussing Hamas.  But as I work on this, I don't think the title clearly expresses the issue I'm wrestling with.  And as I try to flesh it out, it seems it really should be part of Part V.  

It will deal, not so much with options from here, but with the question of how should those options be evaluated.  What criteria should be used?  What factors should be considered?

And to be clear, my ignorance of all of this, while perhaps slightly lower than the ignorance of most people, is still vast.  I'll be raising questions more than supplying answers.  

[It's Saturday March 2, 2024.  I just want to let you know I'm still working on PART IV.]