The original HAMAS charter, written in 1987 by a single person and adopted in the crush of the first intifada in 1988 without critical scrutiny, has been an embarrassment to HAMAS to the extent that it is still cited by Zionist propagandists years after its replacement in 2017. The new and official HAMAS charter is available online. Contrary to the wishful thinking of some it contains no acceptance of the Israeli state as a Zionist entity. Contrary to the wishes of the Hasbara propagandists, it contains no declarations of hostility towards Judaism as a religion or to or Jews as practitioners of their own faith tradition. Nor does it reject armed resistance. Rather, it makes clear that the resistance is directed against occupation and settler colonialism and would do so regardless of the religious affiliation of the occupiers whether they were Jewish, Christian, or Muslim.
Some would like to dismiss the 2017 charter as a mere attempt to sanitize HAMAS’s image. Yet, the document explains HAMAS’s position in 42 articles and cannot be ignored by anyone who, for whatever reason, wants to know what HAMAS’s current position is on the conflict that affects not just the lives of millions of Israelis and Palestinians but, through geopolitics and American domestic politics, affects the lives of billions around the world. Diplomats, activists, and intellectuals take notice.
Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad, Ph.D.
Minaret of Freedom Institute
www.minaret.org
Leave a Reply