Meet the New Hamas, Same as the Old Hamas

by Joseph S. Spoerl (August 2017)

 

 

 

1988 Hamas Charter (or Covenant)¹.

 

In an interview with the New York Times, outgoing Hamas leader Khaled Meshal stated, “We are making it clear that ours is a liberation project—not about religion or the Jews.”² Indeed, the new “Document of General Principles and Policies” makes the following statement: “Hamas affirms that its conflict is with the Zionist project not with the Jews because of their religion. Hamas does not wage a struggle against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine.”³

 

There are at least six reasons for not taking this claim seriously.

 

First, anti-Semitism is central to Hamas propaganda, as documented copiously in the Appendix to this article, and Hamas has not renounced or ceased producing such propaganda. For example, in April 2017, just as Hamas was about to release its May 2017 Document, Hamas member of the Palestinian legislature Marwan Abu Ras gave a Friday sermon at a mosque in the Gaza Strip in which he said, “History attests that in every era, the Jews were the most abhorred of people. Throughout history, the most hated race was the Jewish race . . . Why did [Hitler] hate the Jews? Because they are a people of treachery and betrayal . . . Therefore, we can never accept the Jews . . . ”⁴

 

Bear in mind that the speaker was a Hamas elected official and that Gaza Strip mosques are strictly monitored and controlled by Hamas and staffed by Hamas appointees. And when perusing the Appendix below, bear in mind that most of the items are taken from broadcasts on the official Hamas TV station, Al-Aqsa TV.

 

Secondly, Hamas has made it clear that it has not revoked its 1988 Charter, which remains its statement of foundational principles.⁵

 

Fourthly, the release of the May 2017 Document coincides with a tightening of the grip by hardliners on the Hamas Politbureau.⁶ These include former Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad, who told Al-Jazeera TV on September 16, 2016: “I address the American people: Is it conceivable that a handful of Jews control your policies, your military, your money, and everything . . . ? We have five million of the Zionist enemy here [in Israel], and they control the world. Perhaps there are ten million more of them in America. These ten million control over 280 million Americans.”⁷ Hammad’s use of the term “Zionist” in this statement as a synonym for “Jew” makes his anti-Semitism as clear as can be. And in an interview on Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV on December 14, 2010, Hammad made no pretense of focusing on “Zionists,” asserting: “The Jews have become abhorred and loathed outcasts, because they live off of corruption and the plundering of the peoples—not only the Arab and Islamic peoples, but all the peoples of the world.”⁸ The suggestion that leaders such as Fathi Hammad have abandoned anti-Semitism is hardly credible.

 

In short, despite its new “Document of General Principles and Policies,” Hamas has not changed at all. It remains committed to the destruction of Israel by any means at its disposal, including indiscriminate attacks on Israeli civilians, and its world-view is still marked by deep Jew-hatred.

 

Appendix: Documenting Hamas Anti-Semitism

(Sources listed in reverse chronological order)

 

“Hamas MP Marwan Abu Ras: Hitler Hated the Jews Because They Are a People of Treachery and Betrayal,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 6041, April 21, 2017, https://www.memri.org/tv/hamas-mp-hitler-hated-jews-treachery-betrayal/transcript.

 

“Gaza Friday Sermon by Hamas MP Marwan Abu Ras: The Jews Recruit Prostitutes, Girls With Aids, to Lure Arabs into their Traps,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 5846, January 5, 2017, https://www.memri.org/tv/gaza-friday-sermon-hamas-mp-marwan-abu-ras-jews-recruit-prostitutes-girls-aids-lure-arabs-their/transcript.

 

https://www.memri.org/tv/hamas-affiliated-scholar-bassam-jarrar-jews-played-role-economic-collapses-germany-1920s-and/transcript.

 

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/5758.htm.

 

“Hamas TV Host Sheikh Wael Al-Zarad: Israel, the Jews Live on Blood and the Sight of Body Parts,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 5719, September 15, 2016, http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/5719.htm.

 

“Hamas’ Fathi Hammad, Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. State Department: This Will Lead to Global Instability… Will Affect World Peace,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 5682, September 17, 2016, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/5682.htm.

 

“Hamas MP Marwan Abu Ras in a Friday Sermon: The Jews are the ‘Vilest Nation in History,’” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 5664, August 26, 2016, http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/5664.htm.

 

“Hamas Clerics Al-Zarad and Al-Astal: The Jews Are The ‘Enemies of Mankind’ Who ‘Wallow in the Shedding of Blood,’” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 5406, February 25, 2016, http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/5406.htm.

 

“Senior Hamas Official Al-Bardawil: Jews Kill Palestinian Children in Order to Knead Their Blood Into Passover Bread,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 5187, November 26, 2015, http://www.memri.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5187.htm.

 

“Hamas Cleric and TV Host Iyad Abu Funun: The Zionists Are More Nazi Than Hitler,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 5152, October 29, 2015, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/5152.htm.

“Former Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad: ‘Plunge the Knives in the Chests and Bellies of the Enemies,’” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 5130, October 19, 2015, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/5130.htm.

 

“Gaza University Dean of Quranic Studies Approves Killing Jewish Women and Children,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 5122, October 16, 2015, http://www.memri.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5122.htm.

 

“Hamas Cleric and TV Host Abu Funun: We Will Not Leave a Single Jew, Dead or Alive, on Our Land,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 5115, October 13, 2015, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/5115.htm.

 

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=15917.

 

“Children on Hamas TV: We Want to Wage Jihad and Blow Up the Jews,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 5070, September 4, 2015, http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/5070.htm#.

 

“Hamas MP Marwan Abu Ras: The Jews’ Conspiracies and Treachery Led to the Holocaust,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 4769, January 23, 2015, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/4769.htm.

 

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=13679.

 

“Palestinian Imam and Hamas TV Host Abu Funun Justifies Hitler: The Jews Spread Corruption Everywhere,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 4702, December 28, 2014, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/4702.htm.

 

“Young Boy Recites Song on Hamas TV: The Jews Are Barbaric Apes, the Most Evil of Creatures,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 4675, December 5, 2014, http://www.memri.org/clip_transcript/en/4675.htm#.

 

“Former Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad: We Will Annihilate the Brothers of Apes and Pigs,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 4632, October 31, 2014, http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/4632.htm.

 

“Article on Hamas Website: Our War Against the Occupation is A Religious War Against the Descendants of Apes and Pigs,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Special Dispatch No. 5885, November 18, 2014, http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8230.htm.

 

“Former Jordanian MP Abd Al-Mun’im Abu Zant: Jews Permit Cannibalism, Use Human Blood in Passover Matzos,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 4498, September 2, 2014, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/4498.htm.

 

“Preacher on Hamas TV: The Jews are the Enemies of Mankind,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 4477, August 31, 2014, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/4477.htm.

 

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/4442.htm.

 

http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=12237.

 

“Top Hamas Official Osama Hamdan: Jews Use Blood for Passover Matzos,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 4384, July 28, 2014, http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/4384.htm.

 

“Hamas Sermon from the Gaza Strip: Our Doctrine Entails Exterminating the Jews,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 4376, July 25, 2014, http://www.memri.org/clip_transcript/en/4376.htm.

 

“Editor of Hamas Paper: Murder of Palestinian Teen in Jerusalem Reminiscent of Jews’ Custom of Baking Matzos With Blood,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Special Dispatch No. 5788, July 3, 2014, http://www.memri.org/report/en/print8061.htm.

 

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=11384.

 

“Columnist on Hamas-Affiliated Website: The Jews Have Conquered the German Spirit With the Lie of the Holocaust,“ Middle East Media Research Institute, Special Dispatch No. 5682, March 18, 2014, http://www.memri.org/report/en/print7888.htm.

 

“Hamas MP Al-Astal: We Must Massacre Jews, Impose Jizya Poll Tax on Them,” Middle East Media Research Institute,” Clip No. 4202, March 6, 2014, http://www.memri.org/clip_transcript/en/4202.htm.

 

http://www.memri.org/report/en/print7166.htm.

 

“Hamas MP and Cleric Yunis Al-Astal: The Jews Were Brought to Palestine for the ‘Great Massacre’ through which Allah Will ‘Relieve Humanity of Their Evil,’” Middle East Media Research Institute, Special Dispatch No. 3840, May 16, 2011, http://www.memri.org/clip_transcript/en/2934.htm.

 

“Osama Hamdan, Head of the Hamas Foreign Liaisons: Armed Confrontation Will Continue to Be ‘the Backbone of the Resistance,’ the Israelis Must Return to Their Countries of Origin,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 2949, May 4, 2011, http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/2949.htm.

 

Anti-Defamation League, “Hamas in their own Words,” May 2, 2011, http://www.adl.org/anti-semitism/muslim-arab-world/c/hamas-in-their-own-words.html.

 

“Former Hamas Minister of Culture ‘Atallah Abu Al-Subh: ‘The Jews Are the Most Despicable and Contemptible Nation to Crawl upon the Face of the Earth,’” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 2897, April 8, 2011, http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/2897.htm.

 

http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/2734.htm.

 

“Hamas Leader Mahmoud al-Zahar Justifies Persecution of Jews in History and Promises that Jews ‘Are Headed to Annihilation,’” Middle East Media Research Institute, Special Dispatch No. 3373, November 12, 2010, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2676.htm.

 

“Hamas senior Mahmoud al-Zahar has recently given a vicious anti-Semitic speech to justify the elimination of Israel and the deportation of Jews from the ‘entire territory of Palestine’. The speech contains themes reminiscent of those found in Al-Zahar’s anti-Semitic book No Future Between Nations, found on board the Mavi Marmara,” The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, November 11, 2010, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/data/pdf/PDF_10_294_2.pdf.

 

“Deputy Hamas Minister of Religious Endowments Abdallah Jarbu’: Only a Madman Would Think Jews Are Human,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 2430, March 19, 2010, http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/2430.htm.

 

“Hamas Deputy Minister of Religious Endowments: Jews are Bacteria, Not Human Beings,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 2415, February 28, 2010, http://www.memri.org/clip_transcript/en/2415.htm.

 

“On Hamas TV Friday Sermon: Calls to Annihilate the Jews, Who Are Compared to Dogs,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 2080, April 3, 2009, http://www.memri.org/clip_transcript/en/2080.htm.

 

http://www.memri.org/report/en/print3006.htm.

 

“Hamas Cleric Muhsen Abu ‘Ita: The Annihilation of the Jews in Palestine One of the Most Splendid Blessings for Palestine,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 1877, July 13, 2008, http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1877.htm.

 

“On Hamas TV: Hamas Culture Minister Presents Excerpts from Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Claims Jews Trying to Control the World,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Special Dispatch No. 1905, July 1, 2008, https://www.memri.org/reports/hamas-tv-hamas-culture-minister-presents-excerpts-protocols-elders-zion-claims-jews-trying.

 

Steven Erlanger, “In Gaza, Hamas’ Insults to Jews Complicate Peace,” The New York Times, April 1, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/world/middleeast/01hamas.html?pagewanted=all.

 

“Speaker of Palestinian Legislative Council Ahmad Bahr Refers to Jews as ‘Brothers of Pigs and Apes,’” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 1553, August 21, 2007, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/1553.htm.

 

“Hamas Al-Aqsa TV: A Mickey Mouse Character Teaches Children About the Islamic Rule of the World And To ‘Annihilate the Jews,’” Middle East Media Research Institute, Special Dispatch No. 1577, May 9, 2007, https://www.memri.org/reports/hamas-al-aqsa-tv-mickey-mouse-character-teaches-children-about-islamic-rule-world-and.

 

“Acting Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council Sheik Ahmad Bahr from Hamas, Declared during a Friday Sermon at a Sudan Mosque that America and Israel Will Be Annihilated and Called upon Allah to kill the Jews and Americans ‘to the Very Last One,’” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 1426, April 13, 2007, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/1426.htm

 

“Sheik Yousef Al-Qaradhawi: The Jews of Today Bear Responsibility for their Forefathers’ Crime Against Jesus,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 1249, August 26, 2006, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1249.htm.

 

Meir Litvak, “The Anti-Semitism of Hamas,” Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics, and Culture 12:2-3 (2005), http://www.pij.org/details.php?id=345.

 

David Firestone, “Mideast Flare-Up: The Money Trail: F.B.I. Traces Hamas’s Plan to Finance Attacks to ’93,” The New York Times, Dec. 6, 2001, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/06/world/mideast-flare-up-money-trail-fbi-traces-hamas-s-plan-finance-attacks-93.html.

Esther Webman, Anti-Semitic Motifs in the Ideology of Hizballah and Hamas (Tel Aviv: The Project for the Study of Anti-Semitism at Tel Aviv University, 1993).

 

___________________________________________

¹“The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Special Dispatch Series No. 1092, February 14, 2006, http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/1609.htm.

²Declan Walsh, “Hamas Leader Plays Final Hand: Trying To Lift Group’s Pariah Status,” The New York Times, May 2, 2017, https://nyti.ms/2pujYaf.

³Hamas, “A Document of General Principles and Policies,” available on the Hamas website www.hamas.ps, http://hamas.ps/en/post/678/a-document-of-general-principles-and-policies, section #16.

⁴“Hamas MP Marwan Abu Ras: Hitler Hated The Jews Because They Are A People of Treachery and Betrayal,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 6041, April 21, 2017, https://www.memri.org/tv/hamas-mp-hitler-hated-jews-treachery-betrayal.

⁵The New York Times reports that Hamas “has not even formally repudiated the 1988 charter…”, Declan Walsh, “Hamas Leader Plays Final Hand: Trying to Lift Group’s Pariah Status,” The New York Times, May 2, 2017, https://nyti.ms/2pujYaf</a>; the Middle East Media Research Institute reports that Hamas “leaders clarified that the document was not replacing that Hamas Charter…”, C. Jacobs, “Hamas Policy Document: Palestinian State In 1967 Borders Is ‘Formula For Joint National Agreement’ Between Hamas, PLO – Yet Armed Struggle Will Continue, And Palestine Extends From River To Sea,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Inquiry and Analysis Series No. 1313, May 5, 2017, https://www.memri.org/reports/hamas-policy-document</a>; Kate Havard and Grant Rumley write that “this new document neither replaces the charter nor abrogates the group’s founding document,” “Hamas’s New Document: More of the Same,” Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, FDD Policy Brief, 2^nd May 2017, http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/kate-havard-hamass-new-document-more-of-the-same/</a>; see also Ahron Shapiro, “Five stand-outs about Hamas’ new policy manifesto,” 5 May 2017, Australia/Israel Jewish Affairs Council, http://www.aijac.org.au/news/article/five-stand-outs-about-hamas-new-policy-manifesto.

⁶Kifah Ziboun, “Hamas Hawks Tighten Grip over Politbureau,” Asharq al-Awsat, May 9, 2017, https://english.aawsat.com/kifah-ziboun/news-middle-east/hamas-hawks-tighten-grip-politbureau.

⁷“Hamas’ Fathi Hammad, Designated Global Terrorist By The U.S. State Department: This Will Lead to Global Instability…Will Affect World Peace,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 5682, September 17, 2016, https://www.memri.org/tv/hamass-fathi-hammad-designated-global-terrorist-us-state-department-will-lead-global-instability/transcript.

⁸“Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad: The Americans and the Jews Are Abhorred Worldwide; The Americans Are Led By The Jews, ‘Outcasts Who Live Off Corruption and Plundering,’” Middle East Media Research Institute, Clip No. 2734, December 13, 2010, https://www.memri.org/tv/hamas-interior-minister-fathi-hammad-americans-and-jews-are-abhorred-worldwide-americans-are-led.

⁹Lorenzo Vidino, The New Muslim Brotherhood In the West (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010), pp. 177-186.

¹⁰Ibid., p. 182.

¹¹Ibid., p. 182.

¹²Noreen S. Ahmad-Ullah, Sam Roe, and Laurie Cohen, “A rare look at secretive Brotherhood in America,” Chicago Tribune, September 19, 2004, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/chi-0409190261sep19-story.html#page=1.

¹³Vidino, The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West, pp. 182-183.

¹⁴David Firestone, “Mideast Flare-up: The Money Trail; F.B.I. Traces Hamas’s Plan to Finance Attacks to ’93,” The New York Times, December 6, 2001, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/06/world/mideast-flare-up-money-trail-fbi-traces-hamas-s-plan-finance-attacks-93.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

__________________________________________
Joseph S. Spoerl is Professor of Philosophy and Chairman of Philosophy at Saint Anselm College.  His research interests include Ethics, Business Ethics, Modern Philosophy, Critical Thinking, Formal Logic, and more, and teaches classes in those subjects.

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