The announcement on April 27th that the two main Palestinian factions, the more secular Fatah and the Islamist Hamas, will form a government of national unity and hold elections has triggered a wave of optimistic commentary around the world.
China’s Xinhua news agency says it “brings new hope to Mideast peace.” Britain’s Economist sees fresh promise for “the two-state deal.” Akiva Eldar, writing in Israel’s center-left daily Ha’aretz, called it “the best news possible for seekers of peace.”
These statements all contain a giant leap of faith, since Hamas’ 1988 charter says, “There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. The initiatives, proposals and International Conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility.” But, it is argued, organizational charters can be changed, especially when a new, more pragmatic leadership generation takes over.
This is a very tall order: A closer look at the Hamas Charter quickly shows that its very DNA derives from a literalist reading of the Islamic texts. For instance, it declares that Hamas “believes that the land of Palestine has been an Islamic Waqf [inalienable possession] throughout the generations and until the Day of Resurrection, no one can renounce it or part of it, or abandon it or part of it.”
The Charter has 36 articles, with 33 references drawn from Qur’an and Hadith, justifying continuous struggle against the Jews until Judgement Day, as in this example: “The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him! This will not apply to the Gharqad, which is a Jewish tree.”
The truth is that the Hamas faithful have not learned to soften their policies. They have not been swamped by a tsunami of enthusiasm for establishing a pluralist Middle East, where Jews will have equal rights with Muslims.
Rather Hamas spokesmen have simply become more adept at speaking the language that secularist western political commentators want to hear. At the same time, Hamas has quickly and wisely realized that now is the time to make its move, in order to capitalise on the cauldron of social change sweeping the Arab world at present.
Those with an interest in these events would do well to exercise great caution in dealing with Hamas. That means non-Islamist Palestinians, Israelis, and Westerners. Can the leopard change its spots? Not in this case, not by a long way.
