Introduction: The Definitions of Hamas and its Ideological drive
Hamas, an acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamist fundamentalist organization established in 1987. It is comprised of three core wings, social, political and military all that work within their spheres to push for the organization’s goals. The foundation of the organization was based on the offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood referred to as the First Intifada. According to the Gaza branch, this was significant resistance towards Israel. The Hamas co-founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin formulated the Hamas Charter in 1988, and it aims to liberate Palestine from Israel occupation and form an Islamic state on the modern day Israel, The Gaza Strip and West Bank. In order to ensure that the Hamas lived up to its aims, it formed the Hamas Charter in 1988, which outlines the objectives, stand and founding identity of the group. Nonetheless, over the years since the formulation of the charter, it has undergone changes, and new policy documents have been produced which soften its initial positions and uses a more measured language.
A Document of General Principles and Policies 2017
The Goals and Significance of Hamas New Political Document
The efforts made by Hamas in coming up with a new policy document is aimed at trying to soften its image both regionally and internationally 1 . Through the new policy document, it will allow Hamas to connect with the outside work and its people. To the international world, Hamas would like the people to view it as not being a radical group. 2 They would want to appear as being more of a civilized and pragmatic movement. The new document aims at showing there is no hatred levied against the Jews. All they would want to do is only to fight off the people who have occupied their lands and in the processes killed Palestinian nationals. Additionally, following increased regional and international pressure on the group’s activities and radicalization, it has decided to soften its stance and focus on building a positive image. 3 In most cases, Hamas has been termed as being a terrorist group by not only the USA but also Israel, UK, EU among other world powers.
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The publication of Hamas new policy document aimed at helping it in creating a more moderate, flexible political and diplomatic framework aimed at easing the blockade on the Strip of Gaza, and its citizens after it had initially been linked with terrorist organizations. Through the new document, it would show the entire world that it was not a terrorist group but instead a group formed to fight for its people, the Palestinian nationals. Additionally, the movement has faced considerable internal debates about the various outdated pronouncements on its 1988 charter. Following the departure of Hamas leader Mishal after twenty years foreign, military leaders took over the top positions at the organization. 4 There was a need to come up with a unified line of politics and practices. Hamas is the only surviving Palestine organization that has not split since its war against Israel begun more than three decades ago. 5 Therefore, following the increased internal wrangles towards coming up with better pronouncements, it led to the drafting of a new policy document. This document aims to make sure that Hamas continues to be the leading and unified organization against the struggle with Israel.
Comparative Analysis
The primary purpose of the original Hamas charter is to highlight the various changes that the group has decided to undertake. From the new document, one can see that the group clearly outlines goals, the milestones, and working principles in an orderly manner under the respective heading. 6 Nonetheless, according to the article by Hroub, its intended purposes is analyzing why the Hamas organization decided to change its document from the original 1988 charter. Hroub has highlighted various reasons as to why the organization chose to engage in the restructuring of its charter. From the title of the article ‘A Newer Hamas? The Revised Charter,’ it shows that the entire article is going to determine whether indeed has decided to change its ideologies.
Additionally, Hroub analyses the ramifications of the new Hamas document. This is not evidenced by the primary document, which does not highlight any consequences for the new changes. Correspondingly, in the primary Hamas document, it does not in any way highlight why the changes were made. This is different from Hroub who provides various reasons for making the changes, which includes; regional and international pressure to show the group is not a terrorist organization and to build relations with nations and international organizations 7 .
Furthermore, the article by Lerman is an analysis of whether the new document has indeed made any changes. In his article, Lerman believes that the new document is still similar to the old one as seen from his article titled ‘The New Hamas Policy Document: Same Old Same Old (Mostly). According to Lerman, he believes that the document is somewhat fraudulent and people should not think that there is any form of changes made.
The Hamas document is not meant for only one person but for the public, in this case, the people of Palestine. The document aims at showing the Palestinians a new course the group has decided to take. However, the new document does not in any way to list the reasons for making the changes. Because of this, the major limitation of this document is that one cannot know the driving factors that pushed the group to change its 1988 charter. In the case of the articles by Hroub and Lerman, their intended audience is also the public. However, the target group is not only the people of Palestine. The two articles are rather an analysis of the original document and the audience, in this case, can be anyone who would like to know why Hamas has changed its documents. This can even include the Palestinian nationals who want to understand why a group fighting for their rights decided to bring about new changes. It might be hard for the public to ask the original authors of the primary document, but with the secondary sources by Hroub and Lerman, they can get their answers as to why the changes were made.
The authors of the new Hamas policy document comprise the members of the organization. From the document, it shows that it was written by a group of people after consultations, “This document is the product of deep deliberations that led us to a strong consensus. As a movement, we agree about both the theory and the practice of the vision that is outlined in the pages that follow. It is a vision that stands on solid grounds and well-established principles…” 8 On the other hand, Hroub and Lerman do not have any role to play in the Hamas organization. In the case of Hroub, he is a professor from North-western University Qatar and a research associate at Centre of Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge. 9 Lerman is a faculty member of Shalem College and a senior research associate at BESA Centre. 10 From this, it shows that the two authors do not have any link to Hamas. Their works are thus based on an analysis of the primary document written by the Hamas group.
The organization of the new Hamas document is written in a different structure as compared to the articles by Hroub and Lerman. In the case of the new document, it is written in the form of numbered points referred to as articles. This makes the numbered points to act as statutes, and all people who are affiliated to Hamas must adhere to laws. In case of the two articles by Hroub and Lerman, they are written in paragraph form. This is more of a scholarly type of writing. Therefore, people loyal to Hamas cannot in any way use the articles as statutes or laws. Therefore, the articles will not act as decision-making tools for the group.
Conclusion
Since the foundation of Hamas, it has never changed its statutes. However, in 20917, the group released a new policy document that revealed significant changes from its original charter. However, looking at the primary document, one cannot know the reason behind the changes. This is made possible by an analysis made by other authors as witnessed in two articles by Hroub and Lerman. The authors highlight various reasons as to why the group was forced to come up with new principles.
Nevertheless, the primary document is still the law within the group and its followers. One cannot use the articles by Hroub and Lerman. The two authors have no affiliation with the group, and therefore, their analysis of the document is based on each’s point of view. Hroub believes the changes made were significant while Lerman believes they were not. Moreover, the original Hamas document is meant for the Palestine people while other people apart from Palestine nationals can access the articles by Hroub and Lerman.
Bibliography
Hamas. “A Document of General Principles and Policies.” The Islamic Resistance Movement . Last modified May 1, 2017. Accessed January 18, 2019. http://hamas.ps/en/post/678/a-document-of-general-principles-and-policies.
Hroub, Khaled. "A ‘New Hamas’ through Its New Documents." Journal of Palestine Studies vol. 35, no. 4 (2017): 100-111.
Lerman, Eran. “The New Hamas Policy Document: Same Old Same Old (Mostly)” BESA Center Perspectives Pape r No. 462, (2017).
1 Khaled Hroub, "A ‘New Hamas’ through Its New Documents," Journal of Palestine Studies vol. 35, no. 4 (2006): pg.106
2 Eran Lerman, “The New Hamas Policy Document: Same Old Same Old (Mostly),” BESA Center Perspectives Pape r No. 462, (2017).
3 Eran Lerman, “The New Hamas Policy Document.”
4 Khaled Hroub, "A ‘New Hamas’ through Its New Documents," pg.107
5 Khaled Hroub, "A ‘New Hamas’ through Its New Documents," pg.108
6 Hamas. “A Document of General Principles and Policies.” The Islamic Resistance Movement . Last modified May 1, 2017. Accessed January 18, 2019. http://hamas.ps/en/post/678/a-document-of-general-principles-and-policies.
7 Khaled Hroub, "A ‘New Hamas’ through Its New Documents," pg.107
8 Hamas. “A Document of General Principles and Policies.” The Islamic Resistance Movement . Last modified May 1, 2017. Accessed January 18, 2019. http://hamas.ps/en/post/678/a-document-of-general-principles-and-policies.
9 Khaled Hroub, "A ‘New Hamas’ through Its New Documents,"pg 111
10 Eran Lerman, “The New Hamas Policy Document.”
