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Hamas: Hamas Charter
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Hamas symbol Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, a religious and political pan-Arab organization with branches throughout the Arab world. In 1988, Hamas wrote its charter, which calls for the destruction of the state of Israel and swears to "raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine." The charter is still in effect today.
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Hamas has significant differences with the PLO. The ideology of Hamas is a synthesis of pan-Arab Islamic religious ideals and Palestinian nationalism. Hamas states its intent to establish an Islamic state in Palestine and its covenant draws heavily upon Islamic ideology and Quranic verses. The PLO charter, on the other hand, is a secular document with a call to Palestinian nationalism. Senior PLO officials have said that they will install a western style democratic form of government in an independent Palestine. 10
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Hamas has prepared its covenant to differentiate itself from other Palestinian movements, and cannot easily comply with demands to refute its charter without no longer being Hamas and without causing internecine warfare between extremists in its party. If Hamas is serious about accomplishing its objectives, the new Palestinian Authority will continue to try to force Israel from West Bank territory, including East Jerusalem and the "Old City," and try to gain command of all air, land and sea corridors that give it total sovereignty in Gaza. The only compromise Hamas might be willing to make is one of words: Israel can exist if it becomes a natural state of equally shared expressions and not an artificial state as a Jewish Nation. A shared state that allows return of Palestinian refugees (of which there won't be many), is within Hamas' agenda because Hamas realizes that within time the Moslem community will become a majority and Islam will re-gain a dominant position throughout historic Palestine; maybe not economically and socially but in numbers.
Two Hamas militants with Yasin Rocket-propelled grenade. Hamas regards the territory of the present-day State of Israel — as well as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank — as an inalienable Islamic waqf or religious bequest, which can never be surrendered to non-Muslims. It asserts that struggle (jihad) to regain control of the land from Israel is the religious duty of every Muslim (fard `ain). Hamas does not recognize Israel as a sovereign state, unlike the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which has recognized it since 1988, and calls it the "Zionist entity". Its charter calls for an end to Israel. During the election campaign, Hamas did not mention its call for the destruction of Israel in its electoral manifesto.[41] But several Hamas candidates insist that the charter is still in force and often called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" in campaign speeches. On January 25, 2006, after winning the Palestinian elections, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar gave an interview to Al-Manar TV denouncing foreign demands that Hamas recognize Israel's right to exist.[56] After the establishment of Hamas government, Dr Al-Zahar stated his "dreams of hanging a huge map of the world on the wall at my Gaza home which does not show Israel on it...I hope that our dream to have our independent state on all historic Palestine (including Israel). This dream will become real one day.
Steven Cook, John O'Sullivan and Daniel Ayalon Hamas was founded in 1987 by Islamic activists in Gaza to offer Palestinians an alternative to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Hamas' charter calls for an Islamic-based Palestinian state on all of what is currently Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. The group has conducted violent action against Israeli military and civilian targets, including suicide bombings. Hamas has been named a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. It is supported by the governments of Syria and Iran and many wealthy private individuals in Saudi Arabia, among others in the Arab world.
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Hamas was created in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin of the Gaza wing of the Muslim Brotherhood at the beginning of the First Intifada. Best known in Israel and the rest of the world for its suicide bombings and other attacks[4] directed against civilians and Israeli military and security forces targets, Hamas' charter (written in 1988 and still in effect) calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and its replacement with a Palestinian Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.[5] The organization is widely described as antisemitic.[6]
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