42 No. 72 JUSTICE others before it.”24 The Charter dispenses with the idea that its effort to “obliterate” Israel is not a form of antagonism to the Jews. It states, “Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious.”25 It stresses its connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and declares that “by adopting Islam as its way of life, the Movement goes back to the time of the birth of the Islamic message, of the righteous ancestor, for Allah is its target, the Prophet is its example and the Koran is its constitution.”26 It presents itself as an interpretation of the religion of Islam and evokes the spirit of the seventh century. Its goal now is “to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine,” and by “Palestine” it is referring to all of the State of Israel.27 It presented this effort to obliterate the State of Israel as an Islamic religious obligation: The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: ‘The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews. (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).28 It celebrated the destruction of Israel as the fulfillment of a lethal theodicy. Killing Jews and destroying Israel were essential to bring about a redemptive apocalypse. Article 7 described Hamas as “one of the links in the chain of the struggle against the Zionist invaders” of 1939, the war of 1948, and “the Jihad operations of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1968 and after,” that is, acts of terrorism. Article 11 reasserted that “the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [property] consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up.”29 Article 13 rejected international conferences or negotiations. “There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals, and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.”30 Jihad in this context meant the waging of war against Israel. Article 22 incorporated the secular antisemitic conspiracy theories of twentieth century Europe into this primarily Islamist text. The Jews “with their money,” ... took control of the world media, news agencies, the press, publishing houses, 24. The Hamas Covenant 1988: Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement. 25. Id. 26. Id. at Art. 5. 27. Id. at Art. 6. 28. Id. at Art. 7. 29 Id. at Art. 11. 30. Id. at Art. 22. 31. Id. broadcasting stations, and others... stirred revolutions in various parts of the world with the purpose of achieving their interests and reaping the fruit therein... were behind the French Revolution, the Communist revolution and most of the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there... formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions and others in different parts of the world for the purpose of sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist interests… were able to control imperialistic countries and instigate them to colonize many countries in order to enable them to exploit their resources and spread corruption there. ... They were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the Islamic Caliphate, making financial gains and controlling resources. They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains by trading in armaments and paved the way for the establishment of their state. It was they who instigated the replacement of the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to enable them to rule the world through them. There is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it.31 In attributing sinister and vast powers to the Jews, Article 22 echoed the antisemitic conspiracy theories of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and those of the propaganda of the Nazi regime. The idea that the Jews were the cause of World War II, which then “paved the
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