Hamas’ new policy paper, perceived by the world as softening of their position, calls for ethnically cleansing the region by force in order to create a Muslim state. Israel claims it is an attempt to fool the world, and fix Hamas’ image as a terror organization.
The five page document was presented on Monday at a news conference in Doha,Qatar, by Khaled Mashaal, the outgoing Hamas leader. The document stated that the State of Israel is, in entirety, illegal, and calls for the establishment of a Muslim State in its place.
The paper refers to Israel as “a racist, anti-human and colonial Zionist project”, while turning the regional conflict into a war of religion by calling Palestine “an Arab Islamic land…,a blessed sacred land that has a special place in the heart of every Arab and every Muslim.”
“Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea,” the document states.
The paper also lay claim to Jerusalem as a Muslim city, rewriting history by referring to Israel’s capital as the “birthplace of Jesus”. While making these exclusive Muslim claims to all of Israel, Hamas makes other claims that most people would disagree with.
Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance. It provides an umbrella for the followers of other creeds and religions who can practice their beliefs in security and safety. Hamas also believes that Palestine has always been and will always be a model of coexistence, tolerance and civilizational innovation.
The paper lay claim to all holy sites in Jerusalem, a claim that has been upheld by UNESCO in several resolutions.
“[Jerusalem’s] Islamic and Christian holy places belong exclusively to the Palestinian people and to the Arab and Islamic Ummah,’ the paper read.
Hamas did seem to soften its position in regards to Jews outside of Israel.
“Hamas affirms that its conflict is with the Zionist project not with the Jews because of their religion,” the document says. “Hamas does not wage a struggle against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine. Yet, it is the Zionists who constantly identify Judaism and the Jews with their own colonial project and illegal entity.”
Hamas purged itself of anti-Semitism, which it claimed is a European malady.
“Hamas is of the view that the Jewish problem, anti-Semitism and the persecution of the Jews are phenomena fundamentally linked to European history and not to the history of the Arabs and the Muslims or to their heritage.”
The document declares “the Balfour Declaration, the British Mandate Document, the UN Palestine Partition Resolution, and whatever resolutions and measures that derive from them or are similar to them” to be “null and void.”
Most interesting, in the paper, Hamas rejects the Oslo Accords which establish the basis for the two-state solution.
“Hamas affirms that the Oslo Accords and their addenda contravene the governing rules of international law in that they generate commitments that violate the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people,” the paper said, while claiming unrestrained armed resistance as “guaranteed by divine laws”.
“Hamas is attempting to fool the world, but it will not succeed,” David Keyes, a spokesperson for Netanyahu, told The Times of Israel.
“Daily, Hamas leaders call for genocide of all Jews and the destruction of Israel,” he added. “They dig terror tunnels and have launched thousands upon thousands of missiles at Israeli civilians. Schools and mosques run by Hamas teach children that Jews are apes and pigs. This is the real Hamas.”
