The new document of Hamas ……. pragmatism, and the limits of political change

The new document of Hamas ……. pragmatism, and the limits of political change

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D.Salim m.Alzanoon

On 1 May Hamas movement released a new document of “general principles and policies”  based on the “doctrine of necessity” which allows the admission of certain issues and adopt some policies to  avoid the damage and  to achieve  the interests, according to this ,  the document constitutes  a degree of political pragmatism, which works to match the interests of the movement on the internal Palestinian level, and give it  as much flexibility in its relations at the regional and international level, especially in  the light of  the regional and international changes .

The document put forward  the change in the vision of the movement towards five key issues: the movement’s vision towards its global role as part of the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood,  PLO,  the concept of the national state, international relations, and the concept of jihad, but the limits of change in the objectives of the Movement were relatively consistent with the Charter in  three issues: the recognition of Israel, recognition of international conventions and peace initiatives, and to renounce violence, and if we take the international Quartet conditions into account, the document did not achieve the minimum of it ,  so it is not expected that the document  will make a big breakthrough in the relationship with the international community.

 

The new  document of Hamas  movement

The pragmatism and limits of political change

D.Salim m.Alzanoon

The index

Preface

First: The limits of change in the vision

1.from the international to the nationality

2.PLO

3.The concept of national state

  1. International relations

5.The concept of jihad

Second: The limits of change in the objectives

1.Israel

2.International conventions  and peace initiatives

3.To renounce the violence

Third: the political pragmatism

  1. The regional level
  2. The international level

Conclusion

Preface

On 1 may, 2017 , Hamas movement released its  Document of General  Principles  and Policies as a revised alternative to a charter that was announced in August 1988 . Some leaders of the movement consider that the previous charter does not deviate from being a religious discourse rather than being  apolitical charter in the full sense  .It  was adopted within a certain period of the organization ‘s history   and is used by  Israel   to fight the movement internationally . This vision   constitutes  ,  in  addition  to the  changed internal and regional and international circumstances  ,  a state of continuous pressure on the movement  and pushing it towards finding solutions to get out of the current crisis away from the religious  and international vision which  dominated  its previous charter  and to enable it in making the political maneuver and bringing back the balance to its internal ,regional, and international relations. In this context, many meeting were held in Doha with the participation of several leaders of the movement, including Khaled Meshaal, head of the political Bureau, and his deputy Musa Abu Marzuq and Ismail Haniya , prime minister of the Hamas government in Gaza .The consultations   were  ended   to issue a document of  general principles and policies that  includes   a vision of  relative variation  with the charter, which will lead to study the limits  of the change of the  new vision  and as well as a change in objectives  in a comparative study between the new document and the previous charter as well as the degree of political pragmatism in the light of regional and international data and the extent of the international  community’s response to the change in the vision of the  movement  .

First : The limits of change in the political vision

The movement of Hamas starts to formulate  the new document  of the foundations of the doctrine of the necessity based on the existence of  the state of  the necessity  and sever need that  not to be  taken in to account  will cause  the damage  and waste of interests which is one of the greatest purposes of the Sharia. If the prohibition is not addressed, it will  cause damage .  In the framework  of this vision , Meshaal said that the movement  is exercising its political role  in accordance with the necessities of reality, provided that it does not conflict  with the principles. According to this perspective, it is possible to explain the changes that have been occurred in the document of general principles and  policies .The document contains  a change in some attitudes  and policies  and  the comparison between the document and the charter refers    to the limits of the change in the vision of the movement  towards main  five issues    : the movement’s attitude toward its global role as a part  of the international organization  of Muslim Brotherhood ,  PLO and the concept of national state  and international relations .

1.From the International to National

While the organization of Muslim Brotherhood  is declined  as the mother organization   of the movement  and in a state  of fragmentation  and intransigence  by internal conflicts  and the decline  of its role  and being  prosecuted    at the international and regional level    to become  a burden on the branches  of the organization  in different countries , the document of general principles and policies of the movement  showed   the disengagement to the  international organization  of Muslim Brotherhood , stressing   that it is a  Palestinian  , national and resistance movement  and  this is to represent  a quantum  leap  in the re-definition  of   the movement   to itself  that it defined itself in the charter  as a supra-national  and transnational  movement  and as one of the wings  of the Muslim Brotherhood movement as a global organization in modern times .

2.PLO

As part of the Hamas movement’s attempt to join the PLO  as an entry point  to gain regional and international legitimacy .The  document of  general  principles and policies has   acknowledged   that the organization is  a legitimate national framework for the Palestinian people and must be preserved  , developed ,reconstructed and    take part in it  and this represents    a change in its  vision  to its previous charter  based on the vision that the PLO  has adopted the  idea of Secular state  which is contrary to the religious state  ,whoever takes his religion lightly is a loser  .

  1. The concept of national state

While the concept of national state was missed from the  previous charter  where  the movement is defined as a global movement  that its spatial dimension is  in any spot  where there  are Muslims   and works to support  the vulnerable   in any place  reached by the movement   ,the document came to define  the concept  of the national state  by determining  the spatial dimension  of the movement in the historical land of Palestine  and the establishment of an independent sovereign  state  with Jerusalem  as its capital on the  1967 borders , while not abandoning the historic borders  of Palestine . And this is a reflection of the movement  due to the transmission of the movement from the international to national and redefining itself and its role .

  1. The international relations

The charter does not deal with the external   relations of the movement  except from the standpoint of unilateralism, based on the fact  that the countries  in the east and west are complicit  with the Israeli occupation , and have a role to play  with each other . The movement  believes that the peaceful initiatives and conferences are contrary  to its faith. However, the change  in Hamas’s  vision of the international relations  began early  and before the  document of principles  and policies . The official of the international relations  in the movement   indicated to the need  to seek  for the points of  convergence with  the international forces  and strengthen them,  nevertheless of the extent of difference with them in attitudes and positions  even if these forces  are supportive  to Israel  and the document came  to adopt  vision that is contrary to the charter in terms of its  emphasis  on cooperation  and openness to  all countries   and endeavors  to build  balanced relations and welcomes the positions of countries and organizations that are supportive to the Palestinian people.

  1. The concept of Jihad

The charter  is based on a purely religious vision and is dominated by the Quranic verses and Hadiths. The word  Jihad   is repeated  fourteen  times. These concepts are completely disappeared  from the new document . The word   “Jihad”  was replaced  with the word   “resistance”  that is repeated  8 times  . The charter affirms that Jihad  is  an individual duty  and represents  the only means  of liberation and stressed  that the religious conflict with Jews will end only by fighting and  the elimination of them .The new document   indicates to  rule out  the religious dimension  from the conflict stressing that the conflict  is not with the Jews  as a religion , but with the Zionist   movement    , occupied the Palestinian  territories and it indicates to the multiplicity of means  of resistance  as it is no longer  limited to the Jihad only where it calls  to resist  the occupation  by all means  and ways  and the armed resistance is one of them  and that indicates to different vision  and to abandon the religious discourse  in the conflict and the possibility  of adoption  of other methods  of peaceful resistance and nonviolent ways  in addition of armed resistance.

Second: The limits of change in goals

The new document indicates  to the reduction  in the tone of the political discourse . Hamas is seen  as the most effective actor   of pragmatism   by marketing  itself  as a national Islamic movement  rather than  as a branch of Muslim Brotherhood , as a part of its efforts  to end years of international and regional isolation .  This change didn’t touch  the change in the main objectives  of the movement . The comparison between the document and the charter shows  a state of relative  constituency  and stability in the main goals: The recognition of Israel , The recognition of International conferences  and The renunciation of violence .

1.The recognition of Israel  .

The document has no radical changes  in the  recognition of Israel. The terms of the document  are relatively  harmonized with  the charter  . However , unlike the charter , the document  contradicts  in terms of the recognition of Israel  despite its explicit  refusal to recognize to its legitimacy and not to  give up about any part of historical Palestine  from the  sea to the river, but its acceptance of the establishment of a Palestinian state on the borders of the 4th of June  1967 constitutes  an (implicit) recognition and not (explicit) recognition  of its existence.

  1. The International conferences and peace  Initiatives .

The document  was relatively  coordinated  with the charter with regard  to the position  towards the international conferences  and peace initiatives so while the charter  emphasis on  the rejection  to the international initiatives  and peaceful solutions  as   they are contrary with the doctrine of the movement  and aim  to enable the  people of disbelief  to rule in the land of Muslims . The document came to  abandon the  doctrine  and religious dimension  , but stressed  on its rejection to all conventions , initiatives and projects of settlement  that aim to the liquidation of  the Palestinian cause and its emphasis on the rejection  of the peace agreements and  its consequences

  1. The renunciation of violence .

The document showed  less  intense tone in relation of the use of violence   but relatively consistent  with the charter ,   while the charter stressed on the defeat of Israel considered as one of the Crusades invasions through the Jihad(Armed force).The document dropped  the direct call  to defeat Israel , but at the same time  indicated to its quest  to liberate  the land of all Palestine  occupied by Israel . At the time of the absence of the concept of Jihad  from the   document  , it was replaced by the concept of  the resistance and annexed    the concept to the idiom  .. means  and methods on the basis  that the armed action  is one of the methods along with other means  because the document of principles and policies  did not meet the minimum conditions of the International  Quartet approved by the international society including the European Union and USA based on : the renunciation of violence ,  the recognition of Israel ‘s right and acceptance of international agreements as  a condition for the economic support and diplomatic communication . Hamas realizes through its  continuous contacts with European countries  that it will not enjoy  international recognition  without showing  goodwill  on the  conditions of the international  Quartet  committee about peace process , the recognition of Israel and the recognition of the Oslo agreements , therefore  it is not expected that the new document   to make a real  breakthrough in the relation with the international community.

Third : The political pragmatism

The new document indicates  to the political pragmatism of the movement and the degree  of political flexibility in an attempt to make  a real break through  in its international  and regional relations .

1.At The regional level.

By confirming  of the new document  on the movement’s refusal to interfere in the internal affairs of countries and its refusal to enter into conflicts and disputes between them  ,it is trying to  balance in its relation with Saudi Arabia on the one hand  and Iran on the other . The military wing of the movement is linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards  materially, but the political wing is linked to the Gulf  states . And it is unable  to give up  for  any of them ,therefore it  emphasis on its neutrality and focus on national concerns. And the implicit reference  to secede from the  international organization  of the Muslim Brotherhood is a direct message to Cairo and it comes as a first step in the framework of approaching  to it  and an attempt to improve the relation with it  to open a window  for the movement  in the Gaza  strip  to  the world.

2,At The International level.

The timing of the declaration of the new document  is linked  to international  variables and a challenge  to the  rise  of Trump to power and the adoption of his administration  of the vision  that it puts all of political Islam in one basket  and it does not distinguish  between  it  and the extremist movements and is also linked to the choice of  timing to announce the document  so the declaration came in two days before the Palestinian president’s visit to Washington in an attempt to present itself as a force not underestimated on the international scene as a pragmatic organization  .

Conclusion

Hamas  proposes  the document of general principles and policies   based on the doctrine of the necessity  which allows   the  admission  of some issues and adopt some policies to avoid the damage and in order to  achieve the interests  and according to this  , the document constitutes a degree of political pragmatism that works  to harmonize the interests  of the movement on the Palestinian internal  level   and gives it some flexibility  in its relations  at the  regional and international levels . The document  presented  a change in the vision  of the movement towards five main  issues namely ,the vision of the movement  towards its global role  as a part of the international organization of the Muslim  Brotherhood   and the PLO  and the concept of the national state and the international relationship  and the concept of Jihad .However, the limits of change of the  objectives   of the movement   were relatively consistent  with the charter in three issues  : the recognition of Israel ,the recognition of international agreements , peace initiatives , the renunciation of violence  and if we take the conditions of international Quartet  into account, the document did not  achieve the minimum of it . so it is not expected  from the document to  make  a major breakthrough  in the relationship with international community.

 

Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies