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
- 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
- The regional level
- 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 .
- 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 .
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- 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