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The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Arabic: ميثاق حركة المقاومة الإسلامية حماس), referred to as the Hamas Covenant or Hamas Charter, was issued by Hamas (the Islamic Resistance Movement) on 18 August 1988 and outlines the organization's founding identity, positions, and aims.[1] In 2017, Hamas unveiled a revised charter, without explicitly revoking the 1988 charter.[2][3]
The original Charter identified Hamas as the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine and described its members to be god-fearing Muslims raising the banner of Jihad (armed struggle) in "the face of the oppressors." The charter defines the struggle to be against the Jews and calls for the eventual creation of an Islamic Palestinian state in all of former Mandatory Palestine, and the obliteration or dissolution of Israel.[4][5][6] The charter has been criticized for its use of antisemitic language,[7][8] which some commentators have characterized as incitement to genocide.[9][10] Hamas's 2017 charter removed the antisemitic language and clarified Hamas's struggle was with Zionists, not Jews.[11][12][13][14][15]
Since choosing to run candidates for office in elections, Hamas has downplayed the role of its charter.[16] In direct contradiction of the Charter, in 2008 Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh stated that Hamas would agree to accept a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, and to offer a long-term truce with Israel.[17] In 2010, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal stated that the Charter is "a piece of history and no longer relevant, but cannot be changed for internal reasons".[18] Meshaal also stated that Hamas was ending its association with the Muslim Brotherhood.[19]
Unlike the 1988 Charter, the 2017 charter accepted a Palestinian state within the borders that existed before 1967 and maintained Hamas's refusal to recognize the State of Israel, which it terms the "Zionist entity".[20] The 2017 charter refers to an Israeli state within the pre-1967 borders as a transitional state while also advocating for the "liberation of all of Palestine".[19][21] Views on the 2017 document varied. While some welcomed it as a sign of increased political maturity, an attempt to bridge the gap between moderates and hardliners within Hamas, and a potential step on the way to peace, many others, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, dismissed it as a merely cosmetic effort designed to make Hamas sound more palatable while changing nothing about Hamas' underlying aims and methods.[22]
avalon
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Brenner205
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Gourevitch
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Goldberg
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Since Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections in January 2006, its political positions as presented in the Western media hark back to its 1988 charter, with almost no reference to its considerable evolution under the impact of political developments. …From its establishment, Hamas had steadfastly refused to run in any national elections, either for PC or for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority (PA). As both these structures grew out of the Oslo accords, which Hamas opposed and considered illegitimate, it had never recognized the legitimacy of either. Thus, whereas the movement has long participated in municipal and other local elections, making its growing strength quantifiable, the question of whether to enter national electoral politics was a difficult decision, fraught with the contradictions that could be expected in a movement whose leadership is geographically divided between the "inside" and the "outside," whose political and military wings have a degree of autonomy, and which adopts a democratic decision-making process with a diversity of views. … Despite the oft-repeated rhetoric of Hamas's leaders that their movement will remain faithful to its known principles, the three documents reveal beyond question that the demands of the national arena have driven Hamas in dramatically new directions…Hamas continues to be characterized with reference to its 1988 charter, drawn up less than a year after the movement was established in direct response to the outbreak of the first intifada and when its raison d'être was armed resistance to the occupation. … Given Hamas's traditional projection of itself as an uncompromising resistance movement, and the popularity it has derived from its resistance to the Israeli occupation, its choice of "change and reform" as the theme of its campaign and name of its electoral list…draws attention to the failure and corruption associated with its rival Fatah. … Without doubt, there are many who remain highly skeptical of Hamas's new face, suspecting a ploy to gain power by concealing true agendas. … This leaves open the question of whether Hamas in power will be able to function practically within the parameters of the peace process as originally agreed to by Israel and the PLO at Oslo, which Hamas had vehemently opposed.
AJ1
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).