Monday, May 01, 2017
Elder of Ziyon
This is the part of the supposedly moderate Hamas "political document" that not only justifies murdering Israelis, but couches the murder of Israelis as a human right:
Resistance and Liberation:Yes, this is justification for bus bombings, rocket fire to civilian areas and stabbing random Jews.
24. The liberation of Palestine is the duty of the Palestinian people in particular and the duty of the Arab and Islamic Ummah in general. It is also a humanitarian obligation as necessitated by the dictates of truth and justice. The agencies working for Palestine, whether national, Arab, Islamic or humanitarian, complement each other and are harmonious and not in conflict with each other.
25. Resisting the occupation with all means and methods is a legitimate right guaranteed by divine laws and by international norms and laws. At the heart of these lies armed resistance, which is regarded as the strategic choice for protecting the principles and the rights of the Palestinian people.
26. Hamas rejects any attempt to undermine the resistance and its arms. It also affirms the right of our people to develop the means and mechanisms of resistance. Managing resistance, in terms of escalation or de-escalation, or in terms of diversifying the means and methods, is an integral part of the process of managing the conflict and should not be at the expense of the principle of resistance.
But Hamas' main political rival, Fatah, believes the exact same thing. From its 2009 political platform that has not been changed:
The liberation of the homeland is the central axis of the Fatah Movement’s struggle, including the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, as an inalienable right. This right cannot be lost by attrition since it was recognized and confirmed by the international community.... In the short run, it focuses on confronting the settlements, the judaization of Jerusalem, the siege imposed on our territories, putting an end to the occupation of our cities and villages as a step towards achieving our strategic goals.The only differences between the Fatah and Hamas platforms is that Fatah says that sometimes it needs to use "peace" as a strategic option, while Hamas only says it may choose to "de-escalate" armed resistance. Fatah does add language claiming that it doesn't target civilians, a lie (it celebrates its attacks on civilians in the document itself as "legitimate resistance"). Hamas has claimed in the past that same lie, that it doesn't target civilians, but that lie did not make it into the political document.
Fatah launched armed struggle, and other methods of legitimate resistance to liberate the homeland. Such a right is recognized by international law as long as the occupation of our land remains. ...
The Palestinian people’s right to practice armed resistance against the military occupation of their land remains a constant right confirmed by international law and international legality. However, the selection of struggle methods, in time and space depends on the capabilities of our people and our Movement.
Fatah makes it clear that its ultimate goal is the same as Hamas': to "liberate the homeland" which of course includes all of Israel, with a state in the territories as phase one. And Hamas says the same by saying that it would accept such a Palestinian state in the territories but by not emphasizing that its goal remains the same: from the river to the sea.
The media coverage of the Hamas document has not been as bad as I feared, although there is plenty to complain about. But there has been next to no coverage of the similar document issued by Mahmoud Abbas' movement. And the two documents are virtually identical.
And Fatah knows it:
Fatah: Hamas has endorsed the PLO platform; we demand an apology from Hamas for calling us traitors and infidels. #Hamas_Document— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) May 1, 2017
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