The Arab reaction to the Hamas document issued yesterday focuses on one specific point: Hamas' seeming break with the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Muslim Brotherhood has become toxic, especially in Egypt but also in other Arab states like Jordan and Gulf states.
Hamas is trying to dissociate itself from the organization that it was originally a branch of (see the similarities of their logos) because it wants to be considered a legitimate representative of the Palestinian Arabs on par with the PA. Its association with Islamists was hurting that goal.
The document itself also reveals that Hamas is trying to appeal to the Arab world at large that has been ignoring it lately:
Palestine is an Arab Islamic land. It is a blessed sacred land that has a special place in the heart of every Arab and every Muslim.
Palestine is at the heart of the Arab and Islamic Ummah and enjoys a special status.
The Zionist project does not target the Palestinian people alone; it is the enemy of the Arab and Islamic Ummah posing a grave threat to its security and interests. It is also hostile to the Ummah’s aspirations for unity, renaissance and liberation and has been the major source of its troubles.
The liberation of Palestine is the duty of the Palestinian people in particular and the duty of the Arab and Islamic Ummah in general.
Hamas believes that the Palestinian issue is the central cause for the Arab and Islamic Ummah.
A number of Arabic articles are discussing whether Hamas is serious about this break or whether it is simply a trick to gain legitimacy.
While Hamas is intending to fool the Western world, its real aim is to regain the legitimacy it had in the Arab world only a few years ago.