Israel Matzav

Charter explicitly details Hamas’ agenda

It is perhaps worth remembering who Hamas is and what they stand for. They are not the 'peace-loving moderates' the world media has tries to portray over the past couple of weeks. This is from Sunday's Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.

...

A quick read through the Hamas charter revealed deep hatred for Israel, Jews and Zionism from an Islamic religious point of view that made the PLO’s political hatred look like the mere barking of a junkyard dog.

The charter starts with a quote from the Quran about the Jews: “They have incurred anger from their Lord, and wretchedness is laid upon them. That is because they disbelieve the revelations of Allah, and slew the Prophets wrongfully. That is because they were rebellious and transgress.”

Hamas’ charter goes downhill from there, stooping even to mentioning the notorious 1905 anti-Semitic forgery, “The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion,” and blaming Jews for all that is wrong with the world in the classic mold of centuries of Jew-haters.

“They (the Jews) also used the money to establish clandestine organizations which are spreading around the world, in order to destroy societies and carry out Zionist interests. Such organizations are: the Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, Lions Clubs, B’nai B’rith and the like. All of them are destructive spying organizations,” the charter said. “There was no war that broke out anywhere without their fingerprints on it.”

And there I was in a small room in a Hamas stronghold with two of the group’s main movers. Did they know that besides being an American radio reporter, I was an Israeli and a Jew?

Probably. Through the years, as I walked down streets or open-air markets in the West Bank and Gaza, microphone in hand, a tape recorder hanging prominently across my belly, someone would yell out in Hebrew, “Hey, Moses, what’s happening?” to see if I would react.

But it didn’t matter. To Adwan and Zahar, anti-Semitism was institutional, not personal. I was in no danger.

...

The charter is not an old, dusty document written by an idealistic founding generation to be memorized in classrooms but forgotten in practice, like the Declaration of Independence. Most of the people who wrote it are still around (some have been assassinated by Israel). The charter guides them because it sums up their core beliefs.

But they are patient. They acknowledge that there is a powerful state of Israel, and they are relatively weak. They offer Israel a long-term cease-fire if it will just get out of all of the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians would establish a state there and bide their time until the inevitable victory of their brand of Islam:

“The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews and kill them; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!”

The deepest-held beliefs of Hamas dictate Israel’s destruction. It’s just a matter of timing.

Will they try to send waves of suicide bombers into Israel when they take office, while they’re cleaning up the corruption-plagued Palestinian government or society? Or will they tackle removal of Israel only when they’re firmly in control in a few months or years?

When. Not if.

Read the whole thing.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:28 PM