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By : Yossi Mekelberg

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:: It is hardly surprising that the launch of the new Hamas document, titled “General Principles and Policies,” did not face a warm welcome, despite expressing a degree of change, including over the issue of coexistence with Israel.

Whereas it would be foolish to ignore certain elements of pragmatism displayed in this document, it drowns in much of the old confrontational language.

Its content will not reassure either the Israelis, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) or the international community that Hamas has gone far enough ideologically or politically to become a constructive player in Palestinian politics, or in peace negotiations with Israel.

Hamas, as a movement and as the ruling party in Gaza, has been rethinking its strategic direction for a number of years.

Its 1988 charter left very little in terms of engagement, not only with Israel, but with large parts of the international community.

Ideologically, it has always been more Islamist than Palestinian nationalist; nationalism came under the banner of Islam, not the other way round.

For the founders of Hamas, Palestine — stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea — was seen as destined to become in its entirety an Islamic waqf.

The movement embraced Islamic universalism rather than Palestinian exceptionalism as a nation.

Its creed had its roots in the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded by Hassan Al-Banna in Egypt in the late 1920s, and not in the Palestinian national movement.

In fact, the PLO and especially the Fatah movement, became sworn political and ideological enemies, as much if not more so than the Israelis themselves.

The new “General Principles and Policies” deserve close attention and consideration, as they differ on a number of significant issues from the charter and the traditional Hamas approach.

Its approach demonstrates adaptability to changing circumstances by omitting any reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, in striking contrast to the original charter, which identified the organization as one of the Muslim Brotherhood wings.

Yossi Mekelberg

To begin with, although Hamas is far from recognizing Israel and its right to exist, there is a degree of acceptance of the Jewish state as a fait accompli.

In its own words, as per its new approach, Hamas is ready to consider “…the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital along the lines of the 4th of June 1967…”

By default, this implies a grudging recognition of the reality that what exists on the other side of these borders should remain intact, namely Israel.

Arguably, this is a significant and meaningful change from the movement’s traditional stance, which opens an aperture, as small it is, for recognizing Israel.

Some would claim that this is not a radical departure from the organization’s suggestion, in the past, of a long hudna (truce) with Israel. Especially when the document claims in the same breath that no part of the land of Palestine shall be compromised or conceded, or that it “… rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.”

These intrinsic inconsistencies reflect disagreements within the movement and an attempt to position Hamas within Palestinian politics, in contrast to Fatah, as leading the armed resistance, but also as a group that can evolve politically into a pragmatic force.

Israel, not that astonishingly, dismissed this change in the traditional Hamas stance as hollow and insincere, as did the Palestinian Authority.

Yet, since Israel itself is using the recognition of Palestine as an independent state as a bargaining chip in future peace negotiations, it is somewhat far-fetched to expect the Palestinians, let alone Hamas, to hand it such recognition for free.

A further modification in the Hamas stance is that it abandons describing its struggle as one against the “Jews,” as in the 1988 Charter, and instead concentrates on the Zionists and the “Zionist entity.”

It tries to distance itself from being associated with anti-Semitism, but by repeatedly expressing its loathing for Zionism, and not mentioning Israel by name, it leaves a huge distance to bridge before the two sides can have any genuine dialogue.

The new Hamas approach demonstrates adaptability to changing circumstances by omitting any reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, in striking contrast to the original charter, which identified the organization as one of the Muslim Brotherhood wings.

It is not an ideological-theological departure, but an attempt to appease the Egyptian government in the hope of easing the blockade on Gaza, especially as the Muslim Brotherhood is a declining force in Egypt.

This document still represents a rather hard-line approach that refuses to accept the legitimacy of Israel. Nevertheless, it reveals an organization that is far from monolithic and responds to changing circumstances to preserve its own power.

The noticeable shift from the religious to the nationalist is a direct response to demands from the Gazan people. They would like to see an end to the daily misery they endure, which requires a political compromise between Israel and Egypt.

It is also a recognition that losing its base in Damascus and the cooling relations with Iran makes Hamas more vulnerable.

The movement, as a result, is more susceptive to ordinary Palestinians’ demands to fulfill their national aspirations and improve their daily lives.

This presents the organization with the challenge of transitioning from its heroic era to a more prosaic phase.

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Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations at Regent’s University London, where he is head of the International Relations and Social Sciences Program. He is also an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. He is a regular contributor to the international written and electronic media.

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Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in the Column section are their own and do not reflect RiyadhVision’s point-of-view.

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