Is Hamas fighting Israeli oppression?

photo credit: NASA/BARRY WILMORE)

• Lots of people in our media spaces are arguing that the recent Hamas violence against Jewish civilians in Israel is a response to Israeli oppression.

• Hamas disagrees.

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Shouting incessantly that ‘God is Great!’ (Allahu Akbar!), Hamas terrorists recently invaded Israel and killed defenseless Jewish civilians at a bus stop and at a music event, then hunted for Jewish children, grandmothers—anybody really—to kill and rape in their homes, and kill and rape they did, and then they decapitated babies (babies!) and dragged other innocents (yes, even grandmothers and children) into a terrifying Gazan captivity, all of it proudly displayed in videos on the internet.

There followed plenty attempts in the media, and on social media, to justify this recent Hamas violence as a consequence of ‘Israeli oppression.’ For illustration, here’s a typical example: over on Rising—the TV branch of The Hill—Briahna Joy Gray made reference to

“…the ongoing conditions that the Palestinians have been living under, which in the views (I think) of most people who are looking … in a clear-eyed way at this crisis are (of course) the root causes of why this violence has emerged.

(…) … if you condemn the murder of innocent civilians (as everybody should) at a certain point you have to figure out what is going to lead people to no longer want to lash out in this way…”

Translation: Gray is saying that the Hamas terrorists are not racist. Their goal is not to kill Jews—any Jews—for being Jews. They are not German Nazis. Hamas has rained many thousands of rockets over towns full of Jewish civilians, then killed Jewish civilians on the streets and in their homes, and kidnapped others, because, she says, Hamas is reacting to “the ongoing conditions that the Palestinians have been living under.” She condescends to “condemn the murder of innocent civilians,” but, she avers, “people … lash out in this way” because “(of course)” they are oppressed by Israel.

So that’s Briahna Joy Gray’s “clear-eyed” view.

But let’s check with Hamas. Do they agree with her? What do they say about their reasons? Are they fighting oppression?

We can find this out by consulting the Hamas Covenant, the organization’s founding document, which itself states that:

“This Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS), clarifies its picture, reveals its identity, outlines its stand, explains its aims.”

That’s convenient. According to Hamas, if we wish to understand Hamas—it’s picture, identity, stand, and aims—just consult the Hamas Covenant. They’ve put it all in there.

So what is the matter with Briahna Joy Gray? Is she really a journalist? I ask because you don’t have to be much of a sleuth to find the Hamas Covenant and read it. Let’s see what this important document says.

The Hamas Covenant—opening lines

The Hamas Covenant begins with a quotation from Al-Imran, the third chapter of the Qur’an.

Let me point out, for context, that this Al-Imram chapter—like the rest of the Qur’an—is obsessed with the question of ‘infidels,’ for, says Allah, “As to those who reject [the Muslim] faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter” (3.56), for they are “perverted transgressors” (3.82).

There is a special focus on “those who have been given a portion of the Book” (3.23), meaning stubborn Jews and Christians who reject Muhammad’s alleged revelation. These infidels “are themselves but fuel for the fire” (3.10), for “Allah is strict in punishment” (3.11) and “Allah is swift in calling [infidels] to account” (3.19).[1]

From this Al-Imran chapter of the Qur’an, the authors of the Hamas Covenant chose, for opening lines, the verses 3.109-111, which speak of “they who have received the scriptures,” again meaning Jewish (also Christian) ‘infidels.’ “The greater part of them,” of these ‘infidels,’ reads the text, “are transgressors.” Moreover, “they are smitten with vileness wheresoever they are found … and they draw indignation from Allah… because they disbelieved the signs of Allah.”

So… the Jews are bad, according to Hamas, because they reject the Muslim faith.

Then the Hamas Charter quotes “The Martyr, Imam Hassan al-Banna, of blessed memory,” who is the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (Hamas’s parent organization), and who said:

“ ‘Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.’ ”

Hm. Notice how this doesn’t say that Hamas wants a State for the Palestinians alongside a Jewish State. Hamas’s goal is to obliterate Israel. And notice the reference to jihad, when the Muslims of times past “obliterated others”—other ‘infidels.’ This was not because those ‘infidels’ were oppressing Muslims (the Muslims were conquering them) but because they refused to accept Muhammad’s alleged revelation.

So that’s how the Hamas Covenant begins.

The Hamas Covenant—What about ‘Palestine’?

Then there is a lot about Allah, and how everyone must submit to Allah, and finally a mention of “the liberation of Palestine.”

But what does that mean? Article Six is clear:

“The Islamic Resistance Movement … strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.”

That’s not a reference to Gaza or even the so-called ‘West Bank’ (Judea & Samaria). No, by “Palestine,” Hamas means the entirety of the State of Israel. That’s what the chant “from the river to the sea” means. They want to establish a theocratic Muslim state “over every inch” of what is now Israel, from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean sea.

If there were any doubt about that, it is dissipated by Article Eleven, which says that “Palestine is an Islamic waqf consecrated for Moslem generations until Judgment Day,” which makes it inalienable under Islamic law, and therefore “It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it or any part of it, should not be given up.”

The same article clarifies:

“This is the law governing the land of Palestine in the Islamic Sharia (law) and the same goes for any land the Moslems have conquered by force.”

This recognizes that Muslims “conquered by force” (in jihad) what they call ‘Palestine.’ And according to Hamas, once Muslims have killed others and stolen their land, then murdered or enslaved those who will not convert to Islam, they have made that land most holy, and not one inch of it can be given back.

The Hamas Covenant—methods

As for the methods of Hamas, they are traditional, and best expressed in their slogan, which is stated in Article Eight:

“Allah is [Hamas’s] target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.”

This means there will be no peace negotiations—they will fight to the death.

But if anybody is still wondering, Hamas clarifies further in Article Thirteen:

“Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement.”

Why? Because “these conferences are only ways of setting the infidels in the land of the Moslems as arbitrators.” So, “there is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad.” And “Jihad,” says Article Fifteen, “becomes the individual duty of every Moslem,” because “the Palestinian problem is a religious problem.”

Hamas does not want “peaceful solutions” to anything. It wants to kill Jews. Because they are ‘infidels.’ It’s a “religious problem.”

This is indistinguishable from the German Nazis and their search for lebensraum (living space) that would be Judenrein (rid of Jews), except for the cosmetic difference that Hamas’s violent bigotry is theological whereas Nazi racism was pseudoscientific. But the functional—that is, political—result is identical: violence against Jews because they are Jews. And the ecstatic, genocidal goal.

But isn’t Israel oppressing the Palestinians?

And what about Briahna Joy Gray’s other claim? Is it at least true that Israel is oppressing those Arabs in Gaza whom Hamas claims to represent?

Lots of people think—because they have zero memory—that Israel indeed oppresses the Gaza Arabs, and ‘journalists’ such as Briahna Joy Gray make no effort to improve their understanding of history and present events. But this is the truth:

Gaza is not even governed by Israel.

Israel does not govern Gaza. Gaza is a foreign entity. True, in the past, Israel did govern Gaza. But in 2005, Israel unilaterally disengaged from Gaza. The Israeli military came into the Jewish communities of Gaza and dragged all the Jews out (against their will). And the Israeli State vacated Gaza.

Much of Israeli society supported this because they were told—like the rest of the world was told—that the terrorist organizations that claim to represent the Palestinians just want a territory to call their own. So they said: let’s get out of Gaza and ask for nothing in return, as a confidence-building gesture, and let’s see if that makes them more willing to negotiate a peaceful solution.

What happened?

PLO/Fatah (now better known as the ‘Palestinian Authority’) received Gaza to govern. The first thing they did was to raze the former houses of Jews in Gaza—instead of using them—because those houses were infected with the stench of Jews.

I understand that lots of people—once again because they are misinformed by the likes of Briahna Joy Gray—believe that PLO/Fatah and Hamas are somehow ‘rivals.’ But that is media theater. The Hamas Covenant is clear about this too. Article Twenty-Seven states:

“The Palestinian Liberation Organization [PLO] is the closest to the heart of the Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas]. It contains the father and the brother, the next of kin and the friend. The Moslem does not estrange himself from his father, brother, next of kin or friend. Our homeland is one, our situation is one, our fate is one and the enemy is a joint enemy to all of us.”

In 2007, PLO/Fatah—the “father and the brother” of Hamas—pretended for the cameras to have a fight with Hamas and then just handed Gaza over to Hamas. Since then, the government of the Gaza Palestinians has been Hamas.

Not Israel, but Hamas. It is Hamas that governs the Arabs in Gaza. The “ongoing conditions that the Palestinians have been living under” are the work of Hamas, which spends every penny it gets on weapons and strategies to kill Jews, rather than on improving the “ongoing conditions that the Palestinians have been living under.”

Yes, Israel maintains a maritime blockade of Gaza. Why? It is not gratuitous: this happens because Hamas is constantly trying to import weapons, and parts for weapons, to kill Jews.

The Arabs in Gaza are oppressed for the same reason that Germans in the Third Reich were oppressed: they are governed by terrorist and totalitarian criminals interested in murdering ‘subhumans’ (‘infidels’) and any of their own who might disagree.

In fact, Hamas is infamous for using innocent Arabs as human shields to protect the Hamas terrorists!

Don’t lay the suffering of Arabs in Gaza on Israel. Israel was just minding its own business, and Hamas, which spends every penny it gets on weapons to kill Jews, did what it always does: kill Jews because they are Jews, and kill any Arabs who disagree.

Hamas will not lay down its arms, and it will not abandon its goal of genocide against the Jews. They’ve said it themselves in their ‘holy’ covenant.

Hamas must be defeated. Only that will bring liberation to the Arabs in Gaza.

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[1] I am using the famous translation to English by Yusuf Ali.