Dealing with Hamas: Issues for a Just Peace in Israel-Palestine - Essay Example

Dealing with Hamas: Issues for a just peace in Israel-Palestine Executive summary: HAMAS or harakat al-muqawwama al-islamiyya is the Arabic word for zeal, and stands for the Islamic Resistance Movement. Founded during the time period 1987-1993, this monograph examines the rise of this group and its changing equation with Israel, especially after the signing of the Declaration of Principles, better known as the Oslo Agreement, in 1993. Since the tension between Israel and Palestine has increased to a great extent after 2001, and with HAMAS now being a legitimate and democratically elected government of Palestine (2006), it is now imperative that one considers dealing effectively with HAMAS in order to achieve peace between the two warring nations, Israel and Palestine. Introduction The socio-political equation and regional dynamics have shifted since the turn of the century, resulting in rising concerns about the security issues pertaining to the region.“Various armed conflicts have destabilised the region, and an enfeebled Iraq has dramatically increased the power of Shia-dominated Iran... Arab governments also worry about radical Islamism which is winning popular backing across the region, spearheaded by Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas” (O’Donell, 2008, 5). In the recent times the apperceived threat to Israel from other countries like Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq has visibly decreased (Zuhur, 2008, vii). On the other hand, tensions between HAMAS and Israel have heightened from 2001, and the relationship between the two has been simmering since then. In the meanwhile this heightened tension has claimed lives of many innocent civilians on both the sides. In this article we will review HAMAS and take a look at its history, the motivation behind its formation and functioning, it various activities, demands, and its future vision of Palestine, from close quarters. This article will also take a look at the role HAMAS plays in the Palestine-Israel conflict, while searching for a peaceable solution. It will also examine the pros and cons of the Australian government engaging with Hamas in the context of achieving a just resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Discussion History of HAMAS as an organisation: HAMAS or Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamat al-Islāmiyyah, meaning Islamic resistance movement, is the democratically elected socio-political party that has come to power in Palestine since 2006. It is a radical Islamic organisation, which has two wings: the socio-political wing (Abraham, 2002), and the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam brigade which is the paramilitary arm. The group HAMAS was first formed in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and the name HAMAS first appeared in a leaflet that was anti-Israel in its tone and accused Mossad of corrupting the young Palestinians by recruiting them as ‘collaborators’. It was formed after the ‘first intifada’ when several Palestinians were killed in an accident that involved an Israeli driver. HAMAS was formed as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood group, and was initially affiliated with various charity works and other social associations, which were working for the benefit of the people living in the occupied areas. In 1992 we see the creation of the paramilitary arm, ‘Izz ad-Din al-Qassam’, which operates independently and is made up of various cells that function as specialised units. “While the Brigades are an integral part of Hamas, they also operate independently and at times at odds with Hamas’ stated aims... On 14 November 2008 the Brigades used their website to threaten Israel of a “harsh and painful” response to any Israeli ‘Calm’ violations. There was no indication of any consultation with Hamas political leadership before the announcement was made” (Hamass Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, 8 September, 2009). This arm has been responsible for large number of suicide bombings from the 1990s till the 2000s, which have killed scores of Israeli citizens (PBS Frontline World, May 9 2006). Banned by Jordan in 1999 for scuttling peace talks between Israel and Palestine (Hirst, 1999), this group has been branded as a terrorist organisation by Israel, Japan (Diplomatic blue book, 2005, 138), US, Canada, and the European Union (Guardia, 2003). Motivations: HAMAS in 1988 had published a charter outlining its aims and motivations. The motivations for HAMAS as a group, as outlined in the charter were, “laced with anti-Semitism and racism, rejects peaceful efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and calls for the destruction of the State of Israel through jihad, or holy war. Hamas considers all of Israel to be occupied territory” (MEMO, 2008, 1). The first line of this charter speaks of Israel’s destruction, which forms HAMAS’s motivation, “Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors” (ibid). Activities: The chief activities of the HAMAS, especially that of its Izz ad- Din al-Qassam brigade consists of conducting terror attacks against the Israeli citizens, civilians and soldiers both. These terror attacks mainly comprise of suicide bombings, like that of the Passover massacre in 2002 (30 people killed); again in November the same year, there was a Jerusalem bus massacre that killed 11; another bus massacre in Jerusalem in August 2003, leaving 23 dead. It also uses mortars, rockets and shells to attack Israeli settlements in the Gaza strip and the West Bank region. Hamas also attacks Palestinian collaborators and its Fatah rivals, whom they suspect of helping Israel by passing inside information (Kalman, 2009) Besides the paramilitary activities, HAMAS is also involved in certain charitable social works that include organising various educational and relief measures for the Palestinians living on the Gaza strip. Such activities are a part of an integrated plan of HAMAS that amalgamates their political or state arm, with the paramilitary arm, and they use these charitable activities both as a sort of propaganda and also as a source of recruiting new members into their organisation. Demands: HAMAS demands “for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories: the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem," (BBC News, who are HAMAS? 2009). It also demands recognition of rights for the Palestinians that include ‘the right to return’, and also demands that Israel recognises the 1967 borders of Palestine. Visions of HAMAS: Its vision centres on the desire to bring in freedom for Palestine from the hands of Israel through declared ‘jihad’ or the holy war. It hopes to create an Islamic state on the very soil of Israel, and wishes to reform society through the implementation of true Islamic norms. Thus, all its activities are based on the visions of establishing an Islamic state, with claims of nationalistic feelings, which in reality translates into nothing more than rigid militancy with uncompromising ideologies. “Islamic and national zeal, bitter opposition to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and strategies of terror and violence against Israel have become the movement’s hallmark” (Mishal & Sela, 2006, vii). Its visions are very clearly expressed in its charter, published in 1988 (Hamas Covenant 1988, Yale Law School). First article – The movement of HAMAS is described as being purely ‘Islamic’. Second article- This is a universal movement that has branched out from the group Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine. Third article- HAMAS consists of “Moslems who have given their allegiance to Allah” (ibid). Fourth article- This resistance movement “welcomes every Moslem who embraces its faith, ideology, follows its programme, keeps its secrets, and wants to belong to its ranks and carry out the duty. Allah will certainly reward such one” (ibid). Article 5- speaks of the close connections that HAMAS has with all Muslim Brotherhood movements, and their common Salafi roots of Islam. Article 6- this is devoted to only the Palestinian cause and says HAMAS “strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine"(Hamas Covenant 1988, Yale Law School). Article 7– it refers to the martyr Muhammad Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, a religious and nationalist leader killed by the British soldiers in 1935, and hails him as a hero, while referring to HAMAS as “one of the links in the chain of the struggle against the Zionist invaders”(ibid). Article 8- Here it gives us the motto of HAMAS “Allah is its goal, the Prophet is the model, the Quran its constitution, jihad its path, and death for the sake of Allah its most sublime belief” (ibid). Article 9- relates the Palestine problem as to having an Islamic solution, and defines the movement as “fighting against the false, defeating it and vanquishing it so that justice could prevail”(ibid). Article 11- declares Palestine soil to be a sacred property for all Muslims (Waqf property) Article 12- tell us that “Nationalism, from the point of view of the Islamic Resistance Movement, is part of the religious creed”( ibid). Article 13 and 14 dismisses all forms of negotiations, and declares jihad to be the only way, while saying that achieving freedom for Palestine should be the personal agenda for all Palestinians. Article 15 declares the Palestinian cause to be Islamic- Arabic in nature and implies that the secular stand of PLO is a betrayal of the cause. Article 20 calls upon all Palestinians to declare war against “a vicious enemy which acts in a way similar to Nazism, making no differentiation between man and woman, between children and old people" while Article 28 indicts “Israel, Judaism and Jews" (ibid) for conspiracies against Palestine. This charter further says “The Day of Judgement will not come until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say, ‘O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews” (Jacobs, 2007). So the visions of HAMAS are not only against Israel, but also anti-Zionist, and extremely racist, with not much difference to that what we read in “Mein Kampf” by Adolf Hitler. Role of HAMAS in the Israel-Palestine conflict and a potential resolution: Since HAMAS is now a democratically elected government, there can be no peace processes in the region without including HAMAS in it. Even with the other Middle East nations like, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, ready for peace talks, HAMAS must first shed its militant and negative attitude to be able to come to the round table. The moderates in the HAMSA group are by far too less, while Israel also seems too unwilling to work out a workable solution. This is evident in the news article on 20th August 2010, which refers to the latest talks between Israel and Palestine, arranged by US, “there is a resigned fatalism in the air. Most analysts view the talks as pairing the unwilling with the unable — a strong right-wing Israeli coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with no desire to reach an agreement against a relatively moderate Palestinian leadership that is too weak and divided to do so” (Bronner, In Mideast Talks, Scant Hopes From the Beginning, 2010). The workable resolution at the present seems to be the ‘two state solution’, in the historic and the holy region of Palestine, where Israel would remain a Jewish state, while another Islamic or Arab state would be created to accommodate the Palestinians. The Arab residents of the Israel section would be given the choice of staying on at their present location or moving on to the new Palestinian state. As we see in The New York review of books, “Throughout the years, polls consistently showed respectable Israeli and Palestinian majorities in favor of a negotiated two-state settlement” however it is unfortunate that the political leaders on both sides do not heed this, and even when the “traditionally passive and cautious Saudi Arabia put forward the Arab Peace Initiative in 2002, persuaded Arab and Islamic nations to sign onto it, and formally presented it to Israel via the Arab League. Yet...The plans were greeted with violence, bewilderment, and, more recently, a yawn” (Hussein & Malley, 2008, 2). So, until both the sides are really interested in finding a workable and peaceful solution, there is, and in future would be, no solution, so to say. Pros and cons of the Australian government engaging with Hamas in the context of achieving a just resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict: Since US and Australia has close ties, “The basis and the nature of the alliance between Australia and the United States transcends governments and administrations (Honourable Stephen Smith MP, 28th January 2008), so it is imperative that Australia along with US, work out a solution that helps to establish peace in the middle east regions. If peace is indeed achieved it would be for the benefit of not only Australians or Americans, but for the entire humanity, and especially for the general civilians living in this war torn region, caught between two rigid uncompromising governments. However in such issues one has to be completely neutral, and not be in favour of any particular region (note the question put in by David Speers, where he asks Mr. Smith to explain as to why suddenly Australia is seemingly leaning more towards the anti- Israel group, “Has the Australian Government been urged by some of Israels enemies in the region to take a tough line in order to — on Israel — in order to win their support for a UN Security Council seat?”, 25th May 2010). So it is in the advantage of all that the Australian government works for peace processes in the Middle East regions, and if necessary also engage with Hamas in the context of achieving a just resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict. However, it should also kept in mind that HAMAS is primarily a militant group, so while dealing with this organisation there should not be any compromises in the matter of national security and sovereignty. Thus, the Australian government should aim at finding a resolution on Israel-Palestine deadlock, without comprising on the Australian national interest and security issues. Bibliography Abraham, S. "Hamas." The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East. Ed. Sela. New York: Continuum, 2002. pp. 335–342. BBC NEWS, 2009 January 4. Who are Hamas? [News article on Internet], Accessed at, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1654510.stm Bronner, E. 20th August 2010. In Mideast Talks, Scant Hopes From the Beginning. Middle East- New York Times. [News article on Internet] Accessed at, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/21/world/middleeast/21assess.html?_r=1 Diplomatic Blue Book. 2005. Japan‘s Foreign Policy in Major Diplomatic Fields. Chapter 3. Accessed at, http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/other/bluebook/2005/ch3-a.pdf Guardia, Anton La. September 12, 2003. Hamas is added to EUs blacklist of terror. London: Telegraph.co.uk. [News article on Internet], Accessed at, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/1441311/Hamas-is-added-to-EUs-blacklist-of-terror.html Hamas Covenant 1988. 2008. Yale Law School. Avalon. Accessed at, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp Hamass Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. 8th September 2009. What governments are doing. Australian Government- Australian National Security. Accessed at, http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/WWW/nationalsecurity.nsf/Page/What_Governments_are_doing_Listing_of_Terrorism_Organisations_Hamas&apos Hirst, D. 22nd November 1999. Jordan curbs Hamas. Guardian.co.uk [News article on Internet]. Accessed at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1999/nov/22/israel Hussein A., & Malley, R. 2008. How not to make peace in the Middle East. The New York review of books. 2. Accessed at, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2009/jan/15/how-not-to-make-peace-in-the-middle-east/ Jacobs, S. 2007. Reform Judaism. Accessed at, http://reformjudaismmag.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=1297 Kalman, M. 2009 January 22. Hamas executes suspected Fatah traitors in Gaza. San Francisco Chronicle. [News article on Internet] Accessed at, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/21/MNHV15EHUT.DTL MEMO. 2008 December 31. Hamas a history of terror. Washington DC: AIPAC- American Israel public affairs committee. 1 Mishal, S., & Sela, A. 2006. The Palestinian Hamas: vision, violence, and coexistence. New York: Columbia University Press, vii. O’Donell, C. 2008. The EU, Israel and Hamas. The Centre for European Reform (CER): London, 5. The Honourable Stephen Smith MP, 28th January 2008. Joint Press Conference with US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. Accessed at, http://www.foreignminister.gov.au/transcripts/2008/080128_jpc.html The Honourable Stephen Smith MP, 25th May 2010. Interview by David Speers of Sky News with Foreign Minister Stephen Smith. Accessed at, http://www.foreignminister.gov.au/transcripts/2010/100525_sky_news.html Zuhur, S. 2008. Hamas and Israel: Conflicting Strategies Of Group-Based Politics. US government, Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Accessed at, http://www.fas.org/man/eprint/zuhur.pdf. Read More