HAMAS CHARTER 2017 – A SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE DOCUMENT

PRIMARY SOURCE: THE 2017 HAMAS CHARTER

Source note: The following section examines the 2017 Hamas document as a primary source. Statements attributed to Hamas represent the organisation’s own positions and should not be read as independent verification of the historical, political or legal claims they contain.

KEY SECTIONS OF THE 2017 HAMAS CHARTER

THE MOVEMENT

1. The Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” is a Palestinian Islamic national liberation and resistance movement. Its goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project. Its frame of reference is Islam, which determines its principles, objectives and means.

THE LAND OF PALESTINE

2. Palestine, which extends from the River Jordan in the east to the Mediterranean in the west and from Ras al-Naqurah in the north to Umm al-Rashrash in the south, is an integral territorial unit. It is the land and the home of the Palestinian people. The expulsion and banishment of the Palestinian people from their land and the establishment of the Zionist entity therein do not annul the right of the Palestinian people to their entire land and do not entrench any rights therein for the usurping Zionist entity.

3. 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.

THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

4. The Palestinians are the Arabs who lived in Palestine until 1947, irrespective of whether they were expelled from it or stayed in it, and every person who was born to an Arab Palestinian father after that date, whether inside or outside Palestine, is a Palestinian.

5. The Palestinian identity is authentic and timeless, passed from generation to generation. The catastrophes that have befallen the Palestinian people as a consequence of the Zionist occupation and its policy of displacement cannot erase the identity of the Palestinian people, nor can they negate it. A Palestinian shall not lose his or her national identity or rights by acquiring a second nationality.

6. The Palestinian people are one people, made up of all Palestinians, inside and outside of Palestine, irrespective of their religion, culture or political affiliation.

ISLAM AND PALESTINE

7. Palestine is at the heart of the Arab and Islamic Ummah and enjoys a special status. Within Palestine, Jerusalem exists, whose precincts are blessed by Allah. Palestine is the Holy Land, which Allah has blessed for humanity. It is the Muslims’ first Qiblah and the destination of the journey performed at night by Prophet Muhammad; peace be upon him. It is the location from where he ascended to the upper heavens. It is the birthplace of Jesus Christ; peace be upon him. Its soil contains the remains of thousands of prophets, companions and mujahidin. It is the land of people who are determined to defend the truth – within Jerusalem and its surroundings – who are not deterred or intimidated by those who oppose them and by those who betray them, and they will continue their mission until the Promise of Allah is fulfilled.

8. By virtue of its justly balanced middle way and moderate spirit, Islam – for Hamas – provides a comprehensive way of life and an order that is fit for purpose at all times and in all places. Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance. It provides an umbrella for the followers of other creeds and religions who can practice their beliefs in security and safety. Hamas also believes that Palestine has always been and will always be a model of coexistence, tolerance and civilizational innovation.

9. Hamas believes that the message of Islam upholds the values of truth, justice, freedom and dignity and prohibits all forms of injustice and incriminates oppressors irrespective of their religion, race, gender or nationality. Islam is against all forms of religious, ethnic or sectarian extremism and bigotry. It is the religion that inculcates in its followers the value of standing up to aggression and of supporting the oppressed; it motivates them to give generously and make sacrifices in defence of their dignity, their land, their peoples and their holy places.

JERUSALEM

10. Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine. Its religious, historical and civilisational status is fundamental to the Arabs, Muslims and the world at large. Its Islamic and Christian holy places belong exclusively to the Palestinian people and to the Arab and Islamic Ummah. Not one stone of Jerusalem can be surrendered or relinquished. The measures undertaken by the occupiers in Jerusalem, such as Judaisation, settlement building, and establishing facts on the ground, are fundamentally null and void.

11. The blessed al-Aqsa Mosque belongs exclusively to our people and our Ummah, and the occupation has no right to it whatsoever. The occupation’s plots, measures and attempts to judaize al-Aqsa and divide it are null, void and illegitimate.

REFUGEES AND RIGHT OF RETURN

12. The Palestinian cause, in its essence, is a cause of an occupied land and a displaced people. The right of the Palestinian refugees and the displaced to return to their homes from which they were banished or were banned from returning – whether in the lands occupied in 1948 or in 1967 (that is, the whole of Palestine), is a natural right, both individual and collective. This right is confirmed by all divine laws as well as by the basic principles of human rights and international law. It is an inalienable right and cannot be dispensed with by any party, whether Palestinian, Arab or international.

13. Hamas rejects all attempts to erase the rights of the refugees, including the attempts to settle them outside Palestine and through the projects of the alternative homeland. Compensation to the Palestinian refugees for the harm they have suffered as a consequence of banishing them and occupying their land is an absolute right that goes hand in hand with their right to return. They are to receive compensation upon their return and this does not negate or diminish their right to return.

THE ZIONIST PROJECT

14. The Zionist project is a racist, aggressive, colonial and expansionist project based on seizing the properties of others; it is hostile to the Palestinian people and to their aspiration for freedom, liberation, return and self-determination. The Israeli entity is the plaything of the Zionist project and its base of aggression.

15. 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 Zionist project also poses a danger to international security and peace and to mankind and its interests and stability.

16. Hamas affirms that its conflict is with the Zionist project not with the Jews because of their religion. Hamas does not wage a struggle against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine. Yet, it is the Zionists who constantly identify Judaism and the Jews with their own colonial project and illegal entity.

17. Hamas rejects the persecution of any human being or the undermining of his or her rights on nationalist, religious or sectarian grounds. Hamas is of the view that the Jewish problem, anti-Semitism and the persecution of the Jews are phenomena fundamentally linked to European history and not to the history of the Arabs and the Muslims or to their heritage. The Zionist movement, which was able, with the help of Western powers, to occupy Palestine, is the most dangerous form of settlement occupation, which has already disappeared from much of the world and must disappear from Palestine.

THE POSITION TOWARD OCCUPATION AND POLITICAL SOLUTIONS

18. The following are considered null and void: the Balfour Declaration, the British Mandate Document, the UN Palestine Partition Resolution, and whatever resolutions and measures derive from them or are similar to them. The establishment of “Israel” is entirely illegal and contravenes the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and goes against their will and the will of the Ummah; it is also in violation of human rights that are guaranteed by international conventions, foremost among them is the right to self-determination.

19. There shall be no recognition of the legitimacy of the Zionist entity. Whatever has befallen the land of Palestine in terms of occupation, settlement building, Judaisation or changes to its features or falsification of facts is illegitimate. Rights never lapse.

20. Hamas believes that no part of the land of Palestine shall be compromised or conceded, irrespective of the causes, the circumstances and the pressures and no matter how long the occupation lasts. Hamas rejects any alternative to the complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea. However, without compromising its rejection of the Zionist entity and without relinquishing any Palestinian rights, Hamas considers the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital, along the lines of the 4th of June 1967, with the return of the refugees and the displaced to their homes from which they were expelled, to be a formula of national consensus.

21. Hamas affirms that the Oslo Accords and their addenda contravene the governing rules of international law in that they generate commitments that violate the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. Therefore, the Movement rejects these agreements and all that flows from them, including obligations that are detrimental to the interests of our people, especially security coordination (collaboration).

22. Hamas rejects all the agreements, initiatives and settlement projects that are aimed at undermining the Palestinian cause and the rights of our Palestinian people. In this regard, any stance, initiative or political programme must not violate these rights and should not contravene them or contradict them.

23. Hamas stresses that transgression against the Palestinian people, usurping their land and banishing them from their homeland, cannot be called peace. Any settlements reached on this basis will not lead to peace. Resistance and jihad for the liberation of Palestine will remain a legitimate right, a duty and an honour for all the sons and daughters of our people and our Ummah.

RESISTANCE AND LIBERATION

24. The liberation of Palestine is the duty of the Palestinian people in particular and the duty of the Arab and Islamic Ummah in general. It is also a humanitarian obligation as necessitated by the dictates of truth and justice. The agencies working for Palestine, whether national, Arab, Islamic or humanitarian, complement each other and are harmonious and not in conflict with each other.

25. Resisting the occupation with all means and methods is a legitimate right guaranteed by divine laws and by international norms and laws. At the heart of these lies armed resistance, which is regarded as the strategic choice for protecting the principles and the rights of the Palestinian people.

26. Hamas rejects any attempt to undermine the resistance and its arms. It also affirms the right of our people to develop the means and mechanisms of resistance. Managing resistance, in terms of escalation or de-escalation, or in terms of diversifying the means and methods, is an integral part of the process of managing the conflict and should not be at the expense of the principle of resistance.

THE PALESTINIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM

27. A real state of Palestine is a state that has been liberated. There is no alternative to a fully sovereign Palestinian State on the entire national Palestinian soil, with Jerusalem as its capital.

28. Hamas believes in and adheres to managing its Palestinian relations on the basis of pluralism, democracy, national partnership, acceptance of the other, and dialogue. The aim is to bolster unity of ranks and joint action to accomplish national goals and fulfil the aspirations of the Palestinian people.

29. The PLO is a national framework for the Palestinian people inside and outside Palestine. It should, therefore, be preserved, developed, and rebuilt on democratic foundations to secure the participation of all the Palestinian people’s constituents and forces and safeguard Palestinian rights.

30. Hamas stresses the necessity of building Palestinian national institutions on sound democratic principles, foremost among them being free and fair elections. Such a process should be based on national partnership and in accordance with a clear programme and strategy that adhere to the rights, including the right of resistance, and fulfil the aspirations of the Palestinian people.

31. Hamas affirms that the role of the Palestinian Authority should be to serve the Palestinian people and safeguard their security, their rights and their national project.

32. Hamas stresses the necessity of maintaining the independence of Palestinian national decision-making. Outside forces should not be allowed to intervene. At the same time, Hamas affirms the responsibility of the Arabs and the Muslims and their duty and role in the liberation of Palestine from Zionist occupation.

33. Palestinian society is enriched by its prominent personalities, figures, dignitaries, civil society institutions, youth, students, trade unionists, and women’s groups, which together work to achieve national goals and societal building, pursue resistance, and achieve liberation.

34. Palestinian women’s role is fundamental in building the present and the future, just as it has always been in making Palestinian history. They play a pivotal role in the project of resistance, liberation, and building the political system.

THE ARAB AND ISLAMIC UMMAH

35. Hamas believes that the Palestinian issue is the central cause for the Arab and Islamic Ummah.

36. Hamas believes in the unity of the Ummah with all its diverse constituents and is aware of the need to avoid anything that could fragment the Ummah and undermine its unity.

37. Hamas believes in cooperating with all states that support the rights of the Palestinian people. It opposes intervention in the internal affairs of any country. It also refuses to be drawn into disputes and conflicts among different countries. Hamas adopts the policy of opening up to different states in the world, especially the Arab and Islamic states. It endeavours to establish balanced relations on the basis of combining the requirements of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people’s interests on the one hand with the interests of the Ummah, its renaissance and its security on the other.

THE HUMANITARIAN AND INTERNATIONAL ASPECT

38. The Palestinian issue has major humanitarian and international dimensions. Supporting and backing this cause is a humanitarian and civilisational task that is required by the prerequisites of truth, justice, and common humanitarian values.

39. From a legal and humanitarian perspective, the liberation of Palestine is a legitimate activity, it is an act of self-defence, and it is the expression of the natural right of all peoples to self-determination.

40. In its relations with world nations and peoples, Hamas believes in the values of cooperation, justice, freedom and respect of the will of the people.

41. Hamas welcomes the stances of states, organisations and institutions that support the rights of the Palestinian people. It salutes the free peoples of the world who support the Palestinian cause. At the same time, it denounces the support granted by any party to the Zionist entity or the attempts to cover up its crimes and aggression against the Palestinians and calls for the prosecution of Zionist war criminals.

42. Hamas rejects the attempts to impose hegemony on the Arab and Islamic Ummah just as it rejects the attempts to impose hegemony on the rest of the world’s nations and peoples. Hamas also condemns all forms of colonialism, occupation, discrimination, oppression and aggression in the world.

Primary document:
Hamas 2017 document

WHAT DOES THE 2017 HAMAS CHARTER ACTUALLY SAY?

The 42 articles above provide the primary source for understanding the positions set out in the 2017 Hamas Charter. Rather than relying on descriptions of Hamas by supporters, opponents, governments or media organisations, this section examines what the document itself states.

This does not mean that every historical, political or legal claim contained in the document is independently established as fact. It means that when the question is “What does the 2017 Hamas Charter say?”, the document itself is the primary source.

HOW DOES HAMAS DEFINE ITSELF?

Article 1 defines Hamas as a Palestinian Islamic national liberation and resistance movement. The document states that its objective is the liberation of Palestine and confrontation of what it calls the “Zionist project”, while Islam provides its frame of reference.

Relevant article: 1.

HOW DOES THE CHARTER DEFINE PALESTINE AND THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE?

Articles 2–6 describe Palestine as a single territorial unit extending from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea. They define Palestinian identity in terms of the Arab population of Palestine and their descendants and state that displacement, residence outside Palestine or acquisition of another nationality does not remove Palestinian identity or rights.

The document also states that Palestinians constitute one people irrespective of religion, culture or political affiliation.

Relevant articles: 2–6.

WHAT ROLE DOES ISLAM PLAY IN THE CHARTER?

Articles 7–9 place Palestine within an Arab and Islamic religious framework and describe Jerusalem and Palestine as having particular religious significance.

At the same time, Article 8 describes Islam, from Hamas’s perspective, as a religion of peace and tolerance and states that followers of other religions should be able to practise their beliefs in security and safety. Article 9 states that Hamas understands Islam as opposing religious, ethnic and sectarian extremism and injustice.

Relevant articles: 7–9.

WHAT DOES THE CHARTER SAY ABOUT JERUSALEM AND AL-AQSA?

Articles 10–11 identify Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine and reject Israeli claims and measures concerning Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque.

The document describes the city’s Islamic and Christian holy places as belonging to the Palestinian people and the Arab and Islamic Ummah.

Relevant articles: 10–11.

WHAT DOES THE CHARTER SAY ABOUT PALESTINIAN REFUGEES?

Articles 12–13 state that Palestinian refugees and displaced people have an individual and collective right to return to the homes from which they were displaced or prevented from returning.

The document rejects permanent resettlement outside Palestine as a substitute for return and states that compensation should accompany, rather than replace, the claimed right of return.

Relevant articles: 12–13.

WHAT DOES THE CHARTER SAY ABOUT ZIONISM AND JEWS?

This distinction is addressed directly in Articles 14–17.

The document strongly opposes what it calls the “Zionist project”. However, Article 16 explicitly states that Hamas describes its conflict as being with the Zionist project rather than with Jews because of their religion.

Article 17 further states that Hamas rejects persecution or the denial of rights on national, religious or sectarian grounds. It presents antisemitism and the historical persecution of Jews as phenomena associated primarily with European history.

These statements are significant when analysing the 2017 document because the charter itself explicitly distinguishes between Judaism and Jews on the one hand and Zionism and the political conflict on the other.

Relevant articles: 14–17.

DOES THE 2017 CHARTER RECOGNISE ISRAEL?

No. Articles 18–23 reject the legitimacy of what the document calls the “Zionist entity” and reject recognition of Israel.

Article 20 nevertheless states that Hamas considers the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state along the lines of 4 June 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital and the return of refugees, to be a formula of national consensus.

The same article simultaneously states that this position does not constitute recognition of Israel or relinquishment of what Hamas considers Palestinian rights.

The document therefore combines acceptance of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines as a formula of national consensus with an explicit refusal to recognise the legitimacy of Israel.

Relevant articles: 18–23.

WHAT DOES THE CHARTER SAY ABOUT RESISTANCE?

Articles 23–26 describe resistance as a right and duty connected to the liberation of Palestine.

Article 25 states explicitly that resistance may take different forms and identifies armed resistance as a strategic choice for protecting what the document describes as the principles and rights of the Palestinian people.

Article 26 further states that Hamas rejects attempts to disarm the resistance and claims a right to develop its means and methods of resistance.

The charter therefore does not describe Hamas as exclusively a political or non-violent movement. Armed resistance is explicitly included within the strategy described by the document.

Relevant articles: 23–26.

WHAT DOES THE CHARTER SAY ABOUT DEMOCRACY AND PALESTINIAN POLITICS?

Articles 27–34 address the Palestinian political system.

Article 28 states that Palestinian political relations should be based on pluralism, democracy, national partnership, acceptance of others and dialogue.

Article 29 describes the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as a national framework that should be preserved, developed and rebuilt on democratic foundations.

Article 30 calls for Palestinian institutions based on democratic principles and specifically refers to free and fair elections.

The document also discusses the Palestinian Authority, civil society, youth, students, trade unions and women’s participation in Palestinian society and politics.

Relevant articles: 27–34.

WHAT DOES THE CHARTER SAY ABOUT WOMEN?

Article 34 explicitly describes the role of Palestinian women as fundamental to both the present and future of Palestinian society.

It states that women play a pivotal role in resistance, liberation and the construction of the political system.

Relevant article: 34.

WHAT DOES THE CHARTER SAY ABOUT OTHER COUNTRIES?

Articles 35–37 place the Palestinian question within the wider Arab and Islamic world.

Article 37 states that Hamas seeks cooperation with states supporting Palestinian rights, opposes intervention in the internal affairs of other countries and says that it does not wish to become involved in conflicts between states.

It also states an intention to establish balanced international relations, particularly with Arab and Islamic states.

Relevant articles: 35–37.

WHAT DOES THE CHARTER SAY ABOUT INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS?

Articles 38–42 broaden the document beyond the immediate Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

The document presents the Palestinian issue as having humanitarian and international dimensions and refers to justice, freedom, self-determination and cooperation between peoples.

Article 40 states that Hamas believes in cooperation, justice, freedom and respect for the will of peoples in its relations with nations around the world.

Article 42 closes the charter by rejecting what Hamas describes as attempts to impose hegemony on the Arab and Islamic Ummah as well as on other peoples of the world. It also states that Hamas condemns all forms of colonialism, occupation, discrimination, oppression and aggression.

Relevant articles: 38–42.

WHAT CAN WE CONCLUDE FROM THE DOCUMENT ITSELF?

Reading the 42 articles as a primary source produces a more complex picture than a single political label can provide.

The 2017 charter defines Hamas as an Islamic Palestinian national liberation and resistance movement. It rejects recognition of Israel and retains armed resistance as a strategic choice. At the same time, the document refers to political pluralism, democracy, free elections, religious tolerance, cooperation between peoples and opposition to religious and ethnic persecution.

It also explicitly distinguishes its opposition to Zionism from hostility towards Jews because of their religion and presents a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines as a formula of national consensus, while simultaneously refusing to recognise the legitimacy of Israel.

These positions may be debated, criticised or compared with other evidence. But when the purpose is to establish what the 2017 Hamas Charter itself says, the starting point should remain the text of the document.

Primary source: Hamas, A Document of General Principles and Policies (2017).