Muslim Palestine : Ideology of Hamas

154 Pages·1999·1.329 MB·English

by  Andrea Nusse

Muslim Palestine
Muslim Palestine
The Ideology of Hamās
Andrea Nüsse
Copyright © 1998 OPA (Overseas Publishers Association) N.V.
Published by license under the Harwood Academic Publishers imprint,
part of The Gordon and Breach Publishing Group.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
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Transferred to Digital Printing 2003
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Nusse, Andrea
Muslim Palestine: the ideology of Hamas
1. Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyah 2. Ideology—Palestine—
Religious aspects—Islam 3. Islamic fundamentalism
4. Jewish-Arab relations 5. Palestine—Politics and government—
1948–
I. Title
297.8(cid:0) 095694
ISBN 0-203-01335-2 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 90-5702-334-2 (Print Edition) (Softcover)
Contents
Glossary vii
Introduction 1
ONE The Context 8
Development of Islamic Thought in the 20th Century 8
Features of the Socio-Economic Development in the 12
Occupied Territories and the Intifā a
PART ONE: THE BASIC THEMES IN THE THOUGHT OF AMĀS
TWO The Problem: Israel, Zionism and the Jews 21
THREE The Goal: An Islamic Palestinian State 35
FOUR Sense of Urgency: Mass-Immigration of Soviet Jews 41
FIVE Hostility and Isolation 43
The International Community 43
The Arab-Muslim Countries 47
The Traditional Palestinian Leadership 48

SIX Means 50
Palestine: Jihād in Form of the Intifā a 50
The Arab-Muslim World: Islamisation and 55
Democratisation
SEVEN Self-Image of Islam 62
EIGHT Inner Enemy: The Palestinian Liberation 68
Organisation
NINE Equality? The Christian Minority 75
TEN Ambiguity: Attitude towards the West 78
v
PART TWO: APPLICATION OF GENERAL WORLD VIEW TO
SPECIFIC POLITICAL EVENTS
ELEVEN The Gulf War 1990/91 82
TWELVE amās and the Peace Process 93
The Aftermath of the Gulf War 93
The Beginning of the Peace Conference in Madrid, 30 96
October 1991
THIRTEEN The Mass Deportation of Islamists to South-Lebanon 1 06
in December 1992
FOURTEEN The Surprise: The Declaration of Principles in 1 09
September 1993
FIFTEEN The Massacre of Hebron, February 1994 1 18
SIXTEEN Relation between amās and the Palestinian 1 22
National Authority (PNA)
First Palestinian Elections, January 1996 1 22
Wave of amās Suicide Operations in February/March 1 24
1996
Death of Prisoner in Palestinian Prison and Clashes 1 26
between Palestinian Police and Population, July/August
1996
SEVENTEEN Outlook 1 30
EIGHTEEN Conclusion 1 33

Bibliography 1 38
Index 1 43
Le diable parait bien pâle
auprès de celui qui dispose
d'une vérité, de sa vérité.
Cioran
Glossary
Ahl al-kitāb: ªThe people of the Bookº. Muhammad referred to Jews and the
Christians as such, distinguishing them from heathens, on account of their
possessing divine books of revelation. Although they transmitted this
revelation in a false way, the acceptance of the books was seen to give them a
privileged position above followers of other religions. After their submission,
they were granted free worship against payment of a poll-tax. An agreement
ensured them the protection of the Muslim authorities. Violence of this
defence alliance is considered a perfidy.
Bātil: Futile, vain, unreal, ungodly as opposed to the real ( aqq) as designed by
God.
Bayān(āt): Declaration, statement. Here, the handouts of amās which are
written and distributed in the Territories. They contain information about the
movement's position, as well as about strike days and demonstrations.
Fiqh: Jurisprudence in Islam. All aspects of public and private life should be
regulated by laws recognised by religion; the science of these laws is fiqh.
adīth: Tradition. Particularly, a record of actions or sayings of the Prophet and
his companions which were originally transmitted through oral instruction.
amās: Acronym of Islamic Resistance Movement ( arakat al muqāwama al-
Islāmiyya) also meaning ªzealº, ªardourº in Arabic. The movement was
formed as one ªwingº within the Muslim Brotherhood after the outbreak of
the Palestinian uprising in December 1987. It was designed as a vehicle to

mobilize support and to compete with the threat posed by fringe Islamic
groups like the Islamic Jihād, as well as by the nationalist groups engaged in
resistance to the Israeli occupation. amās rapidly developed into a full-
fledged political movement, overshadowing its parent organisation and
participating in the armed struggle through its own underground wing, the Al-
Qassam Brigades. It also succeeded in developing a well organized and
effective network of social services which extended from universities, to
health centers and youth clubs. Combined with politicial pragmatism and
flexibility, this Islamist movement soon became the main rival to the PLO
competing for Palestinian leadership.
anīf: Used for those who possess the true and real religion, especially
Abraham.
aqq: One of the names of God in Islam. Means the real, godly.
Islamic Jihād: (al-Jihād al-Islāmī) The second most influential Islamist
movement (behind amās) in Palestine. Amid discontent with the
viii
reformational methods of the Muslim Brotherhood, political cells were
created as early as 1979 in the Occupied Territories and especially in Gaza,
the movement's stronghold. As an underground organisation, the movement
has no open popular following, its membership remains selected and elitist.
The Islamic Jihād was the first contemporary Islamist movement in Palestine
which took up armed action against Israel and thus played a direct role in
triggering off the Intifā a in 1987. Since the foundation of amās in late
1987 or 1988, the movement's political influence declined considerably. The
organisation rejects the Peace Accords on religious grounds and continues
armed operations against Israel, but never developed a broader political
outlook.
Intifā a: The Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation that started in
December 1987 and formally ended with the Peace Accords between Israel
and the Palestinians in September 1993.
Jāhiliyya: Ignorance. Meaning the pagan times which reigned on the Arabian
peninsula before the arrival of Muhammad. The theoretician of the Muslim
Brotherhood, Sayyid Qutb, reinterpreted it as a situation which occurs at any
time when God's programme and laws are neglected by society and rulers.
Thus, most contemporary Muslim societies were considered by him to live in
a state of jāhiliyya.
Jihād: Effort, striving. Generally known as holy war to spread Islam on earth.
However, in many fundamentalist interpretations it means the personal
striving to be a good Muslim, to raise children in an Islamic way.
Kāfir (ūn): Infidel(s). First applied to the Meccans who endeavoured to refute
and revile the Prophet. The unbelievers were threatened with punishment and
hell.
Kufr: Unbelief.
Mīthāq: Covenant, agreement, treaty, charter. Here, the convenant of amās,
first circulated in August 1988, which laid down the main ideological and the-
oretical outlook of the movement.
Mujāhid(ūn) (Mujaheddin): Fighter participating in Jihād.
Muslim Brotherhood: The parent organisation of all Sunni fundamentalist
movements in Palestine. Founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hasan al-Banna, it

poli ticised Islam by calling for the creation of an Islamic state and soon set
up branches in various Arab countries. The Palestinian branch followed a
reformational approach aiming at a reform of Palestinian society from within,
insisting on Islamic education and social work. It fought the secularism of the
PLO, but not the Israeli occupation. It did not react to the growing popular
discontent and impatience with Israeli occupation which culminated in the
creation of Islamic Jihād in 1979 by dissident Brotherhood members. Only
with the outbreak of the Intifā a in December 1987 did the Muslim
Brotherhood recognise the growing gap between its quietistic, apolitical
approach and the longing of the Palestinian people for more combative and
militant action; as a consequence amās was founded.
Qur'ān: The sacred book of the Muslims, containing the collected revelations of
the Prophet Muhammad in definitive written form.
Tafsīr: Commentaries of the Qur'ān: and the science of interpreting the sacred
book.
ix
Umma: The Qur'anic word for community, people. Here, generally meaning the
Muslim people that are the objects of the divine plan of salvation.