The charter of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas is a deeply anti-semitic document, and is certainly against having any Jewish state in the region (in much the same way the Likud Charter is against having any Palestinian state in the region). Many writers go further and declare that it is a genocidal document. This is a common debating point in Israel-Palestine discussions.
But is it genocidal?
Those making this claim rely on Article VII, which states:
My question is whether this quotation from a hadith inserted at the end of Article VII is reasonably interpreted as a call to genocide or not.
I’m not so sure. The Charter elsewhere says “Hamas is a humane movement, which cares for human rights and is committed to the tolerance inherent in Islam as regards attitudes towards other religions. It is only hostile to those who are hostile towards it, or stand in its way in order to disturb its moves or to frustrate its efforts. Under the shadow of Islam it is possible for the members of the three religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism to coexist in safety and security.” Of course, I don’t really buy that rhetoric, but that’s a rather odd thing to say if you’re otherwise comfortable calling for genocide in the same document. How do you make sense of the contradiction if you read Article VII as calling for genocide?
Also, the relevant language about pursuing the Jews until they hide is purportedly quoting a hadith (from Sahih al-Bukhari). But it’s unclear to me whether this is meant merely as inspirational rhetoric (of a very sick kind, obviously) or as a literal call attacking all Jews everywhere. I think the latter is a bit of a strained reading, especially since many of the sections end with quotes from one hadith or another and most seem to be serving a role as a sort of inspirational bookend. The prior section ends, for example, “with Allah had inspired the Muslim poet, Mohamed Ikbal, when he wrote: ‘If faith is lost, there is no security and there is no life for him who does not adhere to religion. He who accepts life without religion, has taken annihilation as his companion for life.’” This section is meant to distinguish Hamas from the secular Fatah, and I don’t think anyone reads it as a call for annihilation of Fatah.
So what say you, Teeming Millions?