We are told that the conflict between Israel and Hamas is about the land. And at first blush one could believe this as one reviews the quotes of Hamas and its leaders because they talk a lot about the land. To westerners and other outsiders this seems plausible and straightforward. To them the implication is that if the Palestinians could have their state in the Middle East then that’s all there is to it, and they would be happy. But is it only about the land or are there strings attached? In order to answer this let’s take a look at the a few of the articles of Hamas’s charter and see if we can discern if it’s as simple as we might like to think.

So, let’s take a look at some articles from the covenant of the Islamic resistance movement also known as Hamas. This covenant was issued on August 18th, 1988.

Let’s start with Article 6. It reads like this “the Islamic resistance movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement whose allegiance is to Allah and whose way of life is Islam it strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine”.

So, we see here that it talks about the land of Palestine but it’s in the context of allegiance to a God they call Allah and to the ideology of Islam. So, the first string that we see is that this is fundamentally a religious spiritual ideological issue over the land. It’s a religious spirit.

Article 11 “the land of Palestine is an Islamic waqif or holy possession consecrated for future Muslim generations. Until judgement day no one can renounce it or any part of it or abandon it or any part of it”

Article 13 “Palestine is an Islamic land. Since this is the case the liberation of Palestine is an individual duty for every Muslim wherever he may be”

In these two articles we see another string attached. We are told that Palestine is a specially consecrated land for Muslims. We are further told that because it’s an Islamic land there is a mandate to “liberate” it. One can ask liberated from what? … or who?

Article15 “The day the enemies usurp part of Muslim land jihad becomes the individual duty of every Muslim. In the face of the Jews’ usurpation, it is compulsory that the banner of jihad be raised”.

Here we see another string being articulated. We see that the liberation is to be from the Jews. Furthermore, we see the concept that the Jews or not passively in the land but that they have actively usurped the land.

Let’s look at Article 13 “Peace initiatives and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic resistance movement and are no more than a means to appoint infidels as arbitrators in the lands of Islam. There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by jihad. Initiatives proposals and international conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility”.

Here we see the ideological religious spiritual string being promoted again. And we see the concept of “infidel”. In Islam, infidels are rejected by Allah and therefore are to be rejected and removed or subdued by Muslims. This is why this religious spirit dictates a complete rejection without discussion of any pathway toward reconciliation and a complete substitution with the violent conflict known as jihad.

Article 7 “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them. Then the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees and the rocks and trees will cry out ohh Muslim there is a Jew hiding behind me come and kill him”

Again, this is the religious spirit coming up again. This is the famous eschatological Gharqad tree prophecy in which, in the end of times, the trees and the rocks will cooperate with the Muslims in the annihilation of the Jews.

So, after just a brief review of a few of the articles in Hamas’s charter, we can see that it is about land, but not just any land. It’s about “every inch” of the land of Palestine. And not just Palestine but Palestine with some serious strings attached namely that:

• The God of Allah has bequeathed the land to Muslims and only to Muslims.
• The Land cannot be divided.
• All Muslims must fight for it.
• The Jews are usurping the land and therefore jihad is necessary.
• Because jihad is necessary, and peace initiatives invite infidels to participate in managing the land all peace initiatives must be rejected out of hand.
• Infidels and specifically Jews are ultimately to be eliminated as mandated by Allah.

The final conclusion we have to make is that yes, the Palestinians want the land, but they want more than the land. They want to cleanse the land … of Jews first and then of all infidels. And furthermore, if one understands Islam, the possession and cleansing of the land extends to the whole world. If the peoples of the world cannot see that in the atmosphere of abundant evidence we are now living through, they really need to wake up and smell the coffee!