Excerpts from the Hamas founding charter are arranged topically, below. In this document, Hamas refers to itself as the “Islamic Resistance Movement.” Numbers in brackets indicate the article number.
Source: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp
⦿ The Jews and Zionists are behind virtually all of the
wars and evils in the world.
Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very
serious. [1]
They [Zionists/Jews] aim at undermining societies, destroying values, corrupting consciences, deteriorating character and annihilating Islam. It is behind the drug trade and alcoholism in all its kinds so as to facilitate its control and expansion. [28]
Zionist organizations under various names and shapes, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, espionage groups and others, which are all nothing more than cells of subversion and saboteurs. [17]
They [Zionists/Jews] were behind the French Revolution, the Communist revolution and most of the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there. With their money they formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions and others in different parts of the world for the purpose of sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist interests. With their money they were able to control imperialistic countries and instigate them to colonize many countries in order to enable them to exploit their resources and spread corruption there. [22]
They were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the Islamic Caliphate, making financial gains and controlling resources. They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. [22]
They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains by trading in armaments, and paved the way for the establishment of their state. It was they who instigated the replacement of the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to enable them to rule the world through them. There is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it. [22]
⦿ Israel indiscriminately kills and persecutes Muslims.
The Islamic spirit is what should prevail in every Moslem
society. The society that confronts a vicious enemy [Israel/Jews] which acts in
a way similar to Nazism, making no differentiation between man and woman,
between children and old people - such a society is entitled to this Islamic
spirit… In their Nazi treatment, the Jews made no exception for women or
children. They deal with people as if they were the worst war criminals. Deportation
from the homeland is a kind of murder.
[20]
We should not forget to remind every Moslem that when the Jews conquered the Holy City in 1967, they stood on the threshold of the Aqsa Mosque and proclaimed that "Mohammed is dead, and his descendants are all women." [27, this claim cannot be confirmed]
⦿ The land belongs to Muslims and Israel is an
illegitimate state.
The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of
Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until
Judgement Day. [11]
Nothing in nationalism is more significant or deeper than in the case when an enemy should tread Moslem land. [12]
Palestine is an Islamic land which has the first of the two kiblahs (direction to which Moslems turn in praying), the third of the holy (Islamic) sanctuaries, and the point of departure for Mohamed's midnight journey to the seven heavens (i.e. Jerusalem). [14]
⦿ Hamas will not negotiate for a two-state
solution. Israel must be destroyed.
Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and
international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the
Islamic Resistance Movement…There is no solution for the Palestinian question
except through Jihad. [13]
“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it" (The Martyr, Imam Hassan al-Banna, of blessed memory). [Intro]
⦿ Muslims everywhere are obligated to engage in holy
war, jihad, in order to return Palestine to Muslim rule.
It is necessary to instill in the minds of the Moslem
generations that the Palestinian problem is a religious problem, and should be
dealt with on this basis. [15]
It [Hamas] strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine, for under the wing of Islam followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions and rights are concerned. [6, Muslim countries in the Middle East restrict and even persecute other religions]
Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes. [8]
"I swear by the holder of Mohammed's soul that I would like to invade and be killed for the sake of Allah, then invade and be killed, and then invade again and be killed." (As related by al-Bukhari and Moslem). [15]
⦿ The slaughter of the Jews, foretold by Muhammad, is
part of the great apocalyptic battle.
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has
said: "The Day of Judgement will
not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew
will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O
Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree,
(evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the
trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem). [7]
