August 2000

By Yehudit Barsky

Martyrs wanted: Hamas activists demonstrate their intentions

The issues at hand are Hamas and Hezbollah and how they want to change the world. The visions of these two organisations are based not on Islam as a religion but on an effort to transform a society and make it into a radical political movement whose goal is to establish a worldwide Islamic theocracy. Hamas and Hezbollah share one thing in common: they both believe in creating a radical Islamic theocratic state that will eventually take over the world, but they disagree on the nature of that state, as do all other radical Islamic movements.

In order to define these movements, it is important to differentiate the stance of moderate Islam versus the radical interpretations of Islam formulated by these movements. Moderate Muslims view Christianity and Judaism as being religions equal to Islam and are given great respect. From the stance of Hamas and Hezbollah, Christianity and Judaism are theologically de-legitimised. The authority to de-legitimise these monotheistic religions is taken from verses in the Koran that are misinterpreted in a radical fashion in order to fit these movements’ extremist goals. This effort at theological dehumanisation is taken to such a degree that Christians and Jews — and by extension the state of Israel - are considered representations of evil and must be destroyed.

Hezbollah’s vision of the world began from its interpretation of the ideology of Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini. The essence of it, from their point of view, is that the Islamic world is undergoing a severe crisis in which the Western world — represented by Christians and Jews - are the perpetrators of an incredible worldwide assault on the Muslim world. This is viewed as a modern-day "crusade" that is being carried out against the youth of the Muslim world through the pervasiveness of Western culture.

From their perspective, when Hezbollah and Hamas ideologues talk about Jews and Christians, they essentially conclude that in order to save their world it is legitimate to fight and kill Christians and Jews, because that is the only way to contest the power that the West has over the world. These acts of violence are a physical demonstration of "faith", according to the radical theology of both organisations

The ideologies of Hezbollah and Hamas share another concept. They take the mainstream Muslim concept of "Jihad" or struggle, and turn it into something physical. The original theological concept of Jihad in Islam, was a spiritual struggle to become a better person, to differentiate between good and evil, and this interpretation is what Muslim theologians call Al-Jihad Al-Akhbar — the "Greater Struggle". Hamas and Hezbollah take this concept, radicalise it, and turn it into an external physical struggle. Those who are carrying out these acts of struggle — the mujahideen - are viewed as the agents of holiness in this world and their targets are representative of evil in this world.

In the worldview of Hezbollah and Hamas, Israel is seen as evil and is characterized as a Satanic force. In the publications of the movement and in the ideology of the movement Israel is in fact declared exactly that. When an individual from these groups goes out to fight against Israel, he is fighting against the enemy of the world and the enemy of humanity — and in an even larger sense, the enemy of God. And the person who goes to fight the enemy of God is himself the messenger of the Divine.

Both movements believe that in order to achieve their vision they have to indoctrinate their potential followers, from the youngest to the eldest, from the cradle to the grave. As a result, they have created social welfare institutions to provide for the needs of their followers. These institutions include kindergartens, day care centres, and clinics. These institutions do provide social welfare services to people who normally would not be provided with these types of services, but they are provided at a price. The price is that after an individual receives such services from the movement, one becomes beholden to the movement and one eventually participates in the activities of the movement in order to continue to receive these services.

During the early 1980s in Lebanon, Hezbollah portrayed itself as an Islamic radical movement following the Shi’a school of Islam. It began by promoting Ayatollah Khomeini’s vision of a radical Islamic theocracy, which included the de-legitimisation and de-humanisation of Christians and Jews. This did not make it very popular among the Christian population in Lebanon. Consequently, what Hezbollah has done in recent years is to portray itself as a Lebanese nationalist movement. The result of this campaign was realized in the last Lebanese elections, in which Hezbollah won nine Parliamentary seats. Moreover, on a national political level, we have seen Hezbollah celebrated as the defender of Lebanon, particularly since the Israeli redeployment in May.

Yet at the same time, in their broadcasts to their people from the movement’s radio and television stations, and on their website on the internet, Hezbollah still speaks about liberating Jerusalem, and about destroying Israel and how in the end their final vision will come to fruition. From Hezbollah’s perception of events, the Israeli redeployment from Lebanon is viewed as a "victory" and they have become quite energized by it. Hezbollah will lose its identity if it simply becomes a Lebanese political party. The redeployment from Lebanon was Hezbollah’s short-term goal and its long-term goal remains the same as it ever was.

Hamas is a Palestinian Islamic extremist movement. The ideology that Hamas has is similar to that of Hezbollah. Israel, or "Palestine" is viewed as the heart of the Muslim world. From their point of view, "Palestine" is Muslim territory, and it is the responsibility of all Muslims throughout the world to ensure its liberation from the Jews who currently occupy it. They view the existence of Israel as a desecration of the land, as it is not in the possession of Muslims.

Hamas legitimises the acts of its suicide bombers by avoiding or ignoring one of the basic precepts of mainstream Islam. In order to recruit their followers, they never use the word "suicide" because suicide is forbidden in Islam. Instead, they call them "martyrdom operations".

The future of Hamas is a phenomenon that we are all concerned with and what we have seen over the last year or so is instructive. They are preparing for what the endgame will be in what they call Palestine. There are discussions among the Hamas leadership and some debate among them as to what should or should not be done and whether "martyrdom operations" are harmful to the Palestinian cause.

Hamas’ reputation has suffered to some degree within Palestinian society because every time there is a suicide bomber, it is Palestinians who are prevented from going to work in Israel. It is Palestinians who are not able to have some measure of economic stability because of these attacks. As a result, over the last several years Hamas has reassessed its record and concluded that Palestinians suffer as a result of these actions and their own popularity has suffered as well.

In addition to that, they have reconsidered some of their philosophy regarding continuing these kinds of operations in light of final negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. When one engages in negotiations, the goal is to get as much as you can through those means. Hamas has emerged as the main opposition to the Palestinian Authority, but they have also become intertwined with the Palestinian Authority. This has developed to the extent that the Palestinian Authority today is negotiating for the release of Hamas terrorists who, as Israelis say, have blood on their hands. There are members of Hamas who are members of the Palestinian Authority Police forces, and there are Hamas members who participate as representatives of the Palestinian parliament. None of them have given up their radical ideology. There is a very intricate and convoluted game being played out between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, and we will only find out what the endgame of that is in the future.

We have not seen Hamas attacks over the last year and a half due to the vigilance of Israeli security forces and in certain respects, cooperation from the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority knows that if terrorist attacks occur, the negotiations will not proceed.

Over the past year, Hamas has lost its operational capability in Jordan, its leadership having been expelled from Jordan to Qatar. This occurred as a result of Hamas carrying out surveillance on the Jordanian security forces. Hamas was promised several weeks before President Assad died that a new Hamas office would be re-established in Damascus. Therefore, there is the possibility that attacks may resume.

From the perspective of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas plays a useful role as an element of psychological warfare in the ongoing relationship between Palestinians and Israel. Therefore we hear from Yasser Arafat, Israel’s partner in negotiations, saying to Israeli leaders that if Palestinians do not succeed in achieving their goals through negotiations, they will lose face and will be tempted to carry out acts of violence in order to get what they want.

This psychological pressure is being used by Arafat in light of the Israeli redeployment from south Lebanon, and especially in light of the negotiations over the final status of Jerusalem. From his side of the border, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, has said, "Jerusalem is glittering in our eyes," indicating that it is Hezbollah’s next goal. Today Hezbollah stands directly on the northern border with Israel, armed with new long-range Katyusha rockets that are capable of reaching Haifa. The movement’s perception of its "victory" over Israel has been celebrated throughout the Muslim world, and has become an example that cannot be ignored.

Vigilance is the price of freedom. Over the last several years, Israel has been successful in preventing a number of Hamas attacks, including those averted this past April and May of 2000. Nevertheless, we still need to be vigilant, we still need to be aware of these movements and we still need to know and understand what their vision is and what the price to be paid is.

Copyright © AIJAC 2000
Last Updated 13 November, 2001