RUTHFULLY YOURS

Actually, Hamas was ISIS before there was an ISIS.

Hamas declared war on the West in the name of Islam with its Covenant in 1988.  Since then, it has put its threats into violent action.

While the brunt of their covenant focuses on the Jewish People (not merely those in Israel), Hamas makes clear that it is an “Islamic Resistance Movement,” motivated by the Koran and the will of Allah to carry out murder, terrorize, and seize territory.  Further, according to the covenant, its agenda goes well beyond “Palestine,” extending to the entire Middle East and beyond.

So we have two violent, extremist Muslim organizations bent on conquering territory, imposing sharia on the populace, and with global ambitions.

As for its intended victims, in addition to Jews and “Zionists,” others Hamas wants “obliterated” are the men and women who belong to the Rotary Clubs, the Lions Clubs, and the Masonic organizations – millions of good men and women affiliated with noble and charitable organizations in more than 100 countries.

According to Hamas (Covenant Article 17): “These organizations operate in the absence of Islam and its estrangement among its people. The Islamic peoples should perform their role in confronting the conspiracies of these saboteurs. The day Islam is in control of guiding the affairs of life, these organizations, hostile to humanity and Islam, will be obliterated.”

Not only will these individuals face slaughter.  What about the “collateral damage”: their relatives, neighbors, and co-workers?  All must perish, according to Hamas, in the name of Islam.

Be it by bullet, bomb, or beheading, murder is murder.  The only real difference between Hamas and ISIS appears to be the preferred method of killing.

ISIS wants to restore the “caliphate” and declares territory it has already seized the new caliphate.  Hamas, meanwhile, has not gotten over the downfall of the last caliphate.  In Article 22, Hamas blames Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions, “and others” for the fall of the caliphate.  “They … were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the Islamic Caliphate[.]”

While ISIS has grabbed headlines because of its prominent beheadings, the overwhelming majority of its victims are fellow Muslims or Arabs.  Hamas’s murders and executions are every bit as public and gory.

In August, Haaretz reported: “‘Amid all the carnage in Gaza, it’s abhorrent that Hamas officials are adding to it by permitting, if not ordering, the summary execution of Palestinians deemed to be collaborators,’ said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.”

According to Haaretz: “ ‘Human Rights Watch also pointed out previous summary executions, including the killing of seven men in a Gaza City street in November 2012, the killing of 32 people in Gaza from December 2008 to January 2009.’ “

Previously, as reported by the Mail Online: “Six men accused of being ‘Israeli spies’ were dragged through the streets of Gaza City and executed in front of a chanting mob today … .” At least one victim was chained to the back of a motorcycle as it sped through the streets of Gaza.

A close look at the 1988 Hamas Covenant (from Yale University’s Avalon Project) reveals details suggesting Hamas is perhaps worse than ISIS. But because most of the world perceives Hamas as a threat to Israel and Jews alone, it has not moved against Hamas.

In the covenant, the word “Allah” appears 92 times; “Koran” appears five times; “Islam” or “Islamic” more than 100 times. Make no mistake: Hamas’ murderous attacks are motivated by Islam.

Just like ISIS.

As declared in Article 1: “The Islamic Resistance Movement: The Movement’s programme [sic] is Islam. From it, it draws its ideas, ways of thinking and understanding of the universe, life and man. It resorts to it for judgement [sic] in all its conduct, and it is inspired by it for guidance of its steps.”

There are other examples:

Article 23: “The Islamic Resistance Movement views other Islamic movements with respect and appreciation. If it were at variance with them on one point or opinion, it is in agreement with them on other points and understandings.

Article 5: “By adopting Islam as its way of life, the Movement goes back to the time of the birth of the Islamic message, of the righteous ancestor, for Allah is its target, the Prophet is its example and the Koran is its constitution. Its extent in place is anywhere that there are Moslems who embrace Islam as their way of life everywhere in the globe.”

Like ISIS, Hamas is global and wants to establish a caliphate:

Article 15: “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).”

Article 7: “As a result of the fact that those Moslems who adhere to the ways of the Islamic Resistance Movement spread all over the world, rally support for it and its stands, strive towards enhancing its struggle, the Movement is a universal one.”

Article 9: “As for the objectives: They are the fighting against the false, defeating it and vanquishing it so that justice could prevail, homelands be retrieved and from its mosques would the voice of the mu’azen emerge declaring the establishment of the state of Islam, so that people and things would return each to their right places and Allah is our helper.”  Note that “homelands” is plural.

Article 11: “This is the law governing the land of Palestine in the Islamic Sharia (law) and the same goes for any land the Moslems have conquered by force, because during the times of (Islamic) conquests, the Moslems consecrated these lands to Moslem generations till the Day of Judgement [sic].”

So how can State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki – speaking for Secretary of State John Kerry and ultimately President Obama – deny the obvious: that Netanyahu is correct in equating the two groups?  On Monday – the same day Netanyahu made the connection – she told reporters at her daily briefing:

We believe they’re both terrorist organizations. We obviously believe that ISIL [ISIS] poses a different threat to the United States, based on, of course, the military action and other efforts that are underway. … [T]hey are both designated terrorist organizations under the United States designations, but certainly we see differences – in terms of the threat and otherwise.

When a reporter asks if it is true that both Hamas and ISIS strive for an “Islamic attempt to rule the world,” Psaki responds with: “We would not agree with that characterization, no.”

She adds: “Obviously, we’ve designated both as terrorist organizations, but ISIL poses a different threat to Western interests and to the United States. And that’s just a fact.”

One wonders where Psaki and her bosses get their facts from.  Clearly not from the Hamas covenant.

Steve Feldman is executive director of the Zionist organization of America’s Greater Philadelphia District.