Hamas in its own words: Rotary, Lions, and Kiwanis are Zionist fronts

I admit to a slightly misleading title. According to Article 22 of Hamas's Charter, an accurate, annotated translation of which is available here, the Freemasons, Rotary, and Lions are Zionist front organizations. As a (former) Kiwanian, I feel left out. I want to be included. According to Hamas, these organizations along with B’nei Brith are agents of espionage and sabotage. Sounds like a heap of fun. As if the mostly middle-aged men who frequent these organizations were James Bonds in disguise. Do they get to run around with the same kind of female company? Sign me up!

Would that Hamas had it right. But, as Rasberry Rabbit put it (in a comment to a post by Sam Norton):

[At] the Lion's Club in Chibougamau, Quebec we mostly drank beer and told jokes interspersed with the odd bit of farting and fundraising for local sports clubs.

Well, that doesn't get it quite right, either. In my neck of the woods, Freemasons, Rotarians, Kiwanians, and Lions are tremendous do-gooders who seek to outdo each other civic piety. It so happens that the Lions are the best represented in the congregation I presently serve (right, Chuck?  Thanks for all you do). They are  always ready to lend a helping hand, and do.

It is important to know what Hamas stands for. This is how its Charter begins:

In the name of Allah the Merciful and the Compassionate

Palestine, Muharram 1, 1409 A.H./August 18, 1988

In the name of Allah the Merciful and the Compassionate

"You are the best nation that has been brought out for mankind. You command good and forbid evil and believe in Allah. If only the people of the Book [i.e., Jews and Christians] had believed, it would have been well for them. Some of them believe, but most of them are iniquitous. They will never be able to do you serious harm, they will only be an annoyance. If they fight you, they will turn their backs and flee, and will not be succored. Humiliation is their lot wherever they may be, except where they are saved from it by a bond with Allah or by a bond with men. They incurred upon themselves Allah's wrath, and wretchedness is their lot, because they denied Allah's signs and wrongfully killed the prophets, and because they disobeyed and transgressed." (Koran, 3:110-112).

"Israel will exist, and will continue to exist, until Islam abolishes it, as it abolished that which was before it." [From the words of] The martyr, Imam Hasan al-Banna', Allah's mercy be upon him.

In the translation provided by The Jerusalem Fund (a Palestinian-American cultural, educational, and humanitarian organization), the key graph is translated this way:

Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors.

The substance is the same. If Palestinians prefer this intransigent vision to a two-state solution, it is more likely that the only state that will exist in their homeland in the foreseeable future is the state of Israel.

Comments

[scott gray]

wouldn't hamas' vision carry a bit more weight if it's primacy was about the prosperity of its people? and why aren't international leaders publically encouraging hamas to embrace some kind of prosperity vision for gazans?

[JohnFH]

Hi Scott,

Hamas knows it needs to make sure that young men in Gaza have one and only one primary source of gainful employment: that of working for the movement. Prosperity is not what Hamas wants at this stage of the game.

[Peter Kirk]

Thanks for continuing to publicise this. Note also the following:

From Article Six: Hamas "strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine", which leaves no room for Israel.

From Article Thirteen (also quoted by John Richardson):

Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement. ...

Now and then the call goes out for the convening of an international conference to look for ways of solving the (Palestinian) question. ... Knowing the parties constituting the conference, their past and present attitudes towards Moslem problems, the Islamic Resistance Movement does not consider these conferences capable of realising the demands, restoring the rights or doing justice to the oppressed. These conferences are only ways of setting the infidels in the land of the Moslems as arbitraters. When did the infidels do justice to the believers?

So not much encouragement for the peace process there! Then from Article Twenty:

In their Nazi treatment, the Jews made no exception for women or children. Their policy of striking fear in the heart is meant for all. They attack people where their breadwinning is concerned, extorting their money and threatening their honour. They deal with people as if they were the worst war criminals. Deportation from the homeland is a kind of murder.

But consider also the first mention, in Article Seventeen, of "Zionist organizations under various names and shapes, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, espionage groups and others" which is in the context of the rights of "The Moslem woman" and suggests that one of the major objections to these groups is that they exclude women!

[Abdullah Reed]

Peace be with those who serve God

Dear reader, whoever you may be. If you are looking around in this site, you are probably be intelligent enough to understand the Quran.

I am Australian, 35, and insha-allah, intelligent. I went to a selective government school in Australia where there were lots of Jews, but even more chinese, and there were people of every nationality. We all got good scores in the exams and there lots of doctors and lawyers and bankers out of it.

Some time later, I read the Quran. This was nothing like I had ever seen before. It is divine. I've read the bible and I thought that was good. Although I got some confusion from it, I also saw a lot wisdom.

But the quran is different. Much more direct; I know its not from a human effort. I have given my life to the author of the Qur'an, which I have no doubt is God. It is out of this world.

Praise be to God. I recite it often, especially chapter 2, the history of Bani Israel, and I can only say: read it and ask God: is it true.

And if you don't think there's a god at all, then ask Him: "God of Abraham, please give me a sign if you're there". And don't be too proud to ask, that's like being too proud to go to paradise.

Praise be to God. He has left his door of mercy open for the exiled children of Israel. Anytime up until judgement day, if they are willing, he is willing. They only have to seek Him, be willing to repent, be willing to be forgiven, and they will find Him.

I did it. I felt like I would die when I learned how God knew what I had been up to, but I repented and I didn't die. Only God knows why, and only He knows when I will die. The children of Israel were chosen. He won't leave them unless they leave Him.

By the way, this is not for the supporters of israeli military action on palestine. You can go to hell and I would be pleased. Zionism is a false reading of the torah. The anti-zionist Jews got it right. They match what the Quran says.

How they miss Jesus I don't know, perhaps because the words of jesus have been changed, but anyway, the Quran is the true word and anybody who says it is not, let God be a witness between us, that it is his word, and lets wait until He brings about his will.

Glory be to the God of Abraham.

[JohnFH]

Thank you, Abdullah, for stating your point of view so clearly. I'm sure your words will be of interest to readers of this blog.