Living Under the Shadow of Death
What Hamas' ideology means for Palestinian Christians
Whilst much has been written about Hamas in recent weeks, there is a deafening silence about what Hamas’ ideology means for Palestinian Christians.
Palestinian Christians
Since the time of Christ, Christians have lived in the area that is now referred to as the Palestinian Territories. However, in 636 AD, four years after Muhammad’s death, the Islamic armies conquered the area with its predominantly Christian and Jewish population. That event is the root of the present conflict. However, Christians, both in the West Bank – which is controlled by Fatah (which is effectively the Palestine Liberation Organisation - PLO) – and the smaller area of Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, are now a small minority of mainly Orthodox and Catholic believers, as well as an estimated 3,000 Arab Protestants. More than 95% of these live in the West Bank, with the Palestinian Authority’s 2017 census claiming that there were only 1,138 Christians in the Gaza Strip. Whilst caution is often needed in accepting census figures for Christian minorities, it is clear that Gaza’s Christian population has collapsed in recent years from the estimated 6,000 who lived there in the 1960s.
The seventh century Islamic conquest subjected the area’s Christian and Jewish population to dhimmitude, a concept found in all the main schools of Islamic law (shari’a). This allows Jews and Christians as “People of the book” to live in the area, provided they submit to Islamic government and law. Although sometimes misleadingly referred to as a form of religious toleration, dhimmitude is essentially a non-citizen status, with no effective rights.
... it is clear that Gaza’s Christian population has collapsed in recent years from the estimated 6,000 who lived there in the 1960s.
Any perceived breach of the dhimmi contract leads to the dhimmi being designated a harbi – an enemy combatant, who any Muslim can kill with impunity. The influence of dhimmitude has endured to the present day and can be seen in the accounts of nineteenth century western travellers to Palestine who described the inferior status, abuse and humiliation of the Christians by Muslims they witnessed.
That forms the background to the present-day situation of Christians in the Palestinian Territories. An academic report published in 2003 revealed horrific details of the treatment of Christians in the areas then subject to the Palestinian Authority. These included the seizure of Christian churches and monasteries, the use of Christian schools and churches as human shields from which to launch attacks on Israel, the arrest of Christians, and the rape and abduction of Christian women. Much of this was happening in the West Bank – the area now controlled by the supposedly secular, Fatah group.
However, in 2006, the far more radical Hamas, an offshoot of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, unexpectedly won the Palestinian elections in Gaza. From then on attacks on Christians suddenly escalated. Gaza’s Christian bookshop was firebombed twice; its owner, kidnapped, tortured and murdered. No-one was ever held responsible. The extent to which Christians are now under pressure was illustrated by a journalist who visited the area a few years ago – finding local Christians fearful of even talking about these events. One Palestinian Christian leader quoted in the 2003 report compared the circumstances faced by Palestinian Christians as being akin to women and children who suffer domestic abuse but feel unable to speak out against the perpetrators. This situation for Christians who have converted from a Muslim family background is of course far worse. Under the shari'a enforcement Hamas seeks to impose on Gaza, the penalty for conversion is death – and if anyone wants to carry it out, Hamas will not stand in their way.
Hamas ideology
Hamas continues to put out propaganda claiming it protects Christians and Christian holy sites against Israel – with its representative in Iran even claiming that Hamas’ October attack was to protect “Christian holy sites”, a statement which was later repeated by a former Pakistan Prime Minister and a major national newspaper in Pakistan. However, the reality is somewhat different. That is why it is important to understand Hamas’ ideology.
... with Hamas' representative in Iran even claiming that Hamas’ October attack was to protect “Christian holy sites”
Hamas’ 1998 Covenant is the clearest expression of its ideology (an English translation can be found HERE). In 2017 it also produced a Charter, although nothing in this negates its earlier Covenant, and it is essentially an attempt to portray itself in a manner which would maintain the support it enjoys from some political groups in the West.
Palestine is Islamic land
The Hamas Covenant begins by stating that Israel “will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it”, and the means of doing so is “jihad”. It categorically rejects any form of negotiated peace settlement and condemns Fatah for having engaged in such negotiations. The reason Hamas rejects any peace settlement is because (Article 11) it: “… believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [legal Trust] consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day.” The Covenant goes on to explain precisely what this means by explaining that when the Islamic armies conquered Palestine, they asked the Umar, the second Caliph (successor to Muhammad as head of the entire Islamic community), whether the conquered land should be divided among the Islamic soldiers or left with its previous owners. The Caliph’s decision, made after consulting the other surviving Companions of Muhammad, was that while the previous owners – who were predominantly Christians and Jews - should be allowed to farm it, it would now be owned by the Islamic community for perpetuity. This decision now forms part of shari’a – and therefore cannot be altered.
In other words, it is a denial of the right of non-Muslims to own land in Palestine.
Article 11 also states that this principle applies to any land, which at any time has been conquered by Islamic armies. In other words, it is a denial of the right of non-Muslims to own land in Palestine. So, when the 2017 Hamas Charter (Article 10) says that, “Christian holy sites belong exclusively to the Palestinian people and to the Arab and Islamic Ummah [i.e. global Islamic community]”, it is effectively claiming Islamic ownership of Christian sites in Palestine.
Shari’a enforcement
Hamas’ vision for Palestine is therefore one in which shari’a is enforced across the whole of Palestine on both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Although the Hamas Covenant talks about “justice” – it is clear that what it actually means is Islamic justice i.e. shari’a.
Dhimmitude
The Hamas’ Covenant also speaks about toleration of Christians and Jews (Article 31): “Under the wing of Islam, it is possible for the followers of the three religions - Islam, Christianity and Judaism - to coexist in peace and quiet with each other.”
Although the Hamas Covenant talks about “justice” – it is clear that what it actually means is Islamic justice i.e. shari’a.
However, it then goes on to explain how this is to happen: “Peace and quiet would not be possible except under the wing of Islam. Past and present history are the best witness to that. It is the duty of the followers of other religions to stop disputing the sovereignty of Islam in this region.” In other words, Palestinian Christians are to be subjected to dhimmitude – as they were in the past, and as they were in 2015 by Islamic State in neighbouring Syria.
Jihad
Article 14 of the Hamas Covenant speaks about three concentric circles which it says have a duty to engage in the jihad against Israel: “The question of the liberation of Palestine is bound to three circles: the Palestinian circle, the Arab circle and the Islamic circle. Each of these circles has its role in the struggle against Zionism. Each has its duties… when the three circles mobilize their capabilities, the present state of affairs will change and the day of liberation will come nearer.” In other words, Hamas regards all Arabs, including Christian Arabs, as having a duty to support their jihad to replace the state of Israel with an Islamic state. In fact, it goes on to say (Article 32) that: “Leaving the circle of struggle with Zionism is high treason.” In other words, Hamas not only requires Palestinian Christians to support their jihad against Israel – but also regards anything less as an act of treason. One of the clearest practical outworkings of this was seen in 2014, when Israel launched an air and ground offensive to knock out the launch sites of missiles which were being fired at it from Gaza. A prominent Christian leader in Gaza opened his church, sheltering around 2,000 Muslims seeking sanctuary from the fighting. However, Hamas then used the church compound as a launch site from which to fire rockets at Israel (watch CBN News clip HERE).
Hamas not only requires Palestinian Christians to support their jihad against Israel – but also regards anything less as an act of treason.
This is essentially part of what dhimmi status involves, i.e. dhimmis are required to support the jihad, with any failure to do so breaching the dhimmi contract and making them liable to immediate execution as an enemy.
Conclusions
Palestinian Christians are caught in an impossible situation, fully trusted by neither side. In Gaza they live under shari’a enforcement imposed by Hamas. They are in effect treated as dhimmis, and required to give at least tacit support to Hamas’ jihad against Israel or risk being killed as enemy collaborators. While seeking to live faithfully as Christians in a hostile environment, they are in effect viewed as potential fifth columnists by Hamas.
The words of Jesus to his disciples apply very much to them: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matt 10:16). Palestinian Christians very much need and deserve our prayers.
Dr Martin Parsons is CEO of the Lindisfarne Centre for the Study of Christian Persecution (christianpersecution.co.uk)
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Dr Martin Parsons