When Robert Welch coined the phrase, “This is a republic, not a democracy, let’s keep it that way,” he made an important contribution to American political debate and understanding. The Founding Fathers loathed democracy. The idea of unfettered majority vote was anathema to them. And that is why they constructed a Constitution that broke up government power into three separate branches —executive, legislative and judicial — and put strong restrictions on what the majority could do to the minority, and what the minority could do to the majority. The result was a constitutional republic, not a democracy. In a pure democracy, the majority has the power to destroy a minority.
That’s what happened in Germany in 1933 when Hitler’s National Socialist Party was voted in by the majority. Hitler then consolidated his power into the Nazi dictatorship with its deranged racism and plans for world domination. All of this was stated by Hitler in his own book, Mein Kampf, which any German could have read. At first German Jews assumed that Hitler would not last long. The Nazi movement was so much against basic German traditions of cultural and religious tolerance. But they were wrong. Not only was their property plundered, they were also murdered.
In January 2006, in a democratic election among Palestinians, encouraged by the U.S, which seems to believe that a democratic election solves all problems, Hamas, a political party that advocates the destruction of Israel, won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Parliarment. This was pure “democracy” at work, unfettered by any constitutional limitations. Hamas had stated its goal of destroying Israel in its Covenant adopted in 1988. Like Hitler’s Mein Kampf, the Covenant spelled out its evil intentions in plain language.
In June 2007, Hamas took control of the government in Gaza after the Israelis had withdrawn from the territory, dislocating over 5000 Israeli citizens and destroying all of the towns, farms, and businesses they had created. And no sooner was Hamas in charge than it began lobbing bombs into Southern Israel.
It is uncanny how similar are the events that took place among the Palestinians and what happened in Germany in 1933. The Germans had Mein Kampf, and Hamas has the Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement. In the case of Germany, it led to a world war, millions of deaths, and total ruin. In Gaza it has already led to a full-scale military action by Israel to stop Hamas’s nonstop bombardment of Israeli towns. And even after that military action, Hamas is still lobbing shells into Israel.
The Covenant states:
Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.… Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious … The Movement is but one squadron that should be supported by more and more squadrons from this vast Arab and Islamic world, until the enemy is vanquished and Allah’s victory is realized … The Movement’s programme is Islam … and the Quran is its constitution. Its extent in place is anywhere that there are Muslims who embrace Islam as their way of life everywhere in the globe.
[Hamas] is one of the links in the chain of the struggle against the Zionist invaders. It goes back to 1939, to the emergence of the martyr Izz al-Din al Kissam and his brethren the fighters, members of Muslim Brotherhood … [T]he Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to the realisation of Allah’s promise, no matter how long that should take …
The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgment Day … Nationalism, from the point of view of the Islamic Resistance Movement, is part of the religious creed … Since this is the case, liberation of Palestine is then an individual duty for every Muslim wherever he may be.
Hamas sees its movement as part of the Muslim Brotherhood engaged in the centuries-long struggle against the Christian Crusades and the later ideological invasions by missionaries and secular orientalists who influenced Arab education. The Covenant states:
This, in its turn, paved the way for the imperialistic invasion that made [Gen.] Allenby declare on entering Jerusalem: “Only now have the Crusades ended.” Gen. Guru stood at Salah el-Din’s grave and said: “We have returned, O Salah el-Din.”
To Hamas the liberation of Palestine is part of the greater struggle of Islam against the Christian West, and particularly against Western ideology. “Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.” For this reason Hamas seeks a revitalization of pure Islamic education for Muslim men and women who will be willing to die for the cause. The Covenant states:
Side by side with this, a comprehensive study of the enemy, his human and financial capabilities, learning about his points of weakness and strength, and getting to know the forces supporting and helping him, should also be included.
Thus, it was possible for the 9-11 hijackers to live in America and enjoy its freedoms without being converted or seduced from Islam. Their hatred of the infidel provided the motivation to kill more Americans in a few hours than would have otherwise been possible. The Covenant states further:
The Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas] believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgment Day … This Waqf remains as long as earth and heaven remain. Any procedure in contradiction to Islamic Sharia, where Palestine is concerned, is null and void….
There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors….
Since this is the case, liberation of Palestine is then an individual duty for every Muslim wherever he may be … This should be realized by every Muslim.
It is important that basic changes be made in the school curriculum, to cleanse it of the traces of ideological invasion that affected it as a result of the orientalists and missionaries who infiltrated the region following the defeat of the Crusaders at the hands of Salah el-Din (Saladin) … It is necessary to instill in the minds of the Muslim generations that the Palestinian problem is a religious problem, and should be dealt with on this basis.
Hamas, like Hitler, also believes that Jews are engaged in a worldwide conspiracy to control the world:
They 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 part of the world for the purpose of sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist interests …
They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. 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 …
After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates … Their plan is embodied in the “Protocol of the Elders of Zion,” and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying … The present Zionist onslaught has also been preceded by Crusading raids from the West and other Tatar raids from the East.
Obviously, Hamas has a view of history that has become part of the fantasy world Palestinians believe in. Also, the Waqf concept must serve as a warning to Europe, which is in the process of being colonized by Muslims. The Covenant also states that when the leaders of the Islamic armies conquered Syria and Iraq, “it was decided that the land should be left with its owners who would benefit from its fruits. As for the real ownership of the land and the land itself, it should be consecrated for Muslim generations till Judgment Day.”
In 20 to 50 years, Western Europe may be dominated by Muslims who will claim it as a Waqf.
The Covenant makes it plain that Hamas cannot compromise on its basic program without destroying its reason for being. Hamas has also joined forces with Iran which has the same goal of destroying Israel. Iran provides Hamas with financial support and has tried to smuggle arms into Gaza. And that is why Israel has set up a naval blockade to prevent Iran from landing heavy weapons on Gaza’s coast. Hamas has been named a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department. But since Hamas and Fatah, its political rival, have patched up their differences and created a unified Palestinian government, Israel can hardly negotiate with those dedicated to its destruction.
Has President Obama read the Hamas Covenant? If he has, then he’d know that any concessions by Israel in pursuit of peace would be seen by Hamas as merely a means of weakening the Jewish state. He would also know that the proposals he made of Israel returning to the lines of 1967 would be considered by Netanyahu as impossible and counterproductive. And now that Hamas and Fatah have created a unified Palestinian government, the goal of destroying Israel must be considered as the long-range policy of the Palestinians.
By the way, the entire text of the Hamas Covenant, adopted 18 August 1988, is available online at The Avalon Project of the Lillian Goldman Library, Yale University. Article Two clearly states:
The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of Moslem Brotherhood in Palestine. Moslem Brotherhood Movement is a universal organization which constitutes the largest Islamic movement in modern times. It is characterised by its deep understanding, accurate comprehension and its complete embrace of all Islamic concepts of all aspects of life, culture, creed, politics, economics, education, society, justice and judgement, the spreading of Islam, education, art, information, science of the occult and conversion to Islam.
There ought to be a course at a university in Washington so that members of the government can study Hamas and the Moslem Brotherhood and understand the nature of the war we are in. One of the most important aspects of war is to know your enemy. If you don’t you will suffer needless losses.
