Overview

• Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama Bin Laden's deputy, addressed Hamas in an audio tape and a video tape published in early March. Al-Zawahiri emphasized to Hamas a series of basic principles in the spirit of radical Islam, which, as he claimed, ought to guide Hamas on the Palestinian scene. In addition, spokesmen for the Chechen separatists issued sharp criticism of the Hamas movement against the backdrop of the visit of its delegation to Moscow .

•   Al-Zawahiri's call and the Chechen separatists' criticism indeed reflect a concern prevalent among global jihad elements lest Hamas, having risen to power, embrace a pragmatic policy and abandon its basic principles. Hamas spokesmen, on their part, made it clear once again that the movement's entry into politics has as its goal the promotion of the Palestinian people's interests. They further stated that Hamas would not change its policy, particularly on such issues as the non-recognition of Israel , non-recognition of agreements signed with it, and the continuation of the armed struggle (“resistance” and jihad).

• These expressions of concern, and the response given by Hamas, clearly demonstrate the dilemmas faced by Hamas in the wake of its victory in the Legislative Council elections. They reflect the inherent tension between Hamas' ideological fundamental positions as a radical Islamic jihadist movement and the constraints of the Palestinian political reality, at times necessitating the movement to muffle its radical ideological messages (without changing its fundamental positions) and find practical solutions to the problems at hand.

Ayman al-Zawahiri warns Hamas against abandoning the principles
of radical Islam and the way of jihad

• On the night of March 4-5, 2006, an audio tape was published on the global jihad internet message boards on behalf of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama Bin Laden's deputy. A video version of the tape was broadcasted on Al-Jazeera Television (March 5). Al-Zawahiri's statements were recorded during the month of February under the title of “The [preferred] alternative is da'wah ¹ and jihad”. The tape, in which Al-Zawahiri calls Muslims to jihad (holy war) against the corrupted Arab regimes and Western countries, also includes an address on his behalf to the Hamas movement.

• In the tapes, Al-Zawahiri emphasized to Hamas a series of basic principles in the spirit of radical Islam, which, as he claimed, ought to guide Hamas on the Palestinian scene: attaining power is a means to instate the rule of Islamic religious law on earth rather than a goal unto itself; no one has a right to give up one grain of the territory of Palestine, for it is an Islamic land occupied by infidels; Palestine will not be liberated through elections but rather by jihad for the sake of Allah; jihad for the liberation of Palestine is a personal duty of every Muslim and not just of the Palestinians; participating in the Legislative Council alongside secular representatives who “sold” Palestine is contrary to the values of Islam; the agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel (“the capitulation agreements”), which are contrary to Islamic religious law, must not be upheld.

• Senior Hamas spokesmen were quick to respond to the above statements by rejecting them, in fact, claiming that in practice, Hamas did not change its basic principles: Khaled Mash'al, head of the Hamas political bureau, stated that there can be no criticizing of Hamas, since its policy is based on the “resistance” (i.e., terrorism). He added apologetically that every movement must deal with politics (which, as may be inferred, has negative image), but that Hamas was doing it out of “self-respect” and “refusal to yield to external pressures” (Dunya al-Watan, March 5). Osama Hamdan, a Hamas representative in Lebanon, declared that the Hamas movement had participated in the elections to effect a change in Palestinian politics that would serve the “resistance and jihad” , while refusing to recognize the “Zionist entity” (Al-Jazeera Television, March 5). Mahmoud al-Zahar, Hamas' candidate for Foreign Minister in the new government, stressed that Hamas had no intentions of abandoning the way of “resistance” (i.e., terrorism) but rather to strengthen it (Al-Jazeera, March 5).

Criticism by the Chechen separatists and the Hamas’ response

• The tension between the fundamental ideological positions and the constraints of political reality was reflected in the visit of the Hamas delegation in Russia . The Hamas movement's long-standing empathy with the Chechen separatists and the terrorism they use against Russia did not stop it from quickly responding positively to President Putin's invitation to visit Moscow . ² In the wake of the visit (March 3-4), and against the backdrop of statements made by the Hamas delegation during it, the Hamas was criticized by the Chechen separatists, who had formerly enjoyed the Hamas' ideological support and expressions of sympathy.

• Ahmed Zakayev, a senior representative of the Chechen separatists, accused Hamas of putting the Russian government's interests ahead of the interests of religious solidarity with the Muslims in Chechnya . He called upon Khaled Mash'al and Hamas not to alienate themselves from their Chechen brothers, since “ Palestine , Chechnya , Iraq , Afghanistan [are] all Muslim lands”, whose peoples fight against the “infidel foe”. Ahmed Zakayev called upon Hamas to implement the Islamic religious law to the letter, oppose any past agreements signed by “the traitors” (i.e., the Palestinian Authority and the PLO), and continue jihad to “return the lands of Islam to

• the faith of Islam”. ³ Movledi Odogov, another spokesman for the Chechen separatists, also lashed out against Hamas, stating that the delegation about to visit Russia would shake the hands of “the murderers of the Muslims in Chechnya ”, who had “committed appalling crimes”. He added that Hamas would be naive to expect that Russia , under Putin's leadership, would recognize Hamas and become a political partner of the Palestinians. ⁴

• Isma'il Abd al-Latif Muhammad al-Ashqar, a member of the Hamas faction in the Legislative Council, has responded to this criticism by saying that the Hamas movement well understands the criticism of the “Chechen brothers”. Hamas is well aware of the Chechens' pain and distress and demands freedom to the Muslim Chechen people; yet at the same time Hamas needs the support of a power such as Russia to stand on the side of the Palestinian people. Isma'il al-Ashqar added that Hamas was always putting the interests of the Palestinian people ahead of any other interest (Islam Online, March 6). Thus, in fact, he presented a clear example of the dilemma faced by Hamas: the contradiction between an Islamic ideology of global reach and particular Palestinian interests. In the past, Hamas attempted to theoretically bridge this contradiction in its charter (1988), but now, having won the Legislative Council elections, it has resurfaced once again.

² On Hamas' empathy with the Chechens, see Information Bulletin dated September 2004 on the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center website.

³ From the website of Sheikh Hamed al-Ali, which also serves as a mouthpiece for the Chechen separatists (March 5, 2006). Sheikh Hamed Bin Abdallah Ahmed al-Ali is an extremist scholar on Islamic religious law, and a lecturer on Islamic culture in Kuwait . He writes and teaches about Islamic law. He had previously justified suicide bombing attacks in a religious ruling published on the Hamas website.

⁴ Reuters, Moscow , March 3, citing the www.kavkazcentrr.com website.