Palestinian children compelled to participate in a Hamas military parade. Photo: Twitter.

Does Peter Beinart’s peace plan for Israel resemble Hamas’?

In 2017, Hamas famously took out the blatantly antisemitic language in its manifesto that was supposed-to-but-not-really replace the original Hamas charter:

Hamas affirms that its conflict is with the Zionist project not with the Jews because of their religion. Hamas does not wage a struggle against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine. …

Hamas rejects the persecution of any human being or the undermining of his or her rights on nationalist, religious, or sectarian grounds. Hamas is of the view that the Jewish problem, antisemitism, and the persecution of the Jews are phenomena fundamentally linked to European history and not to the history of the Arabs and the Muslims or to their heritage.

See? Hamas doesn’t say it wants to persecute Jews in its one-state solution.

Other parts of the 2017 Hamas manifesto sound very close to what Beinart would want:

Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance. It provides an umbrella for the followers of other creeds and religions who can practice their beliefs in security and safety. Hamas also believes that Palestine has always been and will always be a model of coexistence, tolerance, and civilizational innovation.

Hamas believes that the message of Islam upholds the values of truth, justice, freedom, and dignity and prohibits all forms of injustice and incriminates oppressors irrespective of their religion, race, gender, or nationality. Islam is against all forms of religious, ethnic, or sectarian extremism and bigotry.

Life in an Islamic state under Hamas rule sounds like a dream!

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar also said in 2006 that he could see Jews, Muslims, and Christians all living together in an Islamic state.

Does anyone believe Hamas?

Beinart was skeptical in his 2012 Crisis of Zionism book, but he felt that their conciliatory statements should be considered by Israel and Zionists as reflecting an evolution of Hamas’ thoughts. Now? Outside the Islamic part, Hamas’ manifesto sounds remarkably like Beinart’s plan for peace and happiness in the Middle East.

Beinart will claim that his solution is different, because Isratine would not be defined as an Islamic or even an Arab state. But can that really be stopped? Lebanon is a perfect example of how a nation that is constitutionally committed to equal rights is not the same as one actually committed to equal rights.

Of course, Beinart studiously ignores the thousands of statements from Hamas every year that contradict the language of tolerance in its manifesto. To Beinart, Arabs must be judged favorably; only Jews must be judged harshly. Palestinians must have sovereignty, Jews should be happy with whatever they can get.

Which is exactly what Hamas believes.

Elder of Ziyon has been blogging about Israel and the Arab world for a really long time now. He also controls the world, but deep down, you already knew that.