An Important Memorandum from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to the Kings, Presidents, and Ministers Meeting at Sharm al-Sheikh

In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful:
Majesties, highnesses, Excellencies - the Conferees at Sharm al-Sheikh:
Being convinced of the necessity of informing you of the nature of the Islamic Resistance Movement and clarifying the imperatives that govern its political and military work, we present to you this memorandum to explain our goals and policies, hoping that it will gain your careful attention.

We, in Hamas, are a political movement resisting occupation and its actions, which violate the canons of revealed law and many principles of international law both in times of peace and war.

Our movement strives to accomplish this in tow ways.  The first method is political  Inasmuch as hamas is a part of the national liberation movement of the Palestinian people, it seeks to gain their internationally established national rights, foremost among them being the rights of self-determination, establishing an independent state, and the return of all refugees and displaced persons to their homes.

The second method is military.  This flows in the same direction as the first; this method was resorted to only after all political and peaceful means were exhausted without the Palestinian people and its national movement seeing any tangible results that might lead to the realization of our national goals.

Hamas believes in political work, just as it believes in armed struggle, because each has a role in realizing these rights.  Further Hamas with its two wings, the political and the military, is regarded as a national resistance and liberation movement working against the occupiers, who are considered transgressors against contemporary international law.  Hence, the armed actions of members of the Qassam Brigades ought to be considered as defensive actions, with the exception of some unintended injuries to civilians that are in any case contrary to Hamas's established policy.

We regard the Israeli presence in all its forms in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip to be an occupational presence - this being consistent with the text of successive UN resolutions and with the announced official positions of most governments in the world since 1967.

In particular, UN Security Council Resolution No. 242 called for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories that were occupied in 1967, but the Israeli authorities still refuse to comply with the text and spirit of this resolution.

The fundamental cause of instability in the Middle East derives from continuous Israeli aggression against the rights of the Palestinian people, aggression that began with usurping its land and exiling its people to various corners of the world under the bayonets of terrorism and intimidation.  Israel still applies against the Palestinian people all manner of stringent repressive measures that ignore the basic forms of human rights as enunciated in international agreements, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  In addition, it maintains complete control of Palestinian natural resources, arrogating to itself the right to dispose of private and public property as it sees fit, and facilitating the settlement of Jews migrating from Russia, eastern Europe, and other places.  Israel continues to do these things despite signing a peace agreement with the PLO.

Legitimacy of Resisting Military Occupation
Using as a point of departure the principle that international law and order rejects the occupation of other's territory by force, the UN Charter obligates member nations to implement the decisions of the UN Security Council in armed conflicts.  The charter also gives to members of the Security Council the right to use force and other sanctions against any member not complying with these decisions.  Further, international law and conventions give to every individual and group, especially those falling under military occupation by a foreign power, the right to self-defense with every available means.  And it gives to others the right to support this resistance in all its forms with the necessary material means until the occupying power complies with UN resolutions and decisions.

In this context, it is worth mentioning the Israeli "death squads" that belong to the Ministry of Defense and operate in the Occupied Territories.  As confirmed by Amnesty International, death squad members wear Arab civilian clothes as disguises and use standard military methods to shoot their victims at very close distances ranging from 1 to 5 meters, usually aiming above the waist, most often at the head, finishing off the wounded while fleeing.  The terrorist mission of these squads are backed by units of the Israeli army and endorsed by the Israeli government.

Under international law, Hamas is considered a part of the national liberation movement of the Palestinian people and represents a large segment of it.  Hamas thus enjoys certain rights within the general rules of international law in its two parts: rules of peace and rules of war.  No party has the right to infringe on them or to deprive Hamas of exercising them, especially in the fields of information, politics, self-defense, and political participation in the self-determination of the Palestinians.

The UN Charter and a number of UN General Assembly resolutions state that if any state continuously violates the rules of international law, particularly rules pertaining to human rights like premeditated killing, torture, widespread destruction of homes, long-term administrative detention, racial discrimination, and other enduring violations of basic, internationally recognized human rights, then the people under its authority - whether colonized, occupied, or submitting to dictatorial fascists or a racist regime - have the right to bear arms and to struggle against such rule.  This is considered the same as self-defense.

The Bases for Palestinian Resistance to Occupation

Palestinian resistance of Israeli occupation derives from three bases:

The legitimacy of resisting military occupation in accordance with UN General Assembly resolutions adopted unanimously at its fortieth session, and which emphasized the legality of people's struggles and national liberation movements.

Israel's refusal to comply with international decisions, which action falls under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter that requires the imposition of sanctions.  Thus far, the international community has not done this.

The Israeli authorities have been engaging in terrorist practices and wide-ranging transgressions against the human rights of the Palestinian people.  These practices require that the people confront and struggle against this terrorism in defense of self, land, wealth, and property.

The Policies of Hamas in Resisting Occupation

In its resistance operations to occupation, Hamas follows a number of basic policies that conform to international law and conventions.  The most important among them are the following:

To restrict its (Hamas) engagements and confrontation only to army units and some armed formations that support them.

To exercise the right of self-defense against agents of occupation or raids by armed settlers.

To focus on military or semi-military targets and to avoid other targets, especially civilians, including women, children, and the elderly.

To respect the humanity of the other side even under conditions of armed engagement.  Contrary to what the forces of occupation do to our people, we do not engage in mutilation, defacement, or over-killing.

Not to target Western individuals or interests in the Occupied Territories or outside.

Not to carry out any operation outside occupied Palestine and to concentrate the effort inside the Occupied Territories - that being the natural and legitimate arena of confrontation given the occupation.

In contrast with these policies, statistics of international and human rights organizations confirm the high proportion of Palestinian children and women killed and wounded at the hands of Israeli troops during the years of the intifada.  The children were victimized even while playing innocently in the streets; the women were victimized even while on peaceful protest marches, while doing their household chores, or as they passed by a demonstration on some street.  In one engagement between armed settlers and unarmed Palestinian civilians, a young Israeli woman was killed.  The setters claimed that Palestinians killed her, thus justifying abusing them, but an investigation showed that she was killed mistakenly by one of the settlers.

Meanwhile, secret special forces - death squads - whose practical motto is "aim to kill" murder unarmed Palestinians.  They once shot 400 bullets into the body of the martyr Yasir al-Namrouri on 18 July 1992, a clear expression of savagery, barbarism, and terrorism, as the body did not require all these bullets to ensure its death.

As a result of these practices, which represent but a few examples of what unarmed civilians face at the hands of the Israeli occupiers, it was inevitable that the Palestinian people would resort to arms.  But Israeli forces, having failed to put an end to this phenomenon that became endemic to every town, street, and neighborhood, resorted to terrorism, revenge attacks, and collective punishment of various forms and types.  These included the destruction of Palestinian homes with anti-tank weapons and the destruction of homes of martyrs as well as suspects, leaving their families homeless.

Although in the latest operations only regular army units that practice terrorism against Palestinians were attacked, the Israeli government conducted an international propaganda campaign, accusing us of terrorism in an attempt to cover up its own terrorism against the Palestinians.  It resorted to the strategy of "a good offense is the best defense."  Nothing illustrates this better than Rabin's statement while defense minister: "To achieve our objective, we do not wait for violence from the other side, but rather, state incidents to teach those who engage in violence a lesson.  In most cases, confrontations were at the initiative [of the army]" (The Times, 4 April 1988).

Operations of the Qassam Brigades are directed against army units and similar military formations.  In one of these encounters, three holy warriors faced one thousand Israeli soldiers with their heavy weapons and support helicopters.  In another, the attack was directed against encampments of army units assigned the task of repressing citizens and terrorizing them.

Despite the modest means of Palestinian fighters in comparison with the vast resources of Israeli authorities, they display determination to continue in the uneven confrontation.  This is because they are convinced of the justice of their cause and the conformity of their undertaking with international law, UN resolutions, and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.  This is especially justified in the absence of intervention on the part of the international community to stop Israeli terrorism and to oblige Israel to withdraw from the Occupied Territories.  The Palestinian fighters, moreover, adhere scrupulously to Islamic rules and standards that confirm all the contents of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the fourth Geneva Convention.  At the same time, they believe that they are waging a war against an occupation whose implements of repression and terrorism are legitimate targets.

Israel's continual closure of the West Bank and Gaza and the prevention of movement by people within them, its incursions into the towns to arrest suspects, its declaration of some areas as closed military zones, in addition to its expansion of settlements and preventing officials of the Palestinian Authority from movement among cities or from entering them - as happened once when Yasir Arafat was denied entry into Nablus after some Hamas military operation - all confirm that the Israeli government still performs governmental functions, particularly security ones, in the PA areas and that the occupation is still in place.  Hence armed resistance is legitimate despite the signing of the present peace agreements.

Despite Hamas's rejection of the Israeli project for self-rule and its decision not to participate in the process - because it contradicts UN resolutions and international law, falsifies history and the facts, and makes the future of Palestinians uncertain, it has not used any type of violence or political assassination against the Palestinian side that has participated in it.

Hamas espouses a political and operational program that it believes to be more effective in ending the occupation than the weak self-rule project.  It declares that it is for a peace based on truth, justice, and the restoration of rights.

In the light of the preceding, the correct definition of Hamas is that it is a resistance movement, a movement for constructing and building a Palestinian society, a national movement for expressing the hopes and ambitions of a people under occupation or in exile.  It should be remembered, however, that resistance to occupation is tied more intimately to the Palestinian people than to Hamas or other movements.

Hamas began its activities by organizing protest, demonstrations, and other intifada programs.  This continued for two years.  But the escalation of Zionist repression and terrorism pushed it to defend itself and the Palestinian people with more effective means, including military confrontations with the armed pillars of occupation.  In this, it has adopted legitimate means in accordance with international law.  For instance, it adheres to international conventions pertaining to human rights and does not use force except in the face of terrorism and its Israeli instruments.  This is in harmony with international approaches to fighting terrorism and strengthening respect for human rights and spreading freedom and democracy all over the world.

Based on this, it is incumbent upon the international community to support and foster this Movement and to cooperate with it in connection with realizing these goals.  It must pressure Israel to implement UN resolutions and respect international conventions pertaining to the occupied Arab territories and force it to withdraw.

In conclusion, we assure you that Hamas has made many offers for a cease-fire on just conditions.  But the Israeli side ignored these offers and intensified its terror of our people and Hamas leaders.  Our movement is still ready to consider any effort, regional or international, which aims to achieve the same results especially in relation to preventing civilian casualties on both sides.

The justification for conducting military operations against Israeli targets is the continuation of occupation.  These operations will cease automatically once the occupation ends.  Contrariwise, international measures that support the Zionist position against Hamas will not be the right door to a solution to the conflict and will be a cause for increased violence, terrorism, and savagery on the part of the Israeli occupiers and perhaps of the Palestinian Authority.

We call on you to adopt your previous positions of demanding an immediate withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces and erasing all manifestations of occupation and opening the way for the Palestinian people to exercise its right for self-determination.  We call upon you further to pressure the Israeli government to respond to the voices of wisdom and reason by dealing positively with the initiatives offered several times by Hamas.  We would welcome any evenhanded mediation you might offer.

We remind you once again that we reject the principle of political assassination, as we reject achieving political aims by violent means.  We believe, however, that it is our right to resist military occupation and Israeli terrorism and its aggressive measures against our people.  Even so, we prohibit our military cadres from targeting civilians and affirm our determination to avoid harming them when attacking military targets.