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Hamas drops call for Israel's destruction

Chris McGreal

Group emphasises armed struggle

Jerusalem: Hamas has dropped its call for the destruction of Israel from its manifesto for the Palestinian parliamentary election in a fortnight, a move that brings the group closer to the mainstream Palestinian position of building a state within the boundaries of the occupied territories.

The Islamist faction, responsible for a long campaign of suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis, still calls for the maintenance of the armed struggle against occupation. But it steps back from Hamas's 1988 charter demanding Israel's eradication and the establishment of a Palestinian state in its place.

Ambiguous position

The manifesto makes no mention of the destruction of the Jewish state and instead takes a more ambiguous position by saying that Hamas had decided to compete in the elections because it would contribute to ``the establishment of an independent state whose capital is Jerusalem''. The shift in emphasis comes as Hamas finds itself under pressure from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and from foreign governments to accept Israel's right to exist and to end its violence, if it wants to be accepted as a political partner.

The group is expected to emerge as the second largest party after Mr. Abbas's Fatah in the next Palestinian Parliament. But the manifesto continues to emphasise the armed struggle. ``Our nation is at a stage of national liberation, and it has the right to act to regain its rights by using all means, including armed resistance,'' it says. Gazi Hamad, a Hamas candidate in Gaza Strip, said the manifesto reflected the group's position of accepting an interim state based on 1967 borders.

- Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

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