Former US president Jimmy Carter yesterday claimed that Hamas will now accept a Palestinian state in only part of the territory that it claims. However, the actual words used by Hamas illustrate the need for western politicians to understand the Islamic paradigm of foreign affairs that middle eastern organisations such as Hamas and even Fatah operate under. What Khaled Meshaal, the leader of Hamas actually said in Damascus yesterday was:
"We agree to a (Palestinian) state on pre-67 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital, with genuine sovereignty, without settlements but without recognising Israel."
Hamas in common with other middle eastern Islamist organisations such as Hezbollah aim to impose an Islamic government with Islamic law on the whole of Palestine, because they believe the Qur'an teaches that the whole world should be subjected to Islamic government. Even classical Islam agrees with this and teaches that it is an act of defensive jihad to fight to re-impose an Islamic government on an area that at any previous time in history had one. To achieve this, groups such as Hamas follow a well established paradigm of foreign affairs that, in at least its broad outlines is predictable, because it is based on the sunna - example of Muhammad. This rejects any concept of a permanent treaty with non Muslims. However, it permits hudna - a temporary truce agreed with a non Islamic government, in order to gain a strategic advantage before military jihad is recommenced to impose an Islamic government on the non Muslim people.
Whilst I have the greatest respect for President Carter, he is naively wrong to think that Islamist groups such as Hamas can be talked round to adopting a western diplomatic paradigm of of 'peaceful co-existence of states'. Unless western governments understand the Islamic paradigm that Islams groups operate under, they will continue to press for concessions that will in the long run endanger lives.
