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international community has not significantly changed its relationship with
the Palestinians, including Hamas, over the past months and years. There
has only been some cosmetic and tactical changes. Washington, the
European Union and the UN have not only signaled to Hamas that it
should join the “broken and paralyzed” peace process, they have also
insisted that the Palestinians explicitly recognize Israel. But this time,
those powers are armed with an “Islamic religious cloak,” which would
make a recognition of Israel more meaningful, especially since Hamas
considers its conflict with Israel to be an ideological “existential conflict,
not a border dispute.” That pressure is accompanied with a financial and
economic blockade, which is increasing the pressure on Hamas, especially
since those carrying out the blockade are blocking anything that would
alleviate Palestinian suffering. It is clear that they want to punish the
Palestinians for electing Hamas and warn them against reelecting them;
that is if the reconciliation succeeds and the elections happen on time. It
should be noted that certain Israeli and Western research institutions have
estimated the timeframe that Hamas will need to explicitly recognize
Israel. They may accept from Hamas certain rhetorical signals for a while
before the movement officially recognizes Israel. Since Hamas was
founded in late 1987, it has been conducting an ideological and political
campaign for its members and supporters against recognizing Israel.
Hamas’ constitution says that Israel is a “cancer that must be eradicated,”
and that “its demise is a Quranic inevitability.” Those and other slogans
have been a key component of Hamas’s political discourse. It is therefore
not easy for Hamas to change overnight due to political realism and
suddenly tell its supporters: We shall recognize Israel, but it’s under
duress!

Adnan Abu Amer is Dean of the Faculty of Arts, and a lecturer in the
history of the Palestinian issue, national security, political science and
Islamic civilization at Al Ummah University Open Education.

Article 6.

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