The Israel-Palestine conflict (part 1 of 2)

The Israel–Palestine Conflict: Clarifications and some Core Issues

The Israel–Palestine conflict is increasingly complex, rooted in strong loyalties to ideologies and social affiliations. Psychological aspects further contribute to polarization. This is especially serious in a conflict marked by extremes such as violence, support for violence, and ultimately violent acts. To contribute to informed understanding, this document presents verifiable facts—regardless of your current stance on the conflict.

Two core recurring questions are addressed below.

1. Is Hamas an Islamist Movement?

Hamas was founded as an Islamist movement with ideological roots in the Muslim Brotherhood. Its original 1988 charter contains explicit violent and antisemitic content.

1.1. Examples from Hamas’s Charter:

• Article 7: “The Day of Judgment will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them…”

• Article 13: “There is no solution to the Palestinian question except through Jihad.”

• Article 22: “The Jews were behind the French Revolution, the Communist revolution, and many world wars…”

• Article 32: Zionism is described as a conspiracy that must be eradicated.

Article 7, quoting a hadith from Sahih Muslim, is an eschatological (end-of-times) text taken literally in the charter, providing a theological justification for killing Jews as a group—not just Zionists or Israeli soldiers. The charter refers to Jews collectively, rather than to the Israeli state specifically.

The charter is heavily religious. It describes an Islamic struggle (jihad) against “the occupation” and asserts that Palestine is an Islamic waqf (sacred trust) that must not be surrendered.

The interpretation of jihad as an inner spiritual struggle is clearly inconsistent with the context of “fighting the Jews and killing them.” The charter remains in effect today and serves—by its very nature as a charter—as the foundation of Hamas’s ideology, though it was supplemented in 2017 with a political document that tones down the antisemitic rhetoric.

1.2. Hamas Political Document (2017):

This is not a new charter but a supplemental political document intended to modernize Hamas’s international image. Antisemitism is toned down, and the document distinguishes between Jews as a people and Zionists/Israel as a state and ideology.

Examples:

• “The conflict is not with the Jews because they are Jews, but with the Zionist occupation and its aggression.”

Hamas continues to endorse armed struggle against the occupation but downplays its Islamist language to some extent:

• “Hamas fights against Zionist occupation, not against Jews as a religion.”

Hamas states it accepts a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders—but without recognizing Israel.

1.3. Why This Change?

Several factors led to Hamas issuing this new political document in 2017:

• International Legitimacy: Hamas sought to improve its relationships with other states and avoid being broadly labeled as an antisemitic terrorist organization, especially in the West.

• Regional Relations: The original 1988 charter aligned Hamas with the Muslim Brotherhood, which became problematic when countries like Egypt and Gulf states began to crack down on Islamist movements after the Arab Spring.

• Changing Political and Military Context: Hamas wanted to present itself as a more rational and pragmatic actor capable of participating in broader political solutions—even though it remains in conflict with Israel.

• Criticism from Palestinians: Some within the Palestinian territories have criticized Hamas for being too militant and religiously ideological. The new document was intended to soften that image.

However, several Hamas leaders have continued to make violent statements after 2017, especially in Arabic-language speeches directed at their own population. The original ideology remains in the charter and persists in practice.

Examples of statements by senior Hamas leaders post-2017:

• Yahya Sinwar (Hamas leader in Gaza), Oct 2022: “We will uproot the Jews and their state. The time has come for us to remove this cancer.”

• Fathi Hammad (Hamas Politburo), July 2019, Al-Aqsa TV: “O Jews, the time of your slaughter has come. The time of your demise is near… we will kill you, we will slaughter you.”

• Ismail Haniyeh (Hamas leader), May 2021: “We will strike at Tel Aviv, at every inch of occupied Palestine. This is the battle to liberate Jerusalem and all of Palestine.”

Even though Hamas officially states that they are not fighting “Jews as Jews,” violent rhetoric against both Jews and Israelis continues in practice.

1.4. Summary

• Hamas’s original 1988 charter contains clear antisemitism and a violent Islamist agenda, calling for the extermination of Jews.

• The 2017 document tones down the antisemitism and seeks to reframe Hamas as a nationalist resistance movement rather than a religious sect.

• The difference is mainly rhetorical. Many analysts argue that Hamas’s practical policies have not changed fundamentally, but the rhetoric has become more “diplomatic.”

As a parallel: In Sweden, it is notable how some left-leaning individuals reject the Sweden Democrats’ ideological changes (e.g., to their party platform) while simultaneously defending Hamas’s 2017 political shift—even though Hamas’s original charter remains unchanged. Equally interesting, some right-wing Swedes with strong nationalist or even Nazi historical roots now express support for the Jewish state of Israel.

2. Who Was There First, from the Late 1800s?

Historically—especially before the major waves of Zionist immigration under the British Mandate (1917–1948)—Jews were a minority in the disputed Palestinian territories.

2.1. Demographics Before 1948:

Late 1800s (circa 1880):

• Palestine’s population was approximately 95% Muslim/Arabic-speaking (including a small Christian minority).

• Jews comprised only 5–8%, mainly in Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias, and Hebron.

1917 (Balfour Declaration):

• Jews: ~10%

• Muslims: ~80%

• Christians: ~10%

1947 (before the founding of Israel):

• Jews: ~33% (~630,000 people)

• Arabs (Muslims and Christians): ~67% (~1.3 million people)

This is supported by sources such as League of Nations reports, British Mandate censuses, the UN Partition Plan (1947), and historians like Benny Morris, Avi Shlaim, and Ilan Pappé.

Ottoman and British census data clearly show that Arabs (Muslims and Christians) were the majority until 1948:

• 1831: ~90% Muslims, 6–10% Christians, 3–5% Jews

• 1922: 78% Muslims, 11% Jews, 9% Christians

• 1945: 69% Arabs, 31% Jews

Population sources include Ottoman tax registers (defterler), travel diaries, and diplomatic reports.

Ottoman Empire (1516–1917)

19th century:

1831 (Egyptian rule):

• Estimated population: 300,000–350,000 in all of Palestine.

  • ~85–90% Muslims (Arabs)

  • ~6–10% Christians (mostly Arabs)

  • ~3–5% Jews

1882 (British Foreign Office):

• Jews: ~24,000 (mostly in Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, Safed)

• Total: ~450,000

• Arabs (Muslims + Christians): >90%

Source: Justin McCarthy, The Population of Palestine (1990)

British Mandate (1917–1948)

Examples:

• 1922 census:

  • Total: 752,000

  • Jews: 84,000 (11.2%)

  • Muslims: 590,000 (78.4%)

  • Christians: 71,000 (9.4%)

• 1931 census:

  • Total: 1,035,000

  • Jews: 174,610 (16.8%)

  • Muslims: 759,717 (73.4%)

  • Christians: 91,398 (8.8%)

• 1945 statistics:

  • Jews: 553,600 (31%)

  • Arabs (Muslims + Christians): 1,237,000 (69%)

Despite increasing Jewish immigration (especially after the 1880s aliyah waves), Muslims and Christians (i.e., Arabs) were the majority until 1948.

2.2. Common References

Adriaan Reland (1714) is often cited to argue that Palestine was sparsely populated, but he never traveled there. He compiled data from earlier travelers, biblical studies, and classical texts. He mapped 2,500 places based on Roman, Hebrew, and Arabic sources. He noted many towns had Hebrew or Arabic names and that population density varied.

He did state that some areas were sparsely populated—but not that “most of the people he encountered were Jews.” This is a later misinterpretation. Claims that 18th-century Palestine was majority Jewish, based on Reland’s work, cannot be substantiated with demographic data.

Mark Twain also visited Palestine in 1867 and wrote in The Innocents Abroad:

“Of all the lands there are for dismal scenery, I think Palestine must be the prince. […] It is a hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land.”

This is sometimes used to argue that Palestine was “empty.” But he was describing rural landscapes—not the cities like Jaffa, Nablus, or Acre, which had denser populations.

2.3. Demographic Changes and Growth

It is verifiable that:

• Jewish immigration (aliyah) from the late 1800s brought economic development—agriculture, roads, cities like Tel Aviv.

• Arab internal migration occurred to these areas—such as Jaffa, Haifa, and Tel Aviv—where jobs were available.

However:

• This did not change the fact that Arabs remained the majority population in Palestine throughout the period until 1948.

• There was no massive illegal Arab immigration from other countries, as sometimes claimed in opinion articles—this is not supported by British or Ottoman records.

Sources: Benny Morris, Righteous Victims (1999); British Peel Commission Report (1937)

3. Conclusions

Different sides in the Israel/Palestine conflict have valid elements in their arguments:

• Critics of Hamas are correct in pointing out the group’s violent ideology and antisemitism in the 1988 charter.

• Critics of Zionism are correct in noting that Arabs were the majority in Palestine for centuries, and that major Jewish immigration began only after the 1880s.

Both perspectives are part of the whole. Understanding the conflict requires holding multiple historical truths at once—not reducing everything to a simplified binary. That’s what intelligence is for. Use it.