06064
Feb. 7, 2006

Palestinian Christians, moderate Muslims
fear Hamas may limit religious freedom

Worry about international backlash
forestalls imposition of Shariah law

by Michele Chabin
Religion News Service

JERUSALEM — Moderate Muslims and Christians in the West Bank and Gaza say they fear that Hamas, which scored a stunning victory in last month’s Palestinian elections, will impose a strict interpretation of Islamic law that will limit religious freedom.

        So far, however, Hamas has not acted on promises to do so. And political analysts predict that it is unlikely to restrict the rights of religious minorities anytime soon for fear of an international backlash.

        Almost as soon as the Jan. 25 election results were in, Sheikh Mohammed Abu Teir, the No. 2 candidate on the Hamas election list, announced that the movement planned to introduce Shariah, the religious law of Islam.

        “The No. 1 thing we will do is take Shariah as a source for legislation,” he said, according to The Globe and Mail newspaper.

        Abu Teir’s promise set off alarms, because non-Muslims face varying degrees of discrimination in countries where Shariah is stringently applied. In Saudi Arabia, for example, religious minorities may be denied citizenship and legally prohibited from practicing their faith.

        Even in Egypt, Jordan and Syria, which are less strict, minorities often are denied the educational and employment opportunities afforded to Muslims.

        Some Palestinians feel threatened.

        “There is much concern that they might use the political system to impose restrictions on religious freedom,” said Mohammed Dajani, director of the American Studies Center at Al-Quds University.

        Hamas — whose name is an acronym for the "Islamic Resistance Movement" — was founded in the late 1980s during the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising. The movement, which advocates the destruction of Israel and Islamic domination of the world, is on the U.S. government’s list of terror organizations.

        Hamas, founded on the strictest precepts of Islam, is particularly popular among poor Palestinians because it provides a wide range of social, educational and medical services not provided by the Palestinian Authority.

        Analysts say the election showed that the public widely believes that the secular party Fatah, which until now has ruled in Palestine, misappropriated hundreds of millions of dollars in overseas donations.

        Hamas’ network, in contrast, is said to be run efficiently, with little waste and even less corruption. It is largely funded by fundamentalist Muslim governments and their pious citizens.

        Hamas won 76 of 132 seats in parliament, ushering in a new era in Palestinian life.

        Palestinian law is largely secular, although it relies on Shariah when it comes to marriage and other issues related to personal status.

        Abu Teir said Hamas will soon require girls and boys to study in separate classes, a practice already common, but by no means universal, in the Palestinian territories.

        The cleric added, however, that alcohol will not be banned, and that no woman will be forced to wear a hijab, an Islamic head scarf. “We are centrists,” he insisted. “We are against any kind of extremism.”

        By the standards of the Arab world, Palestinian society has a tradition of religious and political moderation. Alcoholic beverages are widely available, for example, and women are encouraged to get an education, a job and a driver’s license. Those who wear scarves or long robes do so out of choice and not because the law dictates it, Dajani said.

        For that reason, he said, Hamas will not be able to impose Shariah law.

        “That would contradict the basic constitution,” Dajani said. “If they try, there will be a backlash.”

        Eileen Kuttab, the director of Women’s Studies at Birzeit University, said Hamas won’t push Shariah because “it isn’t ready to promote a conflict within the society that has given it their vote. They realize that people voted for them to end a dozen years of corruption, not due to their religious agenda.”

        If Hamas does try to force women to cover their faces with a veil, for example, “civil society will be mobilized against them,” Kuttab said. “I don’t think this will happen during their first term in office, but of course, we have to closely monitor the situation.”

        One thing that may deter Hamas from instituting radical religious change is the movement’s desire for international recognition.

        “They don’t want to be compared with the Taliban,” said George Giacaman, director of the Palestinian Insitute for the Study of Democracy. “Remember, too, that Palestinian marriage, divorce and inheritance practices are already embedded in Shariah law.”

        Observant Muslims in Palestine say they would welcome greater adherence to the precepts of the Quran, Islam’s holiest text.

        “Every Muslim should be a Muslim, to pray and act like a Muslim,” said Adnan Hussein, director of the Wakf, the Islamic trust that manages Jerusalem’s largest mosques. “Religion is in the hearts of all people — Muslim, Christian and Jewish. It is nothing to be feared.”

        Palestinian Christians, who see themselves as a beleaguered minority within a minority, are not so sure.

        The Holy Land’s struggling Christian minority has dwindled dramatically in recent decades, as those who could emigrate from the war-torn, economically depressed region have moved to places like the United States, Canada and Australia.

        The Christian community now comprises less than 2 percent of the Palestinian and Israeli populations.

        Hamas’ reaction to Danish cartoons widely regarded as disrespectful of the prophet Muhammed has allayed the concerns of some Christians. Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas official, made a solidarity visit to the area’s only Catholic church.