1988 Hamas charter: what Wikipedia removed
The founding charter that calls for Israel’s destruction. The opening once quoted it directly: members who “fear God and raise the banner of Jihad”, and article 13’s line that “There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad”. Jihad mentions fell from 4 to 1, terror from 2 to 0, while “resistance” rose to 6. Today the document is introduced by its softer name, the Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement.
The word “jihad” appeared 4 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2015. Today the opening carries none; the body carries 1. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-02.
The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot
Section titled “The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot”| word | 2015 | 2020 | 6 October 2023 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| jihad | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| terror | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| islamist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| antisemitism | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| genocide | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| occupation | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Counts are of the opening paragraph only, the part most readers, search engines and AI training sets ever quote.
What was taken out
Section titled “What was taken out”- The document is now introduced by its own softer name, the Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement.
- The Charter quoted in its own words, members who raise the banner of Jihad. Removed.
- Article 13 quoted directly: no solution except through Jihad, and negotiations are a waste of time. Removed from the opening.
- The refusal to yield an inch of the land, quoted from Hamas itself. Removed.
- The finding that Hamas continued to pursue its objectives through terror and violence, removed.
- Al-Zahar rejecting the idea that the Charter had been set aside, removed. What survives is the leader who said it had.
- Meshaal calling the Charter a historical document was kept and reworded; the leaders who contradicted him were cut.
- The cited interview refusing to relinquish an inch of Palestine, removed.
Who made the cuts
Section titled “Who made the cuts”Wikipedia publishes who makes every edit. These removals were traced to the exact revision that made them:
- 2017-05-03, Nurg, edit summary: ”/* top */ Better 1st sentence; c/e” (see the diff)
- 2023-10-20, Marokwitz, edit summary: ”/* top */ analysis section” (see the diff)
- 2023-10-20, Marokwitz, edit summary: ”/* top */ analysis section” (see the diff)
- 2023-08-07, Iskandar323, edit summary: ”/* top */ Removing unreliable, undue and dead linked partial quote from lead that was also not present anywhere in the b” (see the diff)
- 2020-05-09, Buidhe, edit summary: ”/* top */ trim lead for MOS compliance” (see the diff)
- 2023-10-20, Marokwitz, edit summary: ”/* top */ analysis section” (see the diff)
- 2020-05-09, Buidhe, edit summary: ”/* top */ trim lead for MOS compliance” (see the diff)
How it opened then, and now
Section titled “How it opened then, and now”2015 (revision 662532346):
The Hamas Covenant also known as Hamas Charter , refers to the Charter of the Hamas , issued on 18 August 1988, outlining the movement founding identity, stand, and aims. The Charter identified Hamas as the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine and declares its members to be Muslims who “fear God and raise the banner of Jihad in the face of the oppressors.” The charter states that “our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious” and calls for the eventual creation of an Islamic state in Palestine, in place of Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and the obliteration or dissolution of Israel. It emphasizes the importance of jihad stating in article 13, “There is no solution for the…
2026 (revision 1360605872):
1988 statement of Hamas’ values and positions For Hamas’ revised document, see 2017 Hamas charter . The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Arabic : ميثاق حركة المقاومة الإسلامية حماس ), referred to as the Hamas Covenant or Hamas Charter , was issued by Hamas (the Islamic Resistance Movement) on 18 August 1988 and outlines the organization’s founding identity, positions, and aims. In 2017, Hamas unveiled a revised charter , without explicitly revoking the 1988 charter. The original Charter identified Hamas as the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine and described its members to be god-fearing Muslims raising the banner of Jihad (armed struggle) in “the face of the oppressors”. The 1988 …
Related
Section titled “Related”- The drift report: what changed across all 61,944 watched articles
- The case file for this article, with every snapshot and every marked removal
- Who made the cuts: removals grouped by the account that made them
- The live article on Wikipedia
Wikipedia text is quoted under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is not affiliated with Wikipedia.