Of religion in conflict

 
denotes a religious concept (Moghadam 2003), 
and the religious doctrine of jihad
 
(holy war) is referenced in the mani-
festos of Islamic Jihad, Hamas and Fatah (Frisch 2005; Hatina 2005). 
This refers to the ‘moral superiority of Islam’ over infidels and other 
cultures (Hatina 2005, 242). The religious concepts of jihad
 
and shaheed
 
are closely linked to modern secular concepts of ‘thawra’
 
(revolution) 
and ‘fida’i’
 
(sacrifice) (Johnson cited in Hatina 2005). Given the identi-
fication of Palestine as an Islamic ‘Waqf’
 
or trust
, 
jihad
 
is central in the 
struggle for a Palestinian state (Singh 2012). For radical Islamists, ‘the 
fall of Jerusalem into infidel hands is perceived as a wound that must be 
healed’ (al-Khalifa Khutba, cited in Milton-Edwards 2006, 79). Ignoring 
jihad is considered a sin and the highest way to please Allah
 
is the inten-
tion (‘niya’) of becoming a martyr (Hatina 2005). Martyrdom comes with 
the Islamic promise of an ‘afterlife replete with gold, palaces, feasts and 
virgin brides’ (Kushner 1996, 333), as understood from some readings of 
Surah 78 of the 
Qur’an 
and according to a weak 
Hadith
tradition
.
In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the belief that ‘only Islam and not 
nationalism could liberate Muslims from foreign (infidel) rule’ (Milton-
Edwards 2006, 83), highlights both the Islamic nature of the struggle 
but also the general confinement of the movements to the liberation of 
Palestine rather than a global jihad
.
The concept 
‘
al-siyasa al shar’yya’ 
(subject to political considerations) enabled warfare to include a 
defensive jihad that allows killing of civilians (Hatina 2005). Unlike Fatah,
 
Hamas and Islamic Jihad both aim to implement sharia law in Palestine 
and to rule over the infidels. The pragmatic approach of Hamas to agree 
to ceasefires is explained by the Treaty of Hudabiyya, in which, deriving 
from the behaviour of the Prophet, Islam gives permission for peace to 
be made with an enemy for a specific period of time, no longer than ten 
years (Hatina 1999). 
The religious concepts of Gush Emunim are based on the teachings 
of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, who stated that ‘ours is a messianic age in 
which the Land of Israel, in its entirety is to be reunited’ (Sprinzak 1987, 
198). The Israeli demand to settle in Judea and Samaria is based on 
God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob made 5,000 years earlier 
(Jones 1999; Lustick 1987; Sprinzak 1987). Furthermore, redemption 
and the ‘End of Days’ would be possible only in the Greater Land of 

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British Academy // 
The Role of Religion in Conflict and Peacebuilding
51
Israel, and so territorial compromise ‘means forfeiting redemption’ 
(Sprinzak 1987, 203). The Holocaust and the Arab-Israeli wars are 
explained as part of the redemption period of the Messiah Son of 
Joseph, who would ultimately fail, but as an integral part of the process 
(Lustick 1987). Kook believed that the Israeli government was legitimate 
in the process towards redemption (Sprinzak 1987). However, there 
was a halakhic
 
edict that prohibited the evacuation of settlements in the 
Land of Israel, and even a call for soldiers to disobey orders in the Gaza 
disengagement (Arboff 1999). 
Rabbi Kahane promoted a more violent interpretation, although he 
believed his was coming directly from the Halakha,