Figure 1.-- |
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Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya (Hamas) translates as the Islamic Resistance Movement. The Arabic acronym means "zeal". Hamas was founded by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin during the First INterfada (1987). He was at the time head of the Gaza wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas became known for its suicide bombings and other attacks on Israeli civilians, military and security forces. It was these attacks that led to the Isreali decession to build a security wall. The Hamas' charter was adopted the following year (1988). Hamas in the charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic state in all of Palestine, including Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank.
Hamas rejects any peaceful or negotiated solution to the Isreali-palestinian conflict. Article 13 reads, "Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement. .... There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors." [Hamas] Hamas strikes against Israel and charitable activities in Gaza and the West Bank have won it considerable support among Palestinians. While corruption in Fatah has siphoned off aid funds, Hamas has built an extensive welfare programs, funding schools, orphanages, and healthcare clinics in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Hamas has been listed as a terrorist organization by Canada, the European Union, Israel, Japan, and the United States. Hamas has obtained funding from Iran, Palestinian expatriates, benefactors in Saudi Arabia and other oil states. Sine the Palestinian elections (January 2006), Hamas has been trying to obtain access to funding from the United States, the EU, and other coutries that had been provided the Palestinian Authority.
Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya (Hamas) translates as the Islamic Resistance Movement. The Arabic acronym means "zeal".
Hamas was founded by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin during the First Interfada (1987). He was at the time head of the Gaza wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Hamas became known for its suicide bombings and other attacks on Israeli civilians, military and security forces. It was these attacks that led to the Isreali decession to build a security wall. The Hamas' charter was adopted the following year (1988).
Hamas in the charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic state in all of Palestine, including Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank.
Hamas rejects any peaceful or negotiated solution to the Isreali-palestinian conflict. Article 13 reads, "Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement. .... There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors." [Hamas]
Hamas strikes against Israel and charitable activities in Gaza and the West Bank have won it considerable support among Palestinians.
While corruption in Fatah has siphoned off aid funds, Hamas has built an extensive welfare programs, funding schools, orphanages, and healthcare clinics in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
There have always been an element of Islamic extremism within the Palestinian community. Under the Grand Mufti it became the dominant Palestinian appraoach. After World War II and the Isreali victory in the 1948-49 War, seculat elements that came to be led by Yassir rafsat became more domionant. Since the Oslon Peace process, Islamic extremism led by Hamas has become increasingly important. Some sources blame the Isreali occupation and the unwillingness to offer significant concssions for this development. This is one of those questions for which there is no way of providing a definitive assessment. The Isreali withdrawl from Lebanon and Gaza, however, suggest that comprpmise and concessions do not stem the growth of Islamic extremism. A strong case can be made for the position that Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements have not gained influence as a result of the occupation or at least the occupation alone. A strong case can be made that the rise in influence has resulted fromthe peace process itself. Islamicists seem to have succeeded in lsabeling those who participate in the process as traitors to the Palestinian movement. This in part explains their success in the 2006 election. This has allowed Islamicists to gain influence within extremists in Palestinian society as well as some moderates. It has also llowed them to garner support from Iran as well as Arab elemrents opposed to the peace process.
Hamas has been listed as a terrorist organization by Canada, the European Union, Israel, Japan, and the United States.
Hamas has obtained funding from Iran, Palestinian expatriates, benefactors in Saudi Arabia and other oil states. Sine the Palestinian elections (January 2006), Hamas has been trying to obtain access to funding from the United States, the EU, and other coutries that had been provided the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinians held their first democratic elections (2006). Notably it was one of the few democratic electins in the Arab world and it was conducted while Israel occupied the West Bank and still surrounded Gaza. The Palestinian people in the election essentially punished Fatah because of its corruption and its failure to achieve any gains with Israel.
Hamas' ideology led it to carry out a military coup against the Palestinian government. Hamas removed the Palestinian flags from the authority buildings and raised the Hamas flag.
Some charge that Hamas is io its way to becoming a Palestinian Taliban. Hamas appears intent on creating an Islamic state in Palestine.
Women in Gaza paraded to protest the threats they had received from radical Islamists (June 2007).
The women were working in the press and media. Islamists threatened to cut off the head of any media women who did not wear a hijab (head covering).
Erlanger, Steven. "Hamas seizes broad control in Gaza" International Herald Tribune (June 14, 2007).
Hamas. "The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement," (August 18, 1988).
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