HAMAS

Hamas

Hamas

Introduction

Radical Islamic organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the establishment of a fundamentalist Palestinian state from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. In addition to its armed struggle against Israel, Hamas is engaged in a wide range of charitable and sociocultural activities in the Gaza Strip and, to a lesser extent, the West Bank. The group's ideological hold on thousands of Palestinians, particularly disgruntled youth, guarantees its status as the single most powerful alternative to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (Hroub, 2000, pp: 15).

The name Hamas means “zeal” in Arabic and is an acronym for the Harakat al-Mqawama al-Islamiyya (Islamic Resistance Movement). The organization was founded in Palestine in December 1987 by Sheikh Ahmad Yassin as the Palestinian branch of a panIslamic movement called the Muslim Brotherhood. A few months after its founding, following a popular revolt against Israel (called the intifada), Hamas published its Islamic Covenant, which presented the organization's ideology and goals in detail.

Filled with quotes from the Koran, the Islamic Covenant established a holy war, or jihad, for the liberation of all of Palestine as the religious duty of every Muslim. Hamas explicitly opposes all attempts to solve the Palestinian conflict through diplomatic compromise, denouncing all peace initiatives as a waste of time and an exercise in futility (Hroub, 2000, pp: 18).

Discussion and Analysis

Historical Background

Hamas is a complex movement that is made up of a number of loosely connected elements with extremely different activities and priorities. Run by an internally elected committee, the group is invested in practically every aspect of Palestinian life. Inside the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, it is particularly well-known for the establishment of a wide network of mosques, clinics, hospitals, and schools. Outside these territories, and particularly in the Western world, the movement is associated primarily with its militant branch, the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades. This militant branch of Hamas has conducted numerous deadly attacks against all things associated with Israel, including military and civilian targets (Shaul, 2000, pp: 61).

The number of Hamas members is unknown, but its supporters and sympathizers are thought to run in the tens of thousands. The 2004 killings of Hamas cofounders Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantisi by Israeli helicopter rockets brought tens of thousands of Hamas supporters into the streets of Gaza in protest. In recent years, Hamas has seen an upsurge of popularity in the Palestinian-held territories as a result of their uncompromising stance on the Palestinian conflict with Israel (Carey, Carey, pp: 166).

The U.S. government estimates that Hamas has an annual budget of at least $50 million. Because of its support for social programs in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Hamas has received large amounts of money from a great variety of Islamic and Arab organizations, as well as from rich individuals. One of the basic tenets of Islam calls for every believer to give a portion of his or her income to charity, and Hamas benefits extensively from such donations coming from all over ...