Hamas (; acronym: , or Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya or "Islamic Resistance Movement"; the Arabic acronym means "zeal") is a Palestinian Sunni Islamist organization that currently (since January 2006) forms the majority party of the Palestinian National Authority."BBC NEWS" Hamas sweeps to election victory
Created in 1987 by Shaikh Ahmed Yassin of the Gaza wing of the Muslim Brotherhood at the beginning of the First Intifada, Hamas is known outside the Palestinian territories for its suicide bombings"Best known for the violence it launched against Israel through suicide bombings and rocket attacks... " (Murphy, John. Hamas aims for political might, The Baltimore Sun, January 22, 2006); "To the outside world, Hamas is best-known — infamous — for its reliance on suicide bombers." (Palestinian territories:Inside Hamas,PBS FRONTLINE:World, May 9, 2006); "Defined as a terrorist organization by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union because of its suicide attacks on Israeli civilians..." (Karon, Tony. , "Hamas Explained", Time Magazine, December 11, 2001); "Hamas is best known abroad for the scores of suicide bombings it has carried out and its commitment to the destruction of Israel." (Barzak, Ibrahim. "Israel blames Iran, Syria for bombings", ABC News, January 20, 2006, p. 2); "...the militant organization, best known abroad for its attacks against Israeli civilians..." (Musharbash, Yassin. "Could Victory be Undoing of Hamas", Der Spiegel, January 27, 2006); "Although Hamas is best known for its suicide attacks..." ("Palestinian Political Organizations", PBS FRONTLINE, April 4, 2002); "...is perhaps best known for its suicide bombings against Israeli targets." (Lynfield, Ben. Hamas gains grassroots edge, Christian Science Monitor, December 27, 2004); "...it was best known in Israel and abroad for the suicide attacks it used..." ("After the Hamas earthquake", The Guardian, January 27, 2006). and other attacks directed against Israeli civilians, as well as military and security forces targets. Hamas' charter (written in 1988 and still in effect) calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and its replacement with a Palestinian Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip."The Hamas charter calls for Israel to be destroyed and replaced by an Islamic state." Myre, Gred. "Israeli Official Says Hamas Has Made Abbas Irrelevant" The New York Times, February 27, 2006. "Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction" Dinnick, Wilf. "High-Stakes Political Poker: Forcing Hamas' Hand", ABC News, June 6, 2006."Hamas's charter uncompromisingly seeks Israel's destruction." "Palestinian Rivals: Fatah & Hamas", BBC News, May 25, 2006. The charter states: "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad.""The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)", MidEast Web, August 18, 1988; "The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement", The Avalon Project at Yale Law School, retrieved April 22, 2006. Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by Australia, Listing of Terrorist Organisations, Australian Government Attorney-General's Department, 27 January 2006. Accessed July 31, 2006. Canada,Keeping Canadians Safe, Public Security and Emergency Preparedness Canada, National Security, Listed entities. Accessed July 31, 2006."Hamas is listed as a terrorist group in the Criminal Code of Canada." Tibbetts, Janice. Canada shuts out Hamas ,The Montreal Gazette, March 30, 2006. the European Union,"Council Decision" Council of the European Union, December 21, 2005 Israel,The Financial Sources of the Hamas Terror Organization Japan,Japan's Diplomatic Bluebook 2005 states that it has frozen the assets of "terrorist organizations, including... Hamas." the United Kingdom,"UK Home Office" and the United States,"Country reports on terrorism", U.S. State Dept., April 27, 2005. and is banned in Jordan.Karmi, Omar. "What does the Hamas victory mean for nearby Jordan?", The Daily Star, February 18, 2006 According to the US State Department, the group is funded by Iran, Palestinian expatriates, and private benefactors in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states. Hamas ( Ḥamās, an acronym of Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamat al-Islāmiyyah, meaning "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Islamist socio-political organization, with a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades."Frequently Asked Questions About Hamas." ABCNews.com. May 15, 2009.* "This is particularly the case in view of the scholarly debate on the compatibility of Islam and democracy but even more so in view of Hamas's self-definition as an Islamic national liberation movement." The Palestinian Hamas: vision, violence, and coexistence, by Shaul Mishal & Avraham Sela, 2006, p. xxviii
; *In this way the PA has been able to control the economic activities of its political adversaries, including the Hamas and other Islamic opposition groups. Investment in peace: politics of economic cooperation between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority, by Shaul Mishal, Ranan D. Kuperman, David Boas, 2001, p. 85
; * "Hamas is a radical Islamic fundamentalist organization that has stated that its highest priority is a Jihad (holy war) for the liberation of Palestine ..." Peace and war: the Arab-Israeli military balance enters the 21st century, by Anthony H. Cordesman, 2002, p. 243
; * "One of the secrets behind the success of Hamas is that it is an Islamic and national movement at one and the same time ..." 'Hamas: Palestinian Identity, Islam, and National Sovereignty', by Meir Litvak, in Challenges to the cohesion of the Arabic State, by Asher Susser, 2008, p. 153. ; * "Hamas is an Islamic fundamentalist movement founded in 1987..." Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues, by Gus Martin, 2009, p. 153
; * "Hamas is an Islamic jihadist organization..." Why Israel Can't Wait: The Coming War Between Israel and Iran, by Jerome R. Corsi, 2009, p. 39. ; * "The Islamic Resistance Movement (Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islam- iyya), known by its acronym Hamas, is an Islamic fundamentalist organization which defines itself as the military wing of the Muslim Brethren." Anti-semitic motifs in the ideology of Hizballah and Hamas, by Esther Webman, 1994, p. 17. * "Understanding Islamism", Crisis Group Middle East/North Africa Report N°37, 2 March 2005 * * * The New Hamas: Between Resistance and Participation. Middle East Report. Graham Usher, August 21, 2005 * Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by a number of governments, including those of Israel, the European Union,EU blacklists Hamas political wing. BBC the United States,"Country reports on terrorism 2005", United States Department of State. Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism. US Dept. of State Publication 11324. April 2006. p 196 Canada and Japan.If HAMAS is a Terrorist Organization, What Does That Make Israel? Intifada: The Voice of Palestine. July 11, 2010
Based largely upon the principles of Islamic fundamentalism that were gaining momentum throughout the Arab world in the 1980s, Hamas was founded as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1987, during the First Intifada. Sheik Ahmed Yassin declared in 1987 that Hamas was founded for the purpose of Jihad, to liberate Palestine from Israeli opression and to establish an Islamic state "from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River."Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement), www.ict.org.il
The Hamas affiliated military wing is responsible for the majority of violence and killings attributed to Hamas and conducted numerous attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. Tactics have included rocket attacks and from April 1993, until they ceased in January 2005, suicide bombings. Hamas violence has been directed at Israel, Egypt, and rivaling Palestinian movements in the West Bank and Gaza.Hamas's Tactics: Lessons from Recent Attacks
In the January 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections Hamas won a decisive majority in the Palestinian Parliament, defeating the PLO-affiliated Fatah party. Following the elections, the United States and the EU halted financial assistance to the Hamas-led administration."The Gangs of Gaza", Newsweek, June 26, 2006. In March 2007 a national unity government, headed by Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas, was briefly formed, but this failed to restart international financial assistance.Hamas New York Times, June 18, 2010 " The pact did not succeed in restoring the flow of aid and did not last. Clashes between the two groups steadily escalated until gunmen loyal to Hamas took control of Gaza in June, ousting the remnants of Fatah."
Backgrounder: Hamas. Council of Foreign Relations. August 27, 2009 "In the summer of 2007, Hamas tensions with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Fatah man, came to a head and Hamas routed Fatah supporters, killing many and sending others fleeing to the West Bank. The result was a de facto geographic division of Palestinian-held territory, with Hamas holding sway in Gaza and Fatah maintaining the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank town of Ramallah." Tensions over control of Palestinian security forces soon erupted into the 2007 Battle of Gaza, after which Hamas retained control of Gaza while its officials were ousted from government positions in the West Bank. Israel and Egypt then imposed an economic blockade on Gaza, on the grounds that Fatah forces were no longer providing security there."Gaza faces economic disaster if blockade continues, U.N. official warns" International Herald Tribune
In June 2008, as part of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire, Hamas ceased rocket attacks on Israel and made some efforts to prevent attacks by other organizations.Gaza Rocket Attack Into Israel Kills a Thai Worker, The New York Times, By FARES AKRAM and ISABEL KERSHNER, March 18, 2010 After a four months calm, the conflict escalated when Israel carried out a military action with the stated aim to prevent an abduction planned by Hamas, using a tunnel that had been dug under the border security fence, killing seven Hamas operatives. In retaliation, Hamas attacked Israel with a massive barrage of rockets. In late December 2008, Israel attacked Gaza,Jpost January 19, 2009 Pool of 8 foreign journalists allowed into Gaza by Etgar Lefkovits withdrawing its forces from the territory in mid-January 2009."Israel withdraws its troops from Gaza" Times Online Hamas is governing the Gaza strip and the economic blockade is still in effect. Hamas's 1988 charter calls for replacing the State of Israel with a Palestinian Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip."Israeli Official Says Hamas Has Made Abbas Irrelevant" The New York Times, February 27, 2006 The charter identifies the conflict as a "struggle against the Jews".Terror Threat: International and Homegrown Terrorists and Their Threat to Canada, By Dwight Hamilton, Kostas Rimsa. Page 203 Hamas leaders later defined the conflict as political and not religious.Hamas offers truce, Al-Ahram Weekly, 21–27 October 1999, Issue No. 452"Haniyeh: Hamas willing to accept Palestinian state with 1967 borders", Amira Hass, Ha'aretz, 09/11/2008 In 2009, Khaled Meshal, Hamas's Damascus-based political bureau chief, stated Hamas's willingness to cooperate with "a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict which included a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders," provided that Palestinian refugees be given the right to return to Israel and that East Jerusalem be recognized as the new state's capital. Some journalists, scholars and advocacy groups believe that the Hamas Charter and statements by Hamas leaders use antisemitic rhetoric. Matthias Küntzel. "'Wipe out the jews': Anti-Semitic Hate Speech in the Name of Islam", Der Spiegel, May 16, 2008. Anti-Semitism at Core of Hamas Charter, Anti-Defamation League, February 27, 2006. Accessed April 17, 2007. Puder, Joseph. Levitt Can't Strike Hopeful Note About Hamas, The Bulletin, March 27, 2007. Etymology
Hamas is an acronym of the Arabic phrase حركة المقاومة الاسلامية, or Harakat al-Muqāwama al-Islāmiyya or "Islamic Resistance Movement". The Arabic word Hamas also means devotion and zeal in the path of Allah.Anti-semitic motifs in the ideology of Hizballah and Hamas, Esther Webman, Project for the Study of Anti-Semitism, 1994. ISBN 978-965-222-592-4 The Hamas covenant interprets its name to mean "strength and bravery."
Leadership and structure
thumb|Current leader, Khaled Meshaal
Hamas comprises three interrelated wings. The social welfare and political wings, which are responsible for the social, administrative, political, and propaganda activities of Hamas, and the military wing, which is engaged in covert activities, such as acting against suspected collaborators, gathering intelligence on potential targets, procuring weapons, and carrying out military attacks. Consultative councils
The Majlis al-Shura (consultative council) is the group's overarching political and decision making body. It includes representatives from Gaza, the West Bank, Israeli prisons, and the exiled external leadership, the Political Bureau, based in Damascus. Under this Shura council are committees responsible for supervising Hamas activities, from media relations to military operations. In the West Bank and Gaza, local Shura committees answer to the Shura council and carry out its decisions.Political Hardball Within Hamas: Hardline Militants Calling Shots in Gaza, By Matthew Levitt. January 6, 2009
Hamas's highest decision-making body is its Political Bureau, which consists of 15 members and operates in exile in Damascus, Syria. The bureau is elected by members who select their representatives in local Consultative Councils in specific geographic regions. The councils then nominate representatives to the General Consultative Council, and the Political Bureau is elected by members of the General Consultative Council. Military wing
The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing formed in 1992, is named in commemoration of influential Palestinian nationalist Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam. Armed Hamas cells sometimes refer to themselves as "Students of Ayyash", "Students of the Engineer", or "Yahya Ayyash Units",Kushner, Harvey W. (2002). Encyclopedia of Terrorism, p.160 Sage Publications, ISBN 0-7619-2408-6 to commemorate Yahya Ayyash, an early Hamas bomb-maker killed in 1996. Since its establishment, the military capability of Hamas has increased markedly, from rifles to Qassam rockets and more.[Hamas's Tactics: Lessons from Recent Attacks], By Jamie Chosak and Julie Sawyer. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. October 19, 2005
While the number of members is known only to the Brigades leadership, Israel estimates the Brigades have a core of several hundred members who receive extensive military training. Additionally, the brigades have an estimated 10,000 operatives "of varying degrees of skill and professionalism" who are members of Hamas or their supporters and the internal security forces. These operatives can be expected to reinforce the Brigades in an "emergency situation".The HAMAS Terror Organization - 2007 update Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs According to the Australian government, the group engages in military style training, including training in Iran and Syria. Hamas's Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades
Although the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades are an integral part of Hamas, they also operate independently of Hamas, and at times contrary to Hamas' stated aims.al-Qassam Brigades: Details of the organisation Australian Government National Security September 15, 2009 Most analysts agree that although differences of opinion between the Hamas military and political wing exist, Hamas’s internal discipline is strong enough to contain them.Who controls Hamas - Haniya or Mashaal?, The Sunday Times, BY Stephen Farrell in Gaza and Nicholas Blanford, July 10, 2006 Political scientists Ilana Kass and Bard O'Neill liken Hamas's relationship with the Brigades to the Northern Ireland political party Sinn Féin's relationship to the military arm of the Irish Republican Army.The deadly embrace: the impact of Israeli and Palestinian rejectionism on the peace process University Press of America, Ilana Kass & Bard E. O'Neill, 1997, p. 267 To further explain the relationship, they quote a senior Hamas official: "The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade is a separate armed military wing, which has its own leaders who do not take their orders from [Hamas] and do not tell us of their plans in advance." However, according to former U.S. Department of Treasury official and terrorism expert Matthew Levitt, the Hamas Political Bureau operates as the highest ranking leadership body determining the policy of the Hamas organization and has responsibility for directing and coordinating terrorist acts. Hamas’ founder, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, stated in 1998: "We can not separate the wing from the body. If we do so, the body will not be able to fly. Hamas is one body." Grass Roots Terrorism: How Hamas’ Structure Defines a Policy of CounterterrorismHamas from Cradle to Grave
Social welfare wing
Hamas is particularly popular among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, though it also has a following in the West Bank, and to a lesser extent in other Middle Eastern countries. Its popularity stems in part from its welfare wing providing social services to Palestinians in the occupied territories, including school and hospital construction. Hamas devotes up to 90% of its estimated $70 million annual budget to an extensive social services network, running many relief and education programs, and funds schools, orphanages, mosques, healthcare clinics, soup kitchens, and sports leagues. Such services aren't generally provided by the Palestinian government. "Hamas" – Council on Foreign Relations. Updated January 7, 2009
Books: Kingdom of God The New Statesman May 7, 2007; "Using Israeli estimates, [Matthew Levitt, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy] reckons Hamas probably has an annual budget of between $70m and $90m, 80 to 85 per cent of which it spends on its political work and its extensive networks of schools, clinics and welfare organisations, while 15 to 20 per cent goes on military operations."
In particular, Hamas funded health services where people could receive free or inexpensive medical treatment. Hamas greatly contributed to the health sector, and facilitated hospital and physician services in the Palestinian territory. On the other hand, Hamas’s use of hospitals is sometimes criticised as purportedly serving the promotion of violence against Israel.Emerson, Steven. "Why Does The New York Times Love Hamas?" Steven Emerson. January 6, 2009. November 14, 2009. The party is also known to support families of those who have been killed (including suicide bombers), wounded or imprisoned by Israel, including providing a monthly allowance of $100. Families of militants not affiliated with Hamas receive slightly less. Hamas has funded education as well as the health service, and built Islamic charities, libraries, mosques, education centers for women. They also built nurseries, kindergartens and supervised religious schools that provide free meals to children. When children attend their schools and mosques, parents are required to sign oaths of allegiance. Refugees, as well as those left without homes, are able to claim financial and technical assistance from Hamas.Peter Hilsenrath
The work of Hamas in these fields supplements that provided by the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA). Hamas is also well regarded by Palestinians for its efficiency and perceived lack of corruption compared to Fatah. Since the 2008–2009 Israeli military operation in Gaza, Palestinian public opinion polls have shown Hamas steadily increasing in popularity with 52% support compared to 13% for Fatah. All public opinion surveys conducted recently have supported this trend. Despite building materials needing to be smuggled into the territory, luxury beach resorts and tourist facilities operated by the interior ministry have been constructed by Hamas government linked charities which include gardens, playgrounds, football fields, a zoo and restaurants aimed to provide employment and low cost entertainment for citizens. Some Palestinians have complained about the admission fee, criticizing Hamas for charging them to use "government-owned" property. Goals
thumb|right|A flag, with the Shahadah, frequently used by Hamas supporters Proportions: 9:16
Hamas's 1988 charter calls for the replacement of Israel and the Palestinian Territories with an Islamic Palestinian state. After the elections in 2006, Hamas co-founder Mahmoud Al-Zahar did not rule out the possibility of accepting a "temporary two-state solution", and stated that he dreamed "of hanging a huge map of the world on the wall at my Gaza home which does not show Israel on it." Xinhua reports that Al-Zahar "did not rule out the possibility of having Jews, Muslims and Christians living under the sovereignty of an Islamic state." In late 2006, Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, said that if a Palestinian state was formed within the 1967 lines, Hamas was willing to declare a truce that could last as long as 20 years, and stated that Hamas will never recognize the "usurper Zionist government" and will continue "jihad-like movement until the liberation of Jerusalem"."Haniyeh calls for formation of Palestinian state on 1967 lines." Haaretz. December 19, 2006. In an April 2008 meeting between Hamas leader Khaled Meshal and former US President Jimmy Carter, an understanding was reached in which Hamas agreed it would respect the creation of a Palestinian state in the territory seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, provided this were ratified by the Palestinian people in a referendum. Hamas later publicly offered a long-term truce with Israel if Israel agreed to return to its 1967 borders and grant the "right of return" to all Palestinian refugees. In November 2008, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh re-stated that Hamas was willing to accept a Palestinian state within the 1949 armistice lines, and offered Israel a long-term truce "if Israel recognized the Palestinians' national rights."Hamas willing to accept Palestinian state with 1967 borders Haaretz November 15, 2008
Israel has rejected some truce offers by Hamas because it contends the group uses them to prepare for more fighting rather than peace.Israel rejects Gaza ceasefire The Guardian (UK), April 25, 2008 Atlantic magazine columnist Jeffrey Goldberg, along with other analysts, believes Hamas may be incapable of permanent reconciliation with Israel.In Gaza, Hamas's Insults to Jews Complicate Peace – New York Times“Nizar Rayyan of Hamas on God's Hatred of Jews”, The Atlantic, (January 2, 2009). Mkhaimer Abusada, a political scientist at Al Azhar University writes that Hamas talks "of hudna [temporary ceasefire], not of peace or reconciliation with Israel. They believe over time they will be strong enough to liberate all historic Palestine.”
On 1 December 2010, Ismail Haniyeh said that "Hamas will respect the results (of a referendum) regardless of whether it differs with its ideology and principles""Hamas vows to honor Palestinian referendum on peace with Israel." Reuters 1 December 2010. and that "We accept a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the resolution of the issue of refugees."Haaretz, 2010 Dec. 1, "Hamas Vows to Honor Palestinian Referendum on Peace with Israel; Islamist Leader Ismail Haniyeh Says He Would Accept a Deal with Israel Based on 1967 Borders and Denies that Gaza has Become a Stronghold for Al-Qaida," http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-vows-to-honor-palestinian-referendum-on-peace-with-israel-1.328234
Charter
The Hamas Charter (or Covenant), issued in 1988, outlines the organization's position on many issues, and identifies 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 "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.The Palestinian Hamas By Shaul Mishal, Avraham Sela. Retrieved February 9, 2009. The charter also states that Hamas is humanistic, and tolerant of other religions as long as they do not block Hamas's efforts.Article 31 of the Hamas Charter (1988) Yale Law School: The Avalon Project
The Charter also asserts that through shrewd manipulation of imperial countries and secret societies, Zionists were behind a wide range of events and disasters going as far back in history as the French Revolution. Among the charter's controversial statements is the following: "The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews [and kill them]; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: Oh Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!” The document also quotes Islamic religious texts to provide justification for fighting against and killing the Jews of Israel. presenting the Arab-Israeli conflict as an inherently irreconcilable struggle between Jews and Muslims, and Judaism and Islam, adding that the only way to engage in this struggle between "truth and falsehood" is through Islam and by means of jihad, until victory or martyrdom. The Charter adds that "renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion" of Islam. As for the current status of the charter, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal indicated to Robert Pastor, senior adviser to the Carter Center, that it is "a piece of history and no longer relevant, but cannot be changed for internal reasons."Mazin Qumsiyeh on the History and Practice Of Nonviolent Palestinian Resistance Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, May–June 2010, pp. 40-42 British diplomat and former British ambassador to the UN Sir Jeremy Greenstock stated in early 2009 that the Hamas charter was "drawn up by a Hamas-linked imam some [twenty] years ago and has never been adopted since Hamas was elected as the Palestinian government in 2006". Mohammed Nimer of American University comments on the Charter, “It’s a tract meant to mobilize support and it should be amended... It projects anger, not vision.”Prospects for Peace Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July 2009, pp. 53-54 Pastor states that those who quote the charter rather than more recent Hamas statements may be using the Charter as an excuse to ignore Hamas. History
Early Islamic activism in Gaza
With its takeover of Gaza after the 1967 war with Egypt, Israel hunted down secular Palestinian Liberation Organization factions but dropped the previous Egyptian rulers' harsh restrictions against Islamic activists. In fact, Israel for many years tolerated and at times encouraged Islamic activists and groups as a counterweight to the secular nationalists of the PLO and its dominant faction, Fatah.Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad Matthew Levitt & Dennis Ross, Yale University Press, 2007, p. 24. “Scholars and historians on both sides . . . agree that from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s the [Muslim] Brotherhood benefited from the Israeli government's support of non-violent Islamist Palestinian factions, believing these groups would function as a useful counterweight to the secular nationalist Palestinian groups . . .”
Among the activists benefited was Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza, who had also formed the Islamist group Mujama al-Islamiya, a charity recognized by Israel in 1979. Israel allowed the organization to build mosques, clubs, schools, and a library in Gaza. Yitzhak Segev, the acting governor of Gaza in 1979, said he had no illusions about Yassin's intentions, having watched an Islamist movement topple the Shah as Israel's military attache in Iran. According to Segev, Yassin and his charity were completely peaceful towards Israel during this time, and Segev and other Israeli officials feared being viewed as an enemy of Islam. Segev maintained regular contact with Yassin, met with him around a dozen times, and arranged for Yassin to be taken to Israel for hospital treatment. Also, Segev said, Fatah was "our main enemy." Islamists frequently attacked secular and leftist Palestinian movements, including Fatah, but the Israeli military avoided getting involved in those quarrels. It stood aside, for example, when Mujama al-Islamiya activists stormed the Red Crescent charity's headquarters in Gaza, but Segev did send soldiers to prevent the burning down of the home of the head of the organization. In 1984 the Israeli army received intelligence that Sheikh Yassin's followers were collecting arms in Gaza. Israeli troops raided mosques and found a cache of weapons. Yassin was arrested, but told his interrogators the weapons were meant to be used against secular Palestinians, not Israel. The cleric was released a year later and allowed to continue to develop his movement in Gaza. Around the time of Yassin's arrest, Avner Cohen, an Israeli religious affairs official, sent a report to senior military officers and civilian leadership in Gaza advising them of the dangers of the Islamic movement, but this report and similar ones were ignored. Former military intelligence officer Shalom Harari said the warnings were ignored out of neglect, not a desire to fortify the Islamists: "Israel never financed Hamas. Israel never armed Hamas." In contrast, French investigative newspaper Le Canard enchaîné writes that Shin Bet also supported Hamas as an attempt to give "a religious slant" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to make the West believe that it was essentially between Jews and Muslims.Les très secrètes 'relations' Israël-Hamas (The very secret Israel-Hamas 'relations'), Le Canard Enchaîné, February 1, 2006 (issue n°4449)
Establishment
In 1987, several Palestinians were killed in a traffic accident involving an Israeli driver, and the events that followed – a Palestinian uprising (now known as the First Intifada) against Israel's West Bank and Gaza occupation – led Yassin and six other Palestinians to found Hamas as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood movement. The new group was supported by Brotherhood-affiliated charities and social institutions that had already gained a strong foothold in the occupied territories. The acronym "Hamas" first appeared in 1987 in a leaflet that accused the Israeli intelligence services of undermining the moral fiber of Palestinian youth as part of Mossad's recruitment of what Hamas termed collaborators. Nonetheless, Israeli military and intelligence was still focused on Fatah, and continued to maintain contacts with Gaza's Islamic activists. Numerous Islamist leaders, including senior Hamas founder Mahmoud Zahar, met with Yitzhak Rabin as part of "regular consultations" between Israeli officials and Palestinians not linked to the PLO. Hamas carried out its first attack against Israel in 1989, abducting and killing two soldiers. The Israel Defense Forces immediately arrested Yassin and sentenced him to life in prison, and deported 400 Hamas activists, including Zahar, to South Lebanon, which at the time was occupied by Israel. During this time Hamas built a relationship with Hezbollah. The 1990s
Hamas's military branch, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was created in 1991.Martyrdom, Not Suicide: The Legality of Hamas' Bombings in the Mid-1990s in Modern Islamic Jurisprudence By M.A. Philipp Holtmann, p. 13 During the 1990s the al-Qassam Brigades conducted numerous attacks against civilians and the Israeli military. From April 1993 these included suicide bombings, for which Hamas became well-known internationally.For suicide attacks, sources include:
"To the outside world, Hamas is best-known — infamous — for its reliance on suicide bombers." (Palestinian territories:Inside Hamas, PBS Frontline: World, May 9, 2006)
"...the militant organization, best known abroad for its attacks against Israeli civilians..." (Musharbash, Yassin. "Could Victory be Undoing of Hamas", Der Spiegel, January 27, 2006)
"...it was best known in Israel and abroad for the suicide attacks it used..." ("After the Hamas earthquake", The Guardian, January 27, 2006). A major motivation for Hamas’s decision to use suicide attacks as its primary modus operandi was the February 1994 massacre by Baruch Goldstein of 30 Muslims in a Hebron mosque.Martyrdom, Not Suicide: The Legality of Hamas' Bombings in the Mid-1990s in Modern Islamic Jurisprudence By M.A. Philipp Holtmann, p. 16
In December 1992 Israel responded to the killing of a border police officer by deporting 415 leading figures of Hamas and Islamic Jihad to Lebanon, which provoked international condemnation and a unanimous UN Security Council resolution condemning the action.For Arabs in Israel, a house is not a home by Edward Platt, New Statesman, August 30, 2010Inside Hamas: the untold story of militants, martyrs and spies By Zaki Chehab, p. 115
Although the suicide attacks by the al-Qassam Brigades and other groups violated the 1993 Oslo accords (which Hamas opposedChronology for Palestinians in Israel The UN Refugee Agency, 2004), Palestinian Authority President Yasir Arafat was reluctant to pursue the attackers and may have had inadequate means to do so.The Palestinian people: a history By Baruch Kimmerling & Joel S. Migdal, pp. 372-373 Some analysts state that the Palestinian Authority could have stopped the suicide and other attacks on civilians but refused to do so.Karsh, Efraim. Arafat's War: The Man and His Battle for Israeli Conquest. New York: Grove Press, 2003. p. 216. According to the Congressional Research Service, Hamas admitted to having executed Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israeli authorities in the 1990s. A transcript of a training film by the al-Qassam Brigades tells how Hamas operatives kidnapped Palestinians accused of collaboration and then forced confessions before executing them. In 1996, Yahya Ayash, the chief bombmaker of Hamas and the leader of the West Bank battalion of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was assassinated by the Israeli secret service.Katz, Samuel. The Hunt for the Engineer. Lyons Press, 2002. ISBN 1-58574-749-1, p. 256
In September 1997, Israeli agents in Jordan attempted but failed to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, leading to chilled relations between the two countries and release of Sheikh Yassin, Hamas’s spiritual leader, from Israeli prison. Two years later Hamas was banned in Jordan, reportedly in part at the request of the United States, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority."Jordan curbs Hamas", The Guardian, November 22, 1999 Jordan's King Abdullah feared the activities of Hamas and its Jordanian allies would jeopardize peace negotiations with Israel, and accused Hamas of engaging in illegitimate activities within Jordan.Hamas Leader Khaled Mashaal Time, January 4, 2009Jordan: Whether Hamas persecute, kidnap, torture or abuse with impunity Jordanian citizens who disagree with its methods, policies and ideology Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 25 October 2000, JOR35666.E, accessed 28 September 2010 In mid-September 1999, authorities arrested Hamas leaders Khaled Mashaal and Ibrahim Ghosheh on their return from a visit to Iran, and charged them with being members of an illegal organization, storing weapons, conducting military exercises, and using Jordan as a training base.Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad, by Matthew Levitt, Dennis Ross. Yale University Press, 2007. p.45 Hamas leaders denied the charges. Mashaal was exiled and eventually settled in Syria. Second Intifada
|left|thumb|220px|August 2001 Sbarro pizza restaurant bombing in Jerusalem, in which 15 Israeli civilians were killed. Hamas said the attack was in response to Israel's assassination of its officials, including two senior leaders.Who carried out suicide bombing? The Guardian, August 10, 2001
Al-Qassam Brigades militants were among the armed groups that launched both military-style attacks and suicide bombings against Israeli civilian and military targets during the Second Intifada (also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada (, Intifāat El Aqa; , Intifādat El-Aqtzah), which began in late September, 2000. This Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule in the occupied territories was much more violent than the First Intifada. The military and civilian death toll is estimated at 5500 Palestinians and more than 1100 Israelis, as well as 64 foreigners.B'Tselem – Statistics – Fatalities, B'Tselem. A 2007 study of Palestinian suicide bombings during the second intifada (September 2000 through August 2005) found that about 40 percent were carried out by the al-Qassam Brigades.Human Capital and the Productivity of Suicide Bombers pdf Journal of Economic Perspectives Volume 21, Number 3, Summer 2007. Pages 223–238
The immediate trigger for the uprising is disputed, but a more general cause, writes U.S. political science professor Jeremy Pressman, was “popular Palestinian discontent [that] grew during the Oslo peace process because the reality on the ground did not match the expectations created by the peace agreements.”The Second Intifada: Background and Causes of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Jeremy Pressman, Fall 2003 (pdf) Hamas would be the beneficiary of this growing discontent in the 2006 Palestinian Authority legislative elections. In January 2004, Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said that the group would end armed resistance against Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem, and that restoring Palestinians' "historical rights" (relating to the 1948 Palestinian exodus) "would be left for future generations."Running out of time Al-Ahram Weekly January 29 – February 4, 2004 On January 25, 2004, senior Hamas official Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi offered a 10-year truce, or hudna, in return for the establishment of a Palestinian state and the complete withdrawal by Israel from the territories captured in the 1967 Six Day War. Al-Rantissi stated that Hamas had come to the conclusion that it was "difficult to liberate all our land at this stage, so we accept a phased liberation."Israel rejects 'insincere' Hamas offer of 10-year truce The Independent January 27, 2004 Israel immediately dismissed al-Rantissi's statements as insincere and a smokescreen for military preparations. Yassin was assassinated on March 22, 2004, by a targeted Israeli air strike,Fury as Gaza buries Hamas leader BBCNews April 19, 2004 and al-Rantisi was assassinated by a similar air strike on April 18, 2004.Hamas chief killed in air strike BBCNews March 22, 2004
2006 presidential and legislative elections
While Hamas boycotted the 2005 Palestinian presidential election, it did participate in the 2005 municipal elections organized by Yasser Arafat in the occupied territories. In those elections it won control of over one third of Palestinian municipal councils, besting Fatah, which had for long been the biggest force in Palestinian politics. In its election manifesto for the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas omitted a call for an end to Israel, though it did still call for armed struggle against the occupation. Hamas won the 2006 elections, winning 76 of the 132 seats to Fatah's 43.Hamas Routs Ruling Faction, Casting Pall on Peace Process, The New York Times, January 27, 2006 Seen by many as primarily a rejection of the Fatah government's corruption and ineffectiveness, the Hamas victory seemingly had brought to an end 40 years of PLO domination of Palestinian politics.Kristen Ess. "Why Hamas Won" ZNet. Palestine, January 31, 2006. In early February, 2006, Hamas offered Israel a 10-year truce "in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories: the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem,""Who are Hamas?" BBC News, January 27, 2007 and recognition of Palestinian rights including the "right of return."Peace with Israel for withdrawal to ’67 borders, ynetnews March 3, 2006 Mashal added that Hamas was not calling for a final end to armed operations against Israel, and it would not impede other Palestinian groups from carrying out such operations. After the election, the Quartet on the Middle East (the United States, Russia, the European Union (EU), and the United Nations) stated that assistance to the Palestinian Authority would only continue if Hamas renounced violence, recognized Israel, and accepted previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements, which Hamas refused to do. The Quartet then imposed a freeze on all international aid to the Palestinian territories.Palestinian sanctions to remain BBC, March 20, 2007
In 2006 after the Gaza election, Hamas leader sent a letter adressed to George Bush where he among other things declared that Hamas would accept a state on the 1967 borders including a truce. However, the Bush administration didnt reply. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/in-2006-letter-to-bush-haniyeh-offered-compromise-with-israel-1.257213
Hamas-Fatah conflict
After the formation of the Hamas-led cabinet on March 20, 2006, tensions between Fatah and Hamas militants progressively rose in the Gaza strip as Fatah commanders refused to take orders from the government while the Palestinian Authority initiated a campaign of demonstrations, assassinations and abductions against Hamas which led to Hamas responding.The Proof Is in the Paper Trail Israeli intelligence warned Mahmoud Abbas that Hamas had planned to kill him at his office in Gaza. According to a Palestinian source close to Abbas, Hamas considers president Abbas to be a barrier to its complete control over Palestine and decided to kill him. In a statement to Al Jazeera, Hamas leader Mohammed Nazzal, accused Abbas of being party to besieging and isolating the Hamas-led government.Mahnaimi, Uzi. Israel foils plot to kill Palestinian president, The Sunday Times, May 7, 2006
On June 9, 2006, during an Israeli artillery operation, an explosion occurred on a busy Gaza beach, killing eight Palestinian civilians. It was assumed that Israeli shellings were responsible for the killings, but Israeli government officials denied this. Hamas formally withdrew from its 16-month ceasefire on June 10, taking responsibility for the subsequent Qassam rocket attacks launched from Gaza into Israel. 160px|right|thumb|Hostage Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit on Hamas poster
On June 25, two Israeli soldiers were killed and another, Gilad Shalit, abducted following a joint incursion by Fatah, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas. In response, the Israeli military launched Operation Summer Rains three days later, to secure the release of the kidnapped soldier,"Operation Summer Rains", Federation of American Scientists arresting 64 Hamas officials. Among them were 8 Palestinian Authority cabinet ministers and up to 20 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, The arrests, along with other events, effectively prevented the Hamas-dominated legislature from functioning during most of its term. On February 2007 Saudi-sponsored negotiations in Mecca produced agreement on a signed by Mahmoud Abbas on behalf of Fatah and Khaled Mashal on behalf of Hamas. The new government was called on to achieve Palestinian national goals as approved by the Palestine National Council, the clauses of the Basic Law and the National Reconciliation Document (the "Prisoners' Document") as well as the decisions of the Arab summit. In March 2007, the Palestinian Legislative Council established a national unity government, with 83 representatives voting in favor and three against. Government ministers were sworn in by Mahmoud Abbas, the chairman on the Palestinian Authority, in at a ceremony held simultaneously in Gaza and Ramallah. In June that year, renewed fighting broke out between Hamas and Fatah.The Gaza Bombshell In the course of the June 2007 Battle of Gaza, Hamas exploited the near total collapse of Palestinian Authority forces in Gaza, to retain The "Gaza War". (PDF) . Retrieved on 2010-08-21. control of Gaza, ousting Fatah officials. President Mahmoud Abbas then dismissed the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government.What Happens After Hamas Wins? Time and outlawed the Hamas militia.CNN – Abbas outlaws Hamas militia forces At least 600 Palestinians died in fighting between Hamas and Fatah. Human Rights Watch, a U.S.-based group, accused both sides in the conflict of torture and war crimes.Fatah supporters surrender to Hamas The Guardian (UK), June 13, 2007
Human Rights Watch estimates several hundred Gazans were "maimed" and tortured in the aftermath of the Gaza War. 73 Gazan men accused of "collaborating" had their arms and legs broken by "unidentified perpetrators" and 18 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel, who had escaped from Gaza’s main prison compound after Israel bombed the facility, were executed by Hamas security officials in the first days of the conflict.Under Cover of War|Human Rights Watch. Hrw.org (2009-04-20). Retrieved on 2010-08-21.B'Tselem - Violations of the human rights of Palestinians by Palestinians - Severe human rights violations in inter-Palestinian clashes. Btselem.org (2007-11-12). Retrieved on 2010-08-21. Hamas security forces reportedly shot and tortured Palestinians who opposed Hamas rule in Gaza and openly supported Israel's attack. One victim, recovering from multiple gunshot wounds in the leg, told Human Rights Watch he was "so happy they bombed that I was giving out sweets.”
In another case, a Palestinian had criticized Hamas in a conversation on the street with some friends. Later that day, more than a dozen armed men with black masks and red kaffiyeh took the man from his home, and brought him to a solitary area where they shot him three times in the lower legs and ankles. The man told Human Rights Watch that he was not politically active. Hamas security forces attacked hundreds Fatah officials who supported Israel. Human Rights Watch interviewed one such person:
Gaza War
On June 17, 2008, Egyptian mediators announced that an informal truce had been agreed to between Hamas and Israel.Israel, Hamas Agree on Gaza Strip Truce Washington Post, June 18, 2008 Hamas agreed to cease rocket attacks on Israel, while Israel agreed to allow limited commercial shipping across its border with Gaza, barring any breakdown of the tentative peace deal; Hamas also hinted that it would discuss the release of Gilad Shalit.Israel agrees to Gaza ceasefire BBC News Israeli sources state that Hamas also committed itself to enforce the ceasefire on the other Palestinian organizations.Six Months of the Lull Arrangement Intelligence Report (PDF) Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC) December 31, 2008
left|thumb|Damage to a Beersheba kindergarten from a Grad rocket fired from Gaza
While Hamas was careful to maintain the ceasefire, the lull was sporadically violated by other groups, sometimes in defiance of Hamas.Hamas: Continued rocket fire by Fatah armed group harms Palestinian interests Haaretz. Avi Isacharoff and Yuval Azoulay. June 29, 2008Hamas arrests militants after rocket fire Reuters. July 10, 2008 For example, on June 24 Islamic Jihad launched rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot; Israel called the attack a grave violation of the informal truce, and closed its border crossings with Gaza.Israel closes Gaza after rockets BBC, June 25, 2008 On November 4, 2008 Israeli forces, in an attempt to stop construction of a tunnel, killed six Hamas gunmen in a raid inside the Gaza Strip.Gaza truce broken as Israeli raid kills six Hamas gunmen, The Guardian, November 5, 2008.Why Israel went to war in Gaza, The Guardian, January 4, 2008. Hamas responded by resuming rocket attacks, a total of 190 rockets in November according to Israel's military. With the six-month truce officially expired on December 19, Hamas launched 50 to more than 70 rockets and mortars into Israel over the next three days, though no Israelis were injured. On December 21, Hamas said it was ready to stop the attacks and renew the truce if Israel stopped its "aggression" in Gaza and opened up its border crossings.Why Israel Attacked Time magazine – December 27, 2008
On December 27 and 28, Israel implemented Operation Cast Lead against Hamas. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said "We warned Hamas repeatedly that rejecting the truce would push Israel to aggression against Gaza." According to Palestinian officials, over 280 people were killed and 600 were injured in the first two days of airstrikes.Civilian death toll rises after second day of air strikes The Guardian (UK), December 29, 2008 Most were Hamas police and security officers, though many civilians also died. According to Israel, militant training camps, rocket-manufacturing facilities and weapons warehouses that had been pre-identified were hit, and later they attacked rocket and mortar squads who fired around 180 rockets and mortars at Israeli communities.Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill more than 200 msnbc.com, 28 December 2008 Chief of Gaza police force Tawfiq Jabber, head of the General Security Service Salah Abu Shrakh,IAF kills Hamas strongman Siam - Confronting Hamas, Jerusalem Post senior religious authority and security officer Nizar Rayyan, and Interior Minister Said Seyam were among those killed during the fighting. Although Israel sent out thousands of cell-phone messages urging residents of Gaza to leave houses where weapons may be stored, in an attempt to minimise civilian casualties, some residents complained there was nowhere to go because many neighborhoods had received the same message.Warnings Not Enough for Gaza Families New York Times, January 5, 2009Israel Deepens Gaza Incursion as Toll Mounts New York Times, January 5, 2009 Israeli bombs landed close to civilian structures such as schools, and some alleged that Israel was deliberately targeting Palestinian civilians.Israel accused of war crimes over 12-hour assault on Gaza village The Guardian January 18, 2009
Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire on January 17, 2009. Hamas responded the following day by announcing a one week ceasefire to give Israel time to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip. Israeli, Palestinian, and third-party sources disagreed on the total casualty figures from the Gaza war, and the number of Palestinian casualties who were civilians.Israel, Hamas probes on Gaza violations 'inadequate' Agence France Presse, hosted by Yahoo News, September 21, 2010Hamas releases second response to Goldstone Report Palestine Note, July 28, 2010 "...approximately 1,400 Palestinians were killed according to the Hamas government and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. The Israeli army puts the number at 1,166." In November 2010, a senior Hamas official acknowledged that up to 300 fighters were killed and "In addition to them, between 200 and 300 fighters from the Al-Qassam Brigades and another 150 security forces were martyred." These new numbers reconcile the total with those of the Israeli military, which originally said were 709 "terror operatives" killed.Hamas says 300 Fighters Killed in Gaza war November 1, 2010Jerusalem Post- Hamas confirms losses in Cast Lead for first time
After the Gaza War
On August 16, 2009, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal stated that the organization is ready to open dialogue with the Obama administration because its policies are much better than those of former US president George W. Bush: "As long as there's a new language, we welcome it, but we want to see not only a change of language, but also a change of policies on the ground. We have said that we are prepared to cooperate with the US or any other international party that would enable the Palestinians to get rid of occupation." Despite this, an August 30, 2009 speech during a visit to JordanSpeech of Khaled Meshaal August 30, 2009 (rough automated translation from Arabic) in which Mashaal expressed support for the Palestinian right of return was interpreted by David Pollock of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy as a sign that "Hamas has now clearly opted out of diplomacy."Pollock, David. "Rejectionists Readying to Counter U.S. Peace Push." Washington Institute for Near East Policy. September 1, 2009. In an interview on May 2010, Mashaal said that if a Palestinian state with real sovereignty was established under the conditions he set out, on the borders of 1967 with its capital Jerusalem and with the right of return, that will be the end of the Palestinian resistance, and then the nature of any subsequent ties with Israel would be decided democratically by the Palestinians.Video interview of Khaled Meshal by Charlie Rose, May 28, 2010 Click on small "transcript" link at top of comments section to view transcript; scroll up to view video.Hamas renews offer to end fight if Israel withdraws Reuters, May 30, 2010. In July 2009, Khaled Meshal, Hamas's political bureau chief, stated Hamas's willingness to cooperate with a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict which included a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, provided that Palestinian refugees be given the right to return to Israel and that East Jerusalem be recognized as the new state's capital. Funding
the Council on Foreign Relations estimates Hamas's annual budget at $70 million. In the late 1980s, 10% of all Hamas funding came Iran. In the early 2000's the largest backer of Hamas was Saudi Arabia, with over 50% of its funds coming from that country,Flow of Saudis' Cash to Hamas Is Scrutinized New York Times mainly through Islamic charity organizations. An earlier estimate by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimated a $50 million annual budget, mostly supplied by private charitable associations but with $12 million supplied directly by Gulf states, primarily Saudi Arabia, and a further $3 million from Iran. In 2002, a Saudi Arabian charity, the Saudi Council to Support the Palestinian Intefada run by the Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz stated the council will give the families of 102 Hamas militants killed, including eight suicide bombers, $5,340 each.http://eufunding.org.uk/terror/FundingEvil.pdfIPR Strategic Business Information Database. Saudi Arabia: charity to support al Aqsa uprising. February 2, 2002
Saudi owned al-Taqwa Bank has been identified of holding money for Hamas as early as 1997. Jamie C. Zarate, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department, told Congress that 60 million was moved to Hamas accounts with al-Taqwa bank. The Al Taqwa bank has also been used to launder funds for Al Qaeda.Matthew A. Levitt, testimony before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, “Role of Charitiesand NGOs in Terrorist Financing,” August 1, 2002.The Financial Sources of the Hamas Terror Organization - July 2003 Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)Hamas Funding ‘’GlobalSecurity.org’’ The funding by Saudi Arabia continued despite Saudi pledges to stop funding groups such as Hamas that have used violence, and its recent denouncements of Hamas' lack of unity with Fatah. According to the US State Department, Hamas is funded by Iran, Palestinian expatriates, and "private benefactors in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states." Saudi spokesman Adel Al Jubeir said that “no Saudi government money goes to Hamas, directly or indirectly.” He added that it “very likely” that “some Saudi individuals” have provided financial support to Hamas. Iran provided Hamas with approximately $30 US million annually from 1993 – 2006. More recent assessments indicate that Iranian funding has increased significantly between 2006-2009, to hundreds of millions of Euros per year. After 2009, sanctions on Iran have made funding difficult, forcing Hamas instead to rely on religious donations by those in the West Bank, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.The Iran-Hamas Alliance, In Focus Quarterly, by Meyrav Wurmser, Fall 2007Hamas receives blow to wallet, Intelligence Online, April 22, 2010. In 2004, reports citing unidentified U.S. and Israeli intelligence officials have indicated that Saudi funding for Hamas has been curtailed and replaced by other regional sponsors. In June 2004 testimony before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, former Treasury Department General Counsel David Aufhauser quoted “informed intelligence sources” as saying that “for whatever reason, the money going to Hamas from Saudi Arabia has substantially dried up.” Aufhauser indicated that Saudi financial support “has been supplemented by money from Iran and Syria flowing through even more dangerous rejectionist groups in the West Bank.” Similarly, Israeli daily Maariv quoted in 2004 an unidentified Israeli military official as saying that “for the first time in years the Saudis have begun to reduce the flow of funds to Hamas and to the Gaza Strip.” This source attributes this change largely to U.S. pressure on Saudi Arabia to stem the flow of funding to Hamas and other terrorist organizations. According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), another reported funding source for Hamas are alleged ties to drug trafficking organizations through the 21,000 Arabs of Palestinian and Lebanese descent who live in the Foz do Iguaçu area of the tri-border region of Latin America. According to Paraguayan Interior Minister Julio César Fanego, they have donated "something between $50 and $500 million" to 16 Arab extremist groups, in amounts ranging from $500 to $2,000.A Global Overview Of Narcotics-Funded Terrorist And Other Extremist Groups, May 2002, Library of Congress – Federal Research DivisionDEA Digging Into Al Qaeda Drug Links, By Robert Hendin, July 18, 2008. CBS News.Testimony of Victor Comras to the US House Subcommittee on Financial Oversight and Investigations, hearings on Current and Evolving Trends in Terrorism Financing. September 28, 2010.Hezbollah, Hamas Raise Money for ‘Terrorist Activities’ From Drug Trade in South America, Congressional Research Service Says, By Edwin Mora, June 08, 2010. CNS News. Hamas-linked charities in 2010 invested heavily in Gaza business ventures, with the condition that much of revenue stream from those ventures go to Hamas-linked charitable purposes in Gaza."Hamas commercial ventures thrive in Gaza's besieged economy," Mai Yaghi, Agence France Presse (AFP), July 26, 2010, Daily Star. Generally, Hamas and its members have increasingly dominated the Gaza economy, in particular since the 2006 Israel-led blockade of Gaza and Gaza elections."As the Israeli blockade eases, Gaza goes shopping", Donald Macintyre, 26 July 2010, The Independent."New Gaza Leisure Projects Focus on Fun Not Hardship" August 2, 2010, Reuters, New York Times. Gaza domestic funding
Hamas approved a 540 million dollar government budget for 2010 with 90% coming from "undisclosed" foreign aid. Due to the Gaza blockade, Hamas still faces a financial crisis. With a bureaucracy of around 30,000 staff, the organisation is growing faster than can be handled with salaries being delayed or prioritised for the lowest paid. To fund it's budget, Hamas has raised new taxes on businesses and imposed a 14.5% tax on luxury goods smuggled through the tunnels. Gaza businessmen have accused Hamas of profiting from the blockade and using these taxes to buy large tracts of land and private buildings for public facilities in competition to established businesses.Hamas imposes new Gaza taxes to pay for burgeoning bureaucracy, The Guardian, by Rory McCarthy. Media
The main website of Hamas provides translations of official communiqués in Persian, Urdu, Indonesian, Russian, English, and Arabic. In 2005, Hamas announced its intention to launch an experimental TV channel, "Al-Aqsa TV". The station was launched on January 7, 2006, less than three weeks before the Palestinian legislative elections. It has shown television programs, including some children's television, which deliver anti-semitic messages. Hamas has stated that the television station is "an independent media institution that often does not express the views of the Palestinian government headed by Ismail Haniyeh or of the Hamas movement," and that Hamas does not hold anti-semitic views.Hamas Condemns the Holocaust The Guardian May 12, 2008
Islamization efforts
In the Gaza Strip
From 1987 to 1991, during the first intifada, Hamas campaigned for the wearing of the hijab alongside other measures, including insisting women stay at home be segregated from men, and the promotion of polygamy. In the course of this campaign women who chose not to wear the hijab were verbally and physically harassed, with the result that the hijab was being worn 'just to avoid problems on the streets'.Rubenberg, C., Palestinian Women: Patriarchy and Resistance in the West Bank (USA, 2001) p.230-231
Since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, some of its members have attempted to impose Islamic dress or the Hijab head covering on women.Hamas Fights Over Gaza’s Islamist Identity New York Times, September 5, 2009 Xinhua, 2010-01-03 Also, the government’s "Islamic Endowment Ministry" has deployed Virtue Committee members to warn citizens of the dangers of immodest dress, card playing and dating.Hamas Bans Women Dancers, Scooter Riders in Gaza Push By Daniel Williams, Bloomberg, November 30, 2009 However, there are no government laws imposing dress and other moral standards, and the Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students. There has also been successful resistance to attempts by local Hamas officials to impose Islamic dress on women.Hamas patrols beaches in Gaza to enforce conservative dress code The Guardian (UK), October 18, 2009
Hamas officials deny having any plans to impose Islamic law, one legislator stating that “What you are seeing are incidents, not policy,” and that Islamic law is the desired standard "but we believe in persuasion.” The Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students. In March, 2010, the BBC interviewed five "middle-class" women in Gaza City in March, 2010, and all indicated there had been little or no change toward more conservative dress and mores.Women in Gaza: Life Under HamasBBC, March 20, 2010
In the West Bank
In 2005, the human rights organization Freemuse released a report titled "Palestine: Taliban-like attempts to censor music", which said that Palestinian musicians feared that harsh religious laws against music and concerts will be imposed since Hamas group scored political gains in the Palestinian Authority local elections of 2005.Palestine: Taliban-like attempts to censor music Freemuse. August 17, 2005. The attempt by Hamas to dictate a cultural code of conduct in the 1980s and early 1990s led to a violent fighting between different Palestinan sectors. Hamas members reportedly burned down stores that stocked videos which they deemed indecent and destroyed books which they described as "heretical."
In 2005, an outdoor music and dance performance in Qalqiliya were suddenly banned by the Hamas led municipality, for the reason that such an event would be forbidden by Islam, or "Haram".Battling over the public sphere: Islamic reactions to the music of today. Jonas Otterbeck. Contemporary Islam. Volume 2, Number 3, 211–228, DOI: 10.1007/s11562-008-0062-y. "... the over-all argument was that the event was haram" The municipality also ordered that music no longer be played in the Qalqiliya zoo, and mufti Akrameh Sabri issued a religious edict affirming the municipality decision. In response, the Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish warned that "There are Taliban-type elements in our society, and this is a very dangerous sign". "Palestinians Debate Whether Future State Will be Theocracy or Democracy". Associated press, July 13, 2005.Gaza Taliban? by Editorial Staff, The New Humanist, Volume 121 Issue 1, January/February 2006Palestine: Taliban-like attempts to censor music FREEMUSE – THE WORLD FORUM ON MUSIC AND CENSORSHIP. August 17, 2005. The Palestinian columnist Mohammed Abd Al-Hamid, a resident of Ramallah, wrote that this religious coercion could cause the migration of artists, and said "The religious fanatics in Algeria destroyed every cultural symbol, shattered statues and rare works of art and liquidated intellectuals and artists, reporters and authors, ballet dancers and singers – are we going to imitate the Algerian and Afghani examples?"Afghanistan in Palestine, by Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz, 26.07.05
Tayyip Erdoğan as a Role Model
Some Hamas members stated that the model of Islamic government that Hamas seeks to emulate is not that of the Taliban or Al Qaeda, rather that of Turkey under the rule of Tayyip Erdoğan. The foremost members to distance Hamas from the practices of Taliban and to publicly support the Erdoğan model were Ahmad Yousef and Ghazi Hamad, advisers to Prime Minister Hanieh.Hamas Rule in Gaza: Three Years On, Yezid Sayigh, Crown Center for Middle East studies, March 2010See also: Letter from Gaza, Hamas's tunnel diplomacy, By Thanassis Cambanis, June 18, 2010. Foreign Affairs. "They want to know if we are more like the Taliban or Erdogan. They will see that we are closer to Erdogan." Yusuf, the Hamas deputy foreign minister, reflected this goal in an interview to a Turkish newspaper, and stated that while foreign public opinion equates Hamas with the Taliban or al-Qaeda, the analogy is inaccurate. According to Yusuf, the Taliban is “opposed to everything,” including education and women’s rights. He said that Hamas wants to establish good relations between the religious and secular elements of society. He further stated that Hamas "strives for democracy and human rights", and "supports an open society".Hamas: ‘We want Erdoğan’s model, not Taliban’s’. Cansu Çamlibel, The Daily Hurriyet. June 10, 2010 According to professor Yezid Sayigh of the Crown Center for Middle East studies, how influential this view is within Hamas is "debatable", since both Ahmad Yousef and Ghazi Hamad were dismissed from their posts as advisers to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Hanieh in October 2007. Khaled al-Hroub of the West Bank-based Palestinian daily Al Ayyam added that despite claims by Hamas leaders that it wants to repeat the Turkish model of Islam, "what is happening on the ground in reality is a replica of the Taliban model of Islam".Hamas-Gaza-extremism, The Weekly Middle East Reporter (Beirut, Lebanon), August 8, 2009
Antisemitism and anti-Zionism
According to academic Esther Webman, antisemitism is not the main tenet of Hamas ideology, although antisemitic rhetoric is frequent and intense in Hamas leaflets. The leaflets generally do not differentiate between Jews and Zionists. In other Hamas publications and in interviews with its leaders attempts at this differentiation have been made.Webman, Esther. Anti-semitic Motifs in the Ideology of Hizballah and Hamas, Project for the study of Anti-semitism, Tel Aviv University, 1994, p. 22. ISBN 965-222-592-4 In 2009 representatives of the small Jewish sect Neturei Karta met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniya in Gaza, who stated that he held nothing against Jews but only against the state of Israel. Hamas Charter (1988)
Article 7 of the Hamas Covenant provides the following quotation, attributed to Mohammed:
"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews."The Avalon Project: Hamas Covenant 1988. Retrieved February 9, 2009. Article 22 states that the French revolution, the Russian revolution, colonialism and both world wars were created by the Zionists or forces supportive of Zionism:
"You may speak as much as you want about regional and world wars. They were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the Islamic Caliphate, making financial gains and controlling resources. They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains by trading in armaments, and paved the way for the establishment of their state. It was they who instigated the replacement of the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to enable them to rule the world through them. There is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it."
Article 32 of the Covenant refers to an antisemitic forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion:
"Today it is Palestine, tomorrow it will be one country or another. The Zionist plan is limitless. After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying."
Statements by Hamas members and clerics
In 2008 Imam Yousif al-Zahar of Hamas said in his sermon at the Katib Wilayat mosque in Gaza that "Jews are a people who cannot be trusted. They have been traitors to all agreements. Go back to history. Their fate is their vanishing.". In an interview on the same year, Hamas Culture Minister Atallah Abu Al-Subh stated that "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is the faith that every Jew harbors in his heart".On Hamas TV: Hamas Culture Minister Presents Excerpts from Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Claims Jews Trying to Control the World MEMRI April 22, 2008
Another Hamas legislator and imam, Sheik Yunus al-Astal, discussed a Koranic verse suggesting that "suffering by fire is the Jews' destiny in this world and the next". He concluded "Therefore we are sure that the Holocaust is still to come upon the Jews". According to MEMRI, in September 1996 the Hamas monthly Falastin Al-Muslima had published a series of articles by Shaykh Ibrahim Al-'Ali, on how Allah punished the Jews of Iliya, transforming them into animals, a punishment that left a mark on Jews - "their opinions, their feelings, and their ways of thought – which are reflected in face and external appearance – became like their nature and like the appearance of apes and pigs". Al-'Ali explained that the Jews later invented the theory of evolution, to prove that the entire human race was descended from apes, to cover their own shame of being "the brothers of apes and pigs". Sunni tradition also holds that Shi'ites suffered the same fate "because the Jews invented the Shi'a (Shia religion)...and is pervaded by [the Jews'] beliefs."
Statements on the Holocaust
Hamas has been explicit in its Holocaust Denial. In reaction to the Stockholm conference on the Jewish Holocaust, held in late January 2000, Hamas issued a press release which it published on its official website, containing the following statements from a senior leader:
This conference bears a clear Zionist goal, aimed at forging history by hiding the truth about the so-called Holocaust, which is an alleged and invented story with no basis. (...) The invention of these grand illusions of an alleged crime that never occurred, ignoring the millions of dead European victims of Nazism during the war, clearly reveals the racist Zionist face, which believes in the superiority of the Jewish race over the rest of the nations. (...) By these methods, the Jews in the world flout scientific methods of research whenever that research contradicts their racist interests.www.palestine-info.com. qtd in Paz In August, 2003, senior Hamas official Dr Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rantisi wrote in the Hamas newspaper Al-Risala that the Zionists encouraged murder of Jews by the Nazis with the aim of forcing them to immigrate to Palestine.http://www.ajn.com.au/pages/archives/feature/feature-03a.html
In 2005, Khaled Mashaal called Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's December 14, 2005 statements on the Holocaust that Europeans had "created a myth in the name of Holocaust"Iran leader's Holocaust remarks condemned MSNBC, December 14, 2005) as "courageous.""Hamas springs to Iran's defense" Al Jazeera, December 15, 2005 Later in 2008, Basim Naim, the minister of health in the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government in Gaza countered holocaust denial, and said "it should be made clear that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian government in Gaza denies the Nazi Holocaust. The Holocaust was not only a crime against humanity but one of the most abhorrent crimes in modern history. We condemn it as we condemn every abuse of humanity and all forms of discrimination on the basis of religion, race, gender or nationality.""Hamas condemns the Holocaust" The Guardian, May 12, 2008
In an open letter to Gaza Strip UNRWA chief John Ging published August 20, 2009, the movement's Popular Committees for Refugees called the Holocaust "a lie invented by the Zionists," adding that the group refused to let Gazan children study about it.Hamas rips UN over Holocaust lessons, Jerusalem Post 30-09-2009 Hamas leader Younis al-Astal continued by saying that having the Holocaust included in the UNRWA curriculum for Gaza students amounted to "marketing a lie and spreading it." Al-Astal continued "I do not exaggerate when I say this issue is a war crime, because of how it serves the Zionist colonizers and deals with their hypocrisy and lies.""Hamas rips U.N. for teaching the Holocaust." JTA. 31 August 2009. 31 August 2009. Criticism
Proximity to civilians during warfare
New York Times journalist Steven Erlanger reported that "Hamas rocket and weapons caches, including rocket launchers, have been discovered in and under mosques, schools and civilian homes."A Gaza War Full of Traps and Trickery Another report published by Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center revealed that Hamas used close to 100 mosques to store weapons and as launch-pads to shoot rockets. The report contains testimony from variety Palestinian sources, including a Hamas militant Sabhi Majad Atar, who said he was taught how to shoot rockets from inside a mosque.Hamas used almost 100 mosques for military purposes. Jpost.com. Retrieved on 2010-08-21. Hamas has also been criticized by Israeli officials for blending into or hiding among the Palestinian civilian population During the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict.Laub, Karen. "Ground war in Gaza drives up civilian casualties." Associated Press. January 7, 2009. January 13, 2009. The Israeli government published what it said was video evidence of human shield tactics by Hamas."Video: Hamas uses civilians as a means to achieving military goals." Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. January 11, 2009. January 13, 2009. Israel said that Hamas frequently used mosques and school yards"Video: Hamas uses civilians as a means to achieving military goals." 2009. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. See 4:00 in the video. as hideouts and places to store weapons,"Hamas's human shields." Jerusalem Post. March 4, 2008. January 13, 2009."Weapons Hidden in Mosque Neutralized by Israel Air Force Dec 31. 2008." December 31, 2008. January 13, 2009. and that Hamas militants stored weapons in their homes, making it difficult to ensure that civilians close to legitimate military targets are not hurt during Israeli military operations.Barzak, Ibrahim and Matti Friedman. "Israel Destroys Hamas Homes, Gaza Mosque." Time.com. January 2, 2009. January 13, 2009. Israeli officials also accused the Hamas leadership of hiding under Shifa Hospital during the conflict, using the patients inside to deter an Israeli attack.Mizroch, Amir. "Dichter: Hamas salaries paid at Shifa Hospital." Jerusalem Post. January 12, 2009. January 13, 2009. The Israeli government a filed report entitled "Gaza Operations Investigation: Second Update" to the United Nations accusing Hamas of exploiting its rules of engagement by shooting rockets and launching attacks within protected civilian areas.IDF morality exemplified at mosque. Jpost.com. Retrieved on 2010-08-21. Israel says 12,000 rockets and mortars were fired at it between 2000 and 2008 - nearly 3,000 in 2008 alone.Hamas rocket attacks 'war crimes', BBC
In one case, an errant Israeli mortar strike killed dozens of people near a UN school. Hamas said that the mortar killed 42 people and left dozens wounded. Israel said that Hamas militants had launched a rocket from a yard adjacent to the school and one mortar of three rounds hit the school, due to a GPS error. According to the Israeli military probe, the remaining two rounds hit the yard used to launch rockets into Israel, killing two members of Hamas' military wing who fired the rockets.IDF investigation shows errant mortar hit UN building in Gaza Haaretz January 12, 2009
Human Right Watch called Hamas to "publicly renounce" the rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and hold those responsible to account. Human Right Watch program director Iain Levine said the attacks by Hamas were "unlawful and unjustifiable, and amount to war crimes", and accused Hamas of putting Palestinians at risk by launching attacks from built-up areas. Hamas spokesman relied that the report was "biased" and he denied that Hamas uses human shields. Human Rights Watch investigated 19 incidents involving 53 civilian deaths in Gaza which Israel said were the result of Hamas fighting in densely populated areas and did not find evidence for existence of Palestinian fighters in the areas at the time of the Israeli attack. In other cases where no civilians had died, the report concluded that Hamas may have deliberately fired rockets from areas close to civilians.Turning a Blind Eye Human Rights Watch April 11, 2010 HRW also investigated 11 deaths that Israel said were civilians being used as human shields by Hamas. HRW found no evidence that the civilians were used as human shields, nor had they been shot in crossfire.Israel: Investigate ‘White Flag' Shootings of Gaza Civilians Human Rights Watch August 13, 2009
The Israeli 'human shields' charge against Hamas was called "full of holes" by "The National (Abu Dhabi)", which stated that only Israel accused Hamas of using human shields during the conflict, though Hamas "may be guilty" of “locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas” and for "deliberately firing indiscriminate weapons into civilian populated areas"."Israeli ‘human shield’ claim is full of holes" The National (UAE) January 13, 2009. Criticism of rocket and mortar attacks
The rocket attacks by Hamas have been condemned by Human rights organizations as war crimes, both because they usually target civilians and because the weapons' inaccuracy would disproportionately endanger civilians even if military targets were chosen. Human Rights Watch has also condemned the attackers for firing from near residential structures, thus putting Gazan civilians at unnecessary risk.Indiscriminate Fire, Human Rights Watch 30-06-2007
In July 2008 Barack Obama, then the Democratic presidential candidate, said: "If somebody was sending rockets into my house, where my two daughters sleep at night, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop that, and I would expect Israelis to do the same thing."Steven Lee Myers and Helene Cooper, Obama Defers to Bush, for Now, on Gaza Crisis, New York Times 28-12-2009 On December 28, 2008, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement: "the United States strongly condemns the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel".U.S. Condemns Hamas in Midst of Israeli Strikes, Fox News 28-12-2008 On March 2, 2009 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the attacks.Clinton calls for 'durable' Gaza truce, condemns rockets, AFP 02-03-2009
The August 2, 2010 Rocket attacks on Eilat and Aqaba and Aqaba sparked rage in Egypt at Hamas and Iran. The Egyptian press stated that the firing of the rockets from Egyptian territory by Hamas or by organizations cooperating with it constituted the crossing of a red line. The Egyptian position is that Iran is employing local proxies, such as Hamas, to escalate violence in the Middle East and to sabotage the Palestinian reconciliation efforts, as well as efforts to renew Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.Rage in Egypt at Hamas and Iran following Rocket Attacks on Eilat, Aqaba, MEMRI Special Dispatch No.3200 Later that year, the Egyptian government daily Al-Gumhouriyya also slammed Hamas's firing of "primitive" rockets at Israel that, according to the writer, serve only to prompt a deadly response from Israel. He blamed Hamas for turning the Gaza Strip into a "big prison" isolated from the world, where the residents suffer poverty while the leaders live in luxury.Al-Gumhouriyya (Egypt), October 22, 2010. By Abdallah Al-Naggar. translation by MEMRI
Children
Children as human shields
Israel has accused Hamas of using children as human shields. The Israeli government released video footage of Hamas in which it describes as two Hamas militants grabbing a young boy's arm from behind holding him to walk in front of them toward a group of people waiting near a wall. The IDF argues the militants were placing the boy between themselves and an Israeli sniper. The second scene shows an individual, described as a Hamas militant, grabbing a school boy off of a floor, where he is hiding behind a column from IDF fire, and using him as a human shield to walk to a different location."IDF propaganda Video: Hamas uses civilians as a means to achieving military goals." 2009. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. See 4:25–4:29 in the video. In November 2006, the Israeli Air Force warned Muhammad Weil Baroud, a Palestinian militant accused of launching rockets into Israeli territory, to evacuate his home in a Jabalya refugee camp apartment block in advance of a planned Israeli air strike. Hamas responded by calling for volunteers to protect the apartment block and nearby buildings and, according to the Jerusalem Post, hundreds of local residents, mostly women and children, responded. Israel suspended the air strike. Israel termed the Hamas action an example of the use of human shields, although surrounding an apartment block under most interpretations of international law is not such an example, since the term "human shield" involves warring parties placing civilians in "proximity to a legitimate military target."AF.mil Targeting Decisions Regarding Human Shields, by Captain Daniel P. Schoenekase, U.S. Army National GuardThenationael.ae "Israeli ‘human shield’ claim is full of holes" by Craig Nelson, The National (UAE), January 13, 2009 In response to the incident, Hamas proclaimed: 'We won. From now on we will form human chains around every house threatened with demolition.'""Hamas's human shields." Jerusalem Phttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hamas&action=edit§ion=30ost. March 4, 2008. November 15, 2009. In a November 22 press release, Human Rights Watch condemned Hamas, stating: "There is no excuse for calling civilians to the scene of a planned attack. Whether or not the home is a legitimate military target, knowingly asking civilians to stand in harm's way is unlawful".OPT: Civilians Must Not Be Used to Shield Homes Against Military Attacks Human Rights Watch November 22, 2006 Political scientist Norman Finkelstein organized a campaign against the Human Rights Watch condemnation, asking "Is it a war crime to protect one’s home from collective punishment?"
The UN-sponsored Goldstone Commission Report on the Gaza War states that it "found no evidence that Palestinian combatants mingled with the civilian population with the intention of shielding themselves from attack."Marcus, Itamar, et al. "PMW Bulletins." PMW. September 16, 2009. November 15, 2009. Children as combatants
The Israeli government released a video compiled mostly from Arab news sources showing Palestinian children under the age of 15 going through military training and carrying and firing arms. The video's narration explains that Hamas indoctrinates these child combatants and that Hamas operators send the children "on missions from which they would not risk their own lives." According to the Israeli government, the children are used as spotters, to transport explosives and weapons, sent to play in areas to deter Israeli attacks and are sent unknowingly with explosive devices in their schoolbags to be blown up in the vicinity of Israelis."Video: Hamas uses civilians as a means to achieving military goals." 2009. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. See 06:46 through 08:00 in the video. The United Nations defines the use of children for military purposes as a war crime and a form of slavery. See Military use of children. Although Hamas admits to sponsoring summer schools to train teenagers in handling weapons they condemn attacks by children. Following the deaths of three teenagers during a 2002 attack on Netzarim in central Gaza, Hamas banned attacks by children and "called on the teachers and religious leaders to spread the message of restraint among young boys".Youths' Suicide Mission Stuns Palestinians ABC April 25, 2002Teenage Suicide Bombers MEF 2002
Children's Magazine
Al-Fateh ("the conqueror") is the Hamas children's magazine, published biweekly in London, and also posted in an online website. It began publication in September 2002, and its 108th issue was released in mid-September 2007. The magazine features stories, poems, riddles, and puzzles, and states it is for "the young builders of the future"."Online Terrorists Prey on the Vulnerable"
According to MEMRI, the magazine includes incitement to jihad and martyrdom and glorification of terrorist operations and of their planners and perpetrators. as well as characterizations of Jews as "murderers of the prophets" and laudatory descriptions of parents who encourage their sons to kill Jews. In each issue, a regular feature titled "The Story of a Martyr" presents the "heroic deeds" of a mujahid from one of the organizations who died in a suicide operation, including operations against civilians, or who was killed by the IDF. MEMRI also noted that the magazine includes illustrations of figures, including child warriors, who embody the ethos of jihad and martyrdom, presenting them as role models. These include the magazine's titular character, Al-Fateh ("The Conqueror") - a small boy on a horse brandishing a drawn - as well as children carrying guns, and photos of Hamas fighters launching Qassam rockets."Hamas Children's Magazine Al-Fateh Encourages Terrorism, Glorifies Martyrdom""Hamas Magazine for Kids Promotes Martyrdom and Hatred"
Al-Aqsa TV
Al-Aqsa TV is a television channel founded by Hamas. The station began broadcasting in the Gaza Strip on January 9, 2006.Hamas TV station shut down, news24.com, January 22, 2006 Its programming includes ideologically tinged children's shows, news talk, and religiously inspired entertainment. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the station promotes terrorist activity and incites hatred of Jews and Israelis. Hamas has stated that the television station is "an independent media institution that often does not express the views of the Palestinian government headed by Ismail Haniyeh or of the Hamas movement," and that Hamas does not hold anti-semitic views. Al-Aqsa TV is headed by Fathi Ahmad Hammad, chairman of al-Ribat Communications and Artistic Productions - a Hamas-run company which also produces Hamas's radio station, Voice of al-Aqsa, and its bi-weekly newspaper, The Message. Dissent and the media
Human rights groups and Gazans have accused the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip of restricing freedom of the press and forcefully suppressing dissent. Both foreign and Palestinian journalists report harassment and other measures taken against them.Spokesperson of Presidency Condemns Hamas Militias New Crimes against Citizens in Gaza Strip, WAFA, August 31, 2007. In September 2007 the Gaza Interior Ministry disbanded the Gaza Strip branch of the pro-Fatah Union of Palestinian Journalists, a move criticized by Reporters without borders.Hamas disbands journalists union amid continuing incidents, Reporters without borders, September 6, 2007 In November of that year the Hamas government arrested a British journalist and for a time canceled all press cards in Gaza. On February 8, 2008 Hamas banned distribution of the pro-Fatah Al-Ayyam newspaper, and closed its offices in the Gaza Strip because it ran a caricature that mocked legislators loyal to Hamas,.Hamas de facto government bans distribution of Al-Ayyam newspaper in the Gaza Strip Ma'an News Agency, February 10, 2008 The Gaza Strip Interior Ministry later issued an arrest warrant for the editor. More widely, in late August, 2007 the group was accused in The Telegraph, a conservative British newspaper, of torturing, detaining, and firing on unarmed protesters who had objected to policies of the Hamas government. Also in late August, Palestinian health officials reported that the Hamas government had been shutting down Gaza clinics in retaliation for doctor strikes – The Hamas government confirmed the "punitive measure against doctors" because, in its view, they had incited other doctors to suspend services and go out on strike.al-Mughrabi, Nidal. "Gaza clinics closed, retaliation for doctor strikes." Reuters.com. August 28, 2007. November 14, 2009. In September 2007 the Hamas government banned public prayers, after Fatah supporters began holding worship sessions that quickly escalated into raucous protests against Hamas rule. Government security forces beat several gathering supporters and journalists.Hamas blocks Fatah protests in Gaza, ynetnews, September 7, 2007
In October 2008, the Hamas government announced it would release all political prisoners in custody in Gaza. Several hours after the announcement, 17 Fatah members were released.Hamas frees Fatah prisoners, Al-Jazeera, October 30, 2008. Political violence and terrorism
Hamas uses both political activities and violence in pursuit of its goals. For example, while politically engaged in the 2006 Palestinian Territories parliamentary election campaign, Hamas stated in its election manifesto that it was prepared to use "armed resistance to end the occupation". From 2000 to 2004, Hamas was responsible for killing nearly 400 Israelis and wounding more than 2,000 in 425 attacks, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2001 through May 2008, Hamas launched more than 3,000 Qassam rockets and 2,500 mortar attacks into Israel.Israel At 'War to the Bitter End,' Strikes Key Hamas Sites December 29, 2008, Fox News
Attacks on civilians
In the first years of the First Intifada (1987–1993), Hamas violence was directed first at collaborators and individuals it considered moral deviants, and then later at the Israeli military.Hamas in Politics, By Jeroen Gunning, pp. 128–129, search at Books.Google.com; see also The Rise of Hamas, by Paul W. Pope, at
Dartmouth.edu A new direction began with the formation of the al-Qassam Brigades militia in 1992, and in 1993 suicide attacks began against Israeli targets on the West Bank.No End to War, by Walter Laqueur, p. 107. "[I]n 1993–1994 when Hamas ... enlisted experts for bomb making, and the first suicide bombers went into action. Some of the very early operations aborted. The first successful suicide bomb attack occurred in the Jordan Valley in October 1993. The first bus attack happened in Afula in northern Israel in April 1994..." Search at Books.Google.com
right|frame|Aftermath of 1996 Jaffa Road bus bombings in which 26 people were killed
Numerous magazines and newspapers, including The Economist, erroneously reported that the first suicide bombing against Israelis took place in Afula on April 16, 1994, when a bomber driving an explosives-laden van detonated between two buses parked at a restaurant, killing nine (including the bomber) and wounding 50. In fact, the first suicide attack actually occurred on April 16, 1993, in which a Hamas operative Tamam Nabulsi drove a van into a parked bus and detonated it, killing a Palestinian and wounding 8 Israeli soldiers.Suicide bombers: the psychological, religious and other imperatives. Mary Sharpe According to the Jerusalem Post, Hamas committed more than a "dozen" suicide bombing and attacks prior to the Cave of Patriachs massacre.About a dozen suicide bombings have been attempted since the PLO-Israel accord was signed in September." The Jerusalem Post on Dec. 24, 1993 Some argue the Cave of Patriachs massacre in February 1994 led Hamas to expand use of the tactic."One reason for the absence of peace" October 13th, The Economist
From that time until 2005, Hamas launched many suicide attacks against Israeli civilians, stating that the attacks were a legitimate aspect of its asymmetric warfare against Israel. Deliberate targeting of civilians is illegal according to international law.Israel's Targeted Killings of Hamas Leaders Hamas ceased such attacks in 2005 and renounced them in April 2006."Hamas in call to end suicide bombings" The Observer. April 9, 2006 Some believe Hamas was forced to end the suicide bombing campaign after Israel's construction of the West Bank Barrier. Several Hamas leaders have confessed the barrier has made suicide attacks very difficult. In 2010, Hamas promised "more effective attacks against Israel." When asked if these attacks include suicide bombing, Hams leaders said "all options are open." Hamas Promises New, More Deadly Attacks
Prior to 2005 there were several large-scale suicide bombings against Israeli civilian targets, the most deadly of which was the bombing of a Netanya hotel on March 27, 2002, in which 30 people were killed and 140 were wounded. This attack has also been referred to as the Passover massacre since it took place on the first night of the Jewish festival of Passover. In a 2002 report, Human Rights Watch stated that Hamas' leaders "should be held accountable for the war crimes and crimes against humanity" that have been committed by its members.Erased In A Moment: Suicide Bombing Attacks Against Israeli Civilians V. Structures and Strategies of the Perpetrator Organizations, Human Rights Watch, October, 2002. ISBN 1-56432-280-7
Since the death of Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat, Hamas's political wing has entered and won many local elections in Gaza, Qalqilya, and Nablus. In January 2006, Hamas won a surprise victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, taking 76 of the 132 seats in the chamber, while the ruling Fatah party took 43. Vehemently anti-Israel and according to many anti-Semitic,Aaronovitch, David. "The New Anti-Semitism", The Observer, June 22, 2003. Hamas's militant stance has found a receptive audience amongst Palestinians; many perceived the preceding Fatah government as corrupt and ineffective, and Hamas's supporters see it as a legitimate resistance movement fighting what they see as Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Hamas has further gained popularity by establishing extensive welfare programs, funding schools, orphanages, and healthcare clinics, throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip.Hamas activities Council on Foreign Relations Since Hamas has taken control, the Palestinian territories have experienced a period of sharp internal conflicts, known as Fauda (anarchy), in which many Palestinians have been killed in internecine fighting. "The Gangs of Gaza", Newsweek, June 26, 2006."...they find themselves on the brink of civil war in a power struggle between the governing Hamas movement and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group. In two days of fighting between the two rival and well-armed factions, 12 Palestinians have been killed and more than 100 wounded, and there are few signs the months-long political dispute at the centre of the violence is about to die down." al-Mughrabi, Nidal and Assadi, Mohammed. Palestinian in-fighting provokes despair, frustration, Reuters, October 3, 2006. Name
Hamas is an acronym of the Arabic phrase حركة المقاومة الاسلامية, or Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya or "Islamic Resistance Movement". The acronym is also the Arabic word for "zeal". The military wing of Hamas, formed in 1992, is known as the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades to commemorate Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, the father of modern Arab resistance, killed by the British in 1935. Armed Hamas cells also sometimes refer to themselves as "Students of Ayyash", "Students of the Engineer", or "Yahya Ayyash Units",Kushner, Harvey W. (2002). Encyclopedia of Terrorism, p.160 Sage Publications, ISBN 0-7619-2408-6 to commemorate Yahya Ayyash, an early Hamas bomb-maker killed in 1996. Beliefs
Founded in 1987, Hamas was the Gaza Strip branch of the Pan-Arab (Sunni) Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement founded in Egypt. Hamas is opposed to the existence of Israel and has denounced the 1993 Oslo Accords, the foundation of the failed peace process, as a "betrayal of God's will". But in 2004 Hamas offered a 10-year truce, or hudna, in exchange for several conditions including a complete withdrawal from Israeli-occupied territories (see below). Hamas regards the territory of the present-day State of Israel — as well as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank — as an inalienable Islamic waqf or religious bequest, which can never be surrendered to non-Muslims. It asserts that struggle (jihad) to regain control of the land from Israel is the religious duty of every Muslim (fard `ain). Hamas does not recognize Israel as a sovereign state, unlike the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) which has recognized it since 1988, and calls it the "Zionist entity", a common hostile term in Arab political rhetoric. Its charter calls for an end to Israel. During the election campaign, Hamas did not mention its call for the destruction of Israel in its electoral manifesto. But several Hamas candidates insist that the charter is still in force and often called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" in campaign speeches. On January 25, 2006, after winning the Palestinian elections, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar gave an interview to Al-Manar TV denouncing foreign demands that Hamas recognize Israel's right to exist. After the establishment of Hamas government, Dr Al-Zahar stated his "dreams of hanging a huge map of the world on the wall at my Gaza home which does not show Israel on it...I hope that our dream to have our independent state on all historic Palestine (including Israel). This dream will become real one day. I'm certain of this because there is no place for the state of Israel on this land". He also "didn't rule out the possibility of having Jews, Muslims and Christians living under the sovereignty of an Islamic state, adding that the Palestinians never hated the Jews and that only the Israeli occupation was their enemy". Hamas's charter calls for the eventual creation of an Islamic Republic in place of Israel. Hamas sees this view as an Islamic religious duty and prophesy which comes directly from Hadith. Although it has not set a specific date, Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, has mentioned the year 2027 as the possible date for destruction of Israel. The group has not issued a clear statement about how it would deal with the current population of Israel, should it succeed in overthrowing Israeli and secular Palestinian government. Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, one of its co-founders, stated that the movement's goal is "to remove Israel from the map". However, on February 13, 2005, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal declared that Hamas would stop armed struggle against Israel if Israel recognized the 1967 borders, withdrew from all Palestinian territories and accept the demand for Palestinian "Right of Return" (see below). According to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Hamas views the Arab-Israeli conflict as "a religious struggle between Islam and Judaism that can only be resolved by the destruction of the State of Israel". Hamas uses both political activities and violence to pursue its goal of establishing an Islamic Palestinian state in place of Israel and the secular Palestinian Authority. Israeli military operations during the al-Aqsa Intifada in 2002 put pressure on Hamas in the West Bank following several bombings in Israel for which Hamas claimed responsibility. Hamas has also engaged in peaceful political activities, including running candidates in West Bank Chamber of commerce elections. During the election campaign the organisation toned down criticism of Israel in its election manifesto, stating only that it was prepared to use "armed resistance to end the occupation". The Covenant of Hamas
The 1988 Hamas Covenant (or Charter) states that the organization's goal is to "raise the banner of God over every inch of Palestine," in order to establish an Islamic Republic. The thirty-six articles of the Covenant detail the movement's Islamist beliefs regarding the primacy of Islam in all aspects of life. The Covenant identifies Hamas as the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine and considers its members to be Muslims who "fear God and raise the banner of Jihad in the face of the oppressors." Hamas describes resisting and quelling the enemy as the individual duty of every Muslim and prescribes revolutionary roles for all members of society; including men and women, professionals, scientists and students. The slogan of Hamas is "God is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Qur'an its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of God is the loftiest of its wishes." Hamas states that its objective is to support the oppressed and wronged and "to bring about justice and defeat injustice, in word and deed." Hamas believes that "the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf (trust) consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day," and as such, the land cannot be negotiated away by any political leader. Hamas rejects "so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences" as incapable of realizing justice or restoring rights to the oppressed, believing "there is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad."
The Covenant outlines the organization's position on various issues, including social and economic development and ideological influences, education, as well as its position regarding Israel. Amongst many other things, it reiterates the group's rejection of the coexistence principle of the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
Preface: "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." (A quote by Imam Hassan al Banna)
Article 6: "The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine, for under the wing of Islam followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions and rights are concerned..."
Article 11: "The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgment Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up."
Article 13: "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. The Palestinian people know better than to consent to having their future, rights and fate toyed with."
Article 28: "The Zionist invasion is a vicious invasion ... It relies greatly in its infiltration and espionage operations on the secret organizations it gave rise to, such as the Freemasons, The Rotary and Lions clubs, and other sabotage groups. All these organizations, whether secret or open, work in the interest of Zionism and according to its instructions ..."
Article 31: "The Islamic Resistance Movement is a humanistic movement. It takes care of human rights and is guided by Islamic tolerance when dealing with the followers of other religions. It does not antagonize anyone of them except if it is antagonized by it or stands in its way to hamper its moves and waste its efforts. Under the wing of Islam, it is possible for the followers of the three religions - Islam, Christianity and Judaism - to coexist in peace and quiet with each other."
Article 32: "After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying."
Suicide attacks are an element of what the group sees as its asymmetric warfare against Israel. Since the group considers all Israel to be a "militarized society" (there is mandatory military service for most Jewish men and women) and Israelis to be participants in an illegal occupation of Palestinian land, Hamas does not distinguish between Israeli civilian and military targets . The fact that this group does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants and the group's willingness to target civilian facilities including buses, supermarkets, and restaurants is one of the main traits which supports its classification as a terrorist movement (although Hamas claims being a national liberation movement). Hamas' position on other social and political issues:
Article 16 (education):
It is necessary to follow Islamic orientation in educating the Islamic generations in our region by teaching the religious duties, comprehensive study of the Koran, the study of the Prophet's Sunna (his sayings and doings), and learning about Islamic history and heritage from their authentic sources. This should be done by specialised and learned people, using a curriculum that would healthily form the thoughts and faith of the Moslem student. Side by side with this, a comprehensive study of the enemy, his human and financial capabilities, learning about his points of weakness and strength, and getting to know the forces supporting and helping him, should also be included. Also, it is important to be acquainted with the current events, to follow what is new and to study the analysis and commentaries made of these events. Planning for the present and future, studying every trend appearing, is a must so that the fighting Moslem would live knowing his aim, objective and his way in the midst of what is going on around him. Article 18 (on women):
Woman in the home of the fighting family, whether she is a mother or a sister, plays the most important role in looking after the family, rearing the children and imbuing them with moral values and thoughts derived from Islam. She has to teach them to perform the religious duties in preparation for the role of fighting awaiting them. That is why it is necessary to pay great attention to schools and the curriculum followed in educating Moslem girls, so that they would grow up to be good mothers, aware of their role in the battle for liberation. She has to be of sufficient knowledge and understanding where the performance of housekeeping matters are concerned, because economy and avoidance of waste of the family budget, is one of the requirements for the ability to continue moving forward in the difficult conditions surrounding us. She should put before her eyes the fact that the money available to her is just like blood which should never flow except through the veins so that both children and grown-ups could continue to live. Article 21 (on civic culture and social responsibility):
Mutual social responsibility means extending assistance, financial or moral, to all those who are in need and joining in the execution of some of the work. Members of the Islamic Resistance Movement should consider the interests of the masses as their own personal interests. They must spare no effort in achieving and preserving them. They must prevent any foul play with the future of the upcoming generations and anything that could cause loss to society. The masses are part of them and they are part of the masses. Their strength is theirs, and their future is theirs. Members of the Islamic Resistance Movement should share the people's joy and grief, adopt the demands of the public and whatever means by which they could be realised. The day that such a spirit prevails, brotherliness would deepen, cooperation, sympathy and unity will be enhanced and the ranks will be solidified to confront the enemies. Accusations and denials of Anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism is a recurring theme in the Hamas Covenant and speeches of its leaders. The Covenant cites The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, describing it as "the embodiment of the Zionist plan to usurp Palestine". Other examples of Anti-Semitism in their Covenant include:
Introduction: Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious. It needs all sincere efforts. It is a step that inevitably should be followed by other steps. The Movement is but one squadron that should be supported by more and more squadrons from this vast Arab and Islamic world, until the enemy is vanquished and God's victory is
realised. Article 7: ... the Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to the realisation of God's promise, no matter how long that should take. The Prophet, God bless him and grant him salvation, has said: "The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O slaves of God, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharqad tree would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews."
Article 28: ... when the Jews conquered the Holy City in 1967, they stood on the threshold of the Aqsa Mosque and proclaimed that "Mohammed is dead, and his descendants are all women." Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people. "May the cowards never sleep."
Hamas categorizes the Freemasons, Lions Club, and the Rotarians as organizations promoting "the interest of Zionism." It accuses those organizations, and the "Zionist invasion" in general, of being "behind the drug trade and alcoholism in all its kinds." Hamas believes that Zionism was behind the French Revolution, the Communist revolution and most of the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there. With their money they formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions and others in different parts of the world for the purpose of sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist interests.http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/hamas.htm
Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, co-founder of Hamas, reiterated beliefs of Holocaust denial as recently as one year before his 2004 death, contending that the Holocaust was a Zionist - Nazi collaboration for the purpose of encouraging emigration to Israel. In 1998, Esther Webman of the Project for the Study of Anti-Semitism at the Tel Aviv University
wrote: "...the anti-Semitic rhetoric in Hamas leaflets is frequent and intense. Nevertheless, anti-Semitism is not the main tenet of Hamas ideology. Generally no differentiation was made in the leaflets between Jew and Zionist, in as much as Judaism was perceived as embracing Zionism, although in other Hamas publications and in interviews with its leaders attempts at this differentiation have been made."
According to Meir Litvak's 2003 study, "In Hamas' literature, anti-Semitism became almost dominant. Earlier anti-Semitic motifs are developed time and again in their magazine Falastin al-Muslama. Almost every issue contains anti-Jewish articles using elements from the Islamic tradition. Judaism is presented as a religion based on lies, which from its origin called for aggression against others and their exploitation."
Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas choice for Palestinian Prime Minister, has stated:
We do not have any feelings of animosity toward Jews. We do not wish to throw them into the sea. All we seek is to be given our land back, not to harm anybody. and
We won't allow any Wailing Walls [that the Jews might return to] on our blessed land. Also, according to the chief of Hamas' political bureau, Khaled Meshaal:
Our message to the Israelis is this: We do not fight you because you belong to a certain faith or culture. Jews have lived in the Muslim world for 13 centuries in peace and harmony; they are in our religion "the people of the book" who have a covenant from God and his messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him), to be respected and protected. Our conflict with you is not religious but political. We have no problem with Jews who have not attacked us — our problem is with those who came to our land, imposed themselves on us by force, destroyed our society and banished our people. Activities
Provision of social welfare and education
The organization is particularly popular among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, though it also has a following in the West Bank, and to a lesser extent in other Middle Eastern countries. Since its formation in 1987, Hamas has conducted numerous social, political, and military actions. Its popularity stems in part from its welfare and social services to Palestinians in the occupied territories, including school and hospital construction. The group devotes much of its estimated $70-million annual budget to an extensive social services network, running many relief and education programs, and funds schools, orphanages, mosques, healthcare clinics, soup kitchens, and sports leagues. According to the Israeli scholar Reuven Paz "approximately 90 percent of the organization's work is in social, welfare, cultural, and educational activities". These programs are viewed variously as part of a sincere social development agenda, an integrated para-state policy, as propaganda and recruitment exercises, or both. In any case, Hamas has significantly increased literacy in areas where it is active. Hamas also funds a number of other charitable activities, primarily in the Gaza Strip. These include religious institutions, medical facilities, and social needs of the area's residents. The work of Hamas in these fields supplements that provided by the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA). The charitable trust Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development was accused in December 2001 of funding Hamas. Hamas is also well regarded by Palestinians for its efficiency and perceived lack of corruption compared to Fatah. Children's web site
Al Fateh is Hamas' web site for children . The web magazine, whose name means "conqueror," says it is for "the young builders of the future." It is known for making demands in its most recent issue the return of the Spanish city of Seville to the "lost paradise" of Al Andalus, as the Muslim part of Spain was called during its existence between 711 and 1492. Several western reviews and news coverage of the site describe it as hate mongering and accuse it of teaching violence and terrorism to children ,,,
According to Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America "Issue number 38 of Al-Fateh, includes a photograph of the decapitated head of a female suicide bomber. The caption reads "Zaynab Abu Salem who carried out the suicide bombing attack. Her head was severed from her pure body and her headscarf remained to decorate her face. Your place is in heaven in the upper sky, Zaynab ... sister [raised to the status of heroic] men." Abu Salem had killed two Israeli border policemen and wounded 17." The Al Fateh web site contains images of graphic violence that may be shocking to some. Some of the sites reviewing the Al Fateh site contain examples of those images.,,,News report
Funding
According to the U.S. State Dept, Hamas is funded by Iran (led by a Shiite Islamic regime), Palestinian expatriates, and private benefactors in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states. The party is known to support families of suicide bombers after their deaths. Treatment of women
Women and girls are allowed to attend Hamas rallies but they are restricted to a special female section. Other
The main website of Hamas provides translations of official communiqués in Persian language, Urdu, Malay, Russian, English, and Arabic. In 2005, Hamas announced its intention to launch an experimental TV channel, "Al-Aqsa". The station was launched on January 7, 2006, less than three weeks before the Palestinian legislative elections. It included a TV show for children. Military Activity and Terrorism
Suicide Attacks
thumb|250px|The wreckage of a bus in Jerusalem after a suicide bombing by Hamas on June 18, 2002 in which 20 people were killed. Hamas' first use of suicide bombing occurred on April 16, 1993 when a suicide bomber driving an explosive-laden van detonated between two buses parked at a restaurant. It was Hamas' 19th known attack since 1989 (the others being shootings, kidnappings and knife attacks). Hamas attacks (1988-2002) The Institute for Counter-Terrorism
Hamas continued to launch suicide attacks during the Oslo Accords period (see List of Hamas suicide attacks). During the second Intifada, Hamas, along with the Islamic Jihad Movement, spearheaded the violence through the years of the Palestinian uprising. Since then Hamas has conducted many attacks on Israel, mainly through its military wing - the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. These attacks have included large-scale suicide bombings against Israeli civilian targets, the most deadly of which was the bombing of a Netanya hotel on March 27, 2002, in which 30 people were killed and 140 were wounded. This attack has also been referred to as the Passover massacre since it took place on the first night of the Jewish festival of Passover. Overall, from November 2000 to April 2004, 377 Israeli citizens and soldiers were killed and 2,076 wounded in 425 attacks by Hamas. (Source: IDF website.) The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains a comprehensive list of Hamas attacks. A few female suicide bombers, including a mother of six and a mother of two children under the age of 10 have also executed suicide bombing. In May 2006 Israel arrested Hamas top official Ibrahim Hamed whom Israeli security officials claim was responsible for dozens of suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis. The highest year of suicide bomber kills is from 2002 with 141 deaths. This is because of the Qassam Rocket being produced at this time. Shelling and Rocket Attacks
Hamas shelled the Gush Katif Israeli settlements in Gaza with homemade mortars. About 5500 mortar shells had landed in Gush Katif, killing 3 people before the settlements were dismantled. Since 2002, Hamas has used homemade Qassam rockets to hit Israeli towns in the Negev, such as Sderot. The introduction of the Qassam-2 rocket has allowed Hamas to reach large Israeli cities such as Ashkelon, bringing great concern to the Israeli populace and many attempts by the Israeli military to stop the proliferation and use of the rockets. Guerilla Warfare
Hamas has made great use of guerrilla tactics in the Gaza Strip and to a lesser degree the West Bank. Hamas has successfully adapted these techiniques over the years since its inception. Various ambiguous yet continuing remarks coming from inside Hamas indicate that they have earmarked a large percentage of their resources into importing into the territories the types of weapons and techniques used in Iraq against coalition forces as well as those used by Hezbollah in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. Successful use of IED's (Improvised Explosive Devices) and anti-tank missiles against Israeli Military incursions into the Gaza Strip have proven highly effective in both casualties inflicted upon the Israeli forces, as well as slowing or stopping these incursions in their tracks. Furthermore, the IDF has a difficult, if not impossible time trying to find hidden weapons caches in Palestinian areas - this due to the high local support base Hamas enjoys in Gaza. Civilian blending
In addition to killing Israeli civilians, Hamas has also attacked Israeli military and security forces (occasionally inside Israel), suspected Palestinian collaborators, and Fatah rivals. Fatah, Hamas gunbattles kill 7 (Toronto Star) October 1, 2006
On June 5, 2006 the Israel Defense Forces projected that it is headed toward another violent round of clashes with the Palestinians since Hamas came to power in recent legislative elections. This prediction follows a period of relative calm, although many explosives and suspected suicide bombers have been caught at Israeli security checkpoints. Call to attack United States targets
On November 8, 2006 the military wing of Hamas called on Muslims around the world to attack American targets. "America is offering political, financial and logistic cover for the Zionist occupation crimes, and it is responsible for the Beit Hanoun massacre. Therefore, the people and the nation all over the globe are required to teach the American enemy tough lessons," Hamas said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-led Palestinian government said, however, that the group had no intention of attacking American targets. It has been argued that Hamas threatens the United States due to the number of alleged Hamas covert cells the FBI and United States Department of Justice are aware of on U.S. soil.United States v. ISBN 1-56432-280-7 On April 20, 2009, HRW published its report titled Under Cover of War Hamas, Political Violence in Gaza. In May 2006 Israel arrested top Hamas official Ibrahim Hamed, who Israeli security officials said was responsible for dozens of suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis. According to a website relaying a report published in Haaretz, a leading Hamas figure, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, stated in May 2003 that the organization was "prepared to stop terrorism against Israeli civilians if Israel stops killing Palestinian civilians ... We have told (Palestinian Authority Prime Minister) Abu Mazen in our meetings that there is an opportunity to stop targeting Israeli civilians if the Israelis stop assassinations and raids and stop brutalizing Palestinian civilians."</blockquote>
In 2008, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, offered to attack only military targets if the "IDF refrained from killing any Palestinian civilians." Mashaal also said that Gilad Shalit was being "treated well" and the "Holocaust was exaggerated" by the Zionist movement. Mashaal said Israel is "exaggerating" Hamas military capability in "an attempt to justify its aggression and justify more aggression and more brutality." The Israeli army believes Hamas possesses missiles and rockets that are capable of hitting cities as far as Haifa.Mashaal offers to cease civilian attacks March 31, 2008, Jerusalem Post
During the Second Intifada, Hamas, along with the Islamic Jihad Movement, were primarily responsible for military actions and other violence directed against Israel. Hamas has conducted its actions mainly through its military wing – the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Since 2002, paramilitary soldiers of Hamas and other groups have used homemade Qassam rockets to hit Israeli towns in the Negev, such as Sderot killing fifteen people and wounding dozens.Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism. September 2000 to January 27, 2009 Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hamas has claimed responsibility for most of these attacks,Abbas: Hamas truce violations are an exception, won't continue – Haaretz – Israel News (see List of Qassam rocket attacks), and has condoned them when it did not acknowledge responsibility. Following the June 19, 2008 ceasefire, Hamas ended its rocket attacks and arrested Fatah militants who had continued sporadic Qassam attacks. Hamas resumed the attacks after the November 4 Israeli incursion into Gaza.Qassam lands in western Negev, no injuries Ynet News November 20, 2008 The introduction of the Qassam-2 rocket has enabled Palestinian paramilitary groups to reach, from Gaza, such Israeli cities such as Ashkelon.BICOM Fact Sheet 2: Ashkelon – The Changing Scenario BICOM. 2008-05-03. Rocket attacks on Israel
According to Human Rights Watch, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups have launched thousands of rockets into Israel since 2001, killing 15 civilians, wounding many more, and posing an ongoing threat to the nearly 800,000 Israeli civilians who live and work in the weapons’ range. Hamas officials have said that the rockets were aimed only at military targets, saying that civilian casualties were the "accidental result" of the weapons’ poor quality. According to Human Rights Watch statements by Hamas leaders suggest that the purpose of the rocket attacks was indeed to strike civilians and civilian objects. From January 2009, Hamas largely stopped launching rocket attacks on Israel and has on at least two occasions arrested members of other groups who have launched rockets, "showing that it has the ability to impose the law when it wants".HRW report April 11, 2010 In February, 2010, Hamas issued a statement regretting any harm that may have befallen Israeli civilians as a result of Palestinian rocket attacks during the Gaza war. It maintained that its rocket attacks had been aimed at Israeli military targets but lacked accuracy and hence sometimes hit civilian areas. Israel responded that Hamas had boasted repeatedly of targeting and murdering civilians in the media.Al-Mughrabi, Nidal, "Hamas "regrets" civilian deaths, Israel unmoved," Reuters, February 5, 2010. Attempts to derail 2010 peace talks
In 2010, Hamas, who have been actively sidelined from the peace talks by Israel, spearheaded a coordinated effort by 13 Palestinian militant groups, in attempt to derail the stalled peace talks between Israel and Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority. According to the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Major Gen. Eitan Dangot, Israel seeks to work with Salam Fayyad, to help revive the Palestinian economy, and hopes to hopes to ease restrictions on the Gaza Strip further, "while somehow preventing the Islamic militants who rule it from getting credit for any progress". According to Dangot, Hamas must not be seen as ruling successfully or be allowed to "get credit for a policy that would improve the lives of people."Israeli General Lays Out Plan For Reviving Gaza The campaign consists of attacks against Israelis in which, according to a Hamas declaration in early September, "all options are open"."Islamist groups attempt to derail Middle East talks," Mark Weiss, September 4, 2010, Irish Times."Hamas targets Israeli-Palestinian talks by killing four Israelis; Hamas took responsibility for the fatal shooting of four Israeli settlers outside Hebron today, on the eve of Israeli-Palestinian talks in Washington," Joshua Mitnick, August 31, 2010, Christian Science Monitor."Hamas to launch 'more effective attacks' on Israel," September 3, 2010, Jerusalem Post."The Shadow of Hamas," Staff Editorial, September 8, 2010, Washington Post. The participating groups also include Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and an unnamed splinter group of Fatah.Gaza militants vow wave of attacks against Israel, Reuters 02-09-2010
As part of the campaign, on August 31, 2010, 4 Israeli settlers, including a pregnant woman, were killed by Hamas militants while driving on Route 60 near the settlement Kiryat Arba, in the West bank. According to witnesses, militants opened fire on the moving vehicle, but then "approached the car" and shot the occupants in their seats at "close range". The attack was described by Israeli sources as one of the "worst" terrorist acts in years.4 "Israeli Settlers Killed in West Bank," New York Times, August 31, 2010.Abbas condemns Hamas attack; 4 Israelis shot dead A senior Hamas official said that Israeli settlers in the West Bank are legitimate targets since "they are an army in every sense of the word".4 Israelis killed by HamasHamas official: Israeli settlers are a legitimate military target
Themes of martyrdom
thumb|Izz al-Din Shuheil al-Masri, perpetrator of the 2001 Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing. According to a translation by Palestinian Media Watch, in 2008, Fathi Hamad, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, stated on Al-Aqsa TV, “For the Palestinian people death became an industry, at which women excel and so do all people on this land: the elderly excel, the Jihad fighters excel, and the children excel. Accordingly (Palestinians) created a human shield of women, children, the elderly and the Jihad fighters against the Zionist bombing machine, as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: 'We desire death as you desire life'.""Hamas explains using civilians as human shields", Palestinian Media Watch, (December 28, 2008). In 2010, Hamas speaker Ahmad Bahr praised the virtues of martyrdom and Jihad, and said that 2.5 million black-eyed virgins were waiting in the Garden of Eden which could be entered only by prophets, by the righteous, and by martyrs. He continued by saying that nobody on Earth "will be able to confront the resistance, or to confront the mujahideen, those who worship Allah and seek martyrdom."The Middle East Research Institute, Special Dispatch No.3227: Hamas PLC Speaker Ahmad Bahr: 2.5 Million Virgins Await the Prophets, the Righteous, and the Martyrs in a Single Palace in the Garden of Eden, September 13, 2010
Guerrilla warfare
Hamas has made great use of guerrilla tactics in the Gaza Strip and to a lesser degree the West Bank. It has successfully adapted these techniques over the years since its inception. According to a 2006 report by rival Fatah party, Hamas had smuggled between several hundred and 1,300 tons of advanced rockets, along with other weaponry, into Gaza. Hamas has used IEDs and anti-tank rockets against the IDF in Gaza. The latter include standard RPG-7 warheads and home-made rockets such as the Al-Bana, Al-Batar and Al-Yasin. The IDF has a difficult, if not impossible time trying to find hidden weapons caches in Palestinian areas — this is due to the high local support base Hamas enjoys. Other targets and activities
In addition to killing Israeli civilians and armed forces, Hamas has also attacked suspected Palestinian collaborators, and Fatah rivals.Fatah, Hamas gunbattles kill 7 (Toronto Star) October 1, 2006 In the wake of the Israeli invasion of Gaza in January 2009, Hamas has been accused of systematically rounding up, torturing and summarily executing Fatah supporters suspected of supplying information to Israel.San Francisco Chronicle January 22, 2009 Hamas executes suspected Fatah traitors in Gaza
On February 2007, members of the Palestinian Red Crescent, speaking on conditions of anonymity, said that Hamas had confiscated their humanitarian supply convoys that were destined for Palestinian civilians. Human Rights Watch has cited a number of summary executions as particular examples of violations of the rules of warfare, including the case of Muhammad Swairki, 28, a cook for Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's presidential guard, who was thrown to his death, with his hands and legs tied, from a 15-story apartment building in Gaza City.Gaza: Armed Palestinian Groups Commit Grave Crimes, Human Rights Watch, June 13, 2007. Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups are accused of frequently extrajudicially executing or otherwise punishing those considered collaborators with Israel. Frequent killings of unarmed people have also occurred during Hamas-Fatah clashes. Thousands of angry Hamas loyalists marched on February 24, 2008 at the funeral of a Muslim preacher who died in PNA custody, turning the ceremony into a rare show of defiance against President Mahmoud Abbas.Angered by preacher's death, protesters stand against Abbas – CNN.com
On August 14, 2009 Hamas fighters stormed the Mosque of radical cleric Abdel-Latif Moussa. The cleric was protected by at least 100 fighters from Jund Ansar Allah ("Army of the Helpers of God"), an Islamist group with links to Al-Qaeda. The resulting battle left at least 13 people dead, including Moussa and 6 Hamas fighters, and 120 people injured. International designation of Hamas
Country DesignationThe military wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, is listed as a terrorist organization.Listing of Terrorist Organisations, Australian Government Attorney-General's Department, January 27, 2006. Retrieved July 31, 2006.Lists Hamas as a terrorist group in the Canadian Criminal Code.Currently listed entries, Public Security and Emergency Preparedness Canada, National Security, Listed entities. Retrieved Sep 22, 2010."Hamas is listed as a terrorist group in the Criminal Code of Canada." Tibbetts, Janice. Canada shuts out Hamas ,The Montreal Gazette, March 30, 2006.Hamas has been included in the black list of EU-designated terrorists groups since 2003 Hamas is added to EU's blacklist of terror , By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor, 12 Sep 2003, The Telegraph. "The European Union yesterday put Hamas on its blacklist of terrorist organisations."
Council Common Position 2003/651/CFSP, 12 September 2003 lists "Hamas (including Hamas-Izz al-Din al-Qassem)"
Council Common Position 2006/380/CFSP of 29 May 2006 updating Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism and repealing Common Position 2006/231/CFSP lists "Hamas (including Hamas-Izz al-Din al-Qassem)"
EU Nations Agree to Freeze Hamas Assets, Fox News, September 06, 2003
EU/MIDDLE EAST: HAMAS OFFICIALLY INCLUDED ON BLACKLIST OF TERRORIST ORGANISATIONS, Tuesday 16 September 2003, European Report
Hamas is added to EU's blacklist of terror, By Anton La Guardia,12 Sep 2003
BBC: EU blacklists Hamas political wing , BBC
BBC: Hamas was put on the EU terror list in 2003, BBC
Solana Denies Direct Contact With Hamas, The Moscow Times
Mr. Solana goes to Damascus for some peace talks, New EuropeThe Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that "Hamas maintains a terrorist infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank, and acts to carry out terrorist attacks in the territories and Israel."The Financial Sources of the Hamas Terror Organization, 2003-07-30Stated in 2005 that it had frozen the assets of "terrorist organizations, including... Hamas."."In accordance with the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law, it [Japan] has frozen the assets of ... 472 terrorists and terrorist organizations, including Al-Qaeda ... as well as those of Hamas ..."Banned Hamas in 1999Karmi, Omar. "What does the Hamas victory mean for nearby Jordan?", The Daily Star, February 18, 2006Norway was the first Western country to recognize the 2007 Palestinian government consisting of both Hamas and Fatah, and Norwegian officials have met with Hamas representatives on several occasions. "We know that the USA and the EU have legal obligations since they have Hamas on their terrorist list. We must be able to take an independent decision about contact," Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Gahr Støre responded to a 2006 United States' attempt to dissuade Norwegian contact with Hamas.Russia does not designate Hamas a terrorist organisation, and held direct talks with Hamas in 2006, after Hamas won the Palestine elections, stating that it did so to press Hamas to reject violence and recognise Israel. An Israeli official has said that Russia will reduce its ties to Hamas.Naami, Saleh. "Moscow to distance itself from Hamas." ahramOnline, 15 December 2010.Switzerland does not forbid any organizations except Al Qaida. Swiss officials have met with Hamas representatives, and the Swiss Federal Council has condemned the "crimes" committed by the Hamas as "terrorist attacks".The Turkish government met with Hamas leaders in February, 2006, after the organization's victory in the Palestinian elections. In 2010, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described Hamas as "resistance fighters who are struggling to defend their land."Hamas is not terrorist group: Turkish PM accessdate=2010-09-05 date=2010-06-05 publisher=Ottawa Citizen; Turkish FM Davutoğlu meets Hamas chief amid Israel row accessdate=2010-09-05 date=2010-07-20 publisher=HurriyetHamas as a whole was designated a terrorist organization by the UK Government in 2003 with no distinction made between its military and non-military wings.Response to Interpal inquiry by Charity Commission By John Ware, BBC. 2 March 2009Lists Hamas as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization"
United States designation of Hamas
The United States has taken a strong stand against Hamas because of its use of violence and its opposition to U.S. interests in the Middle East. There is added concern on the part of U.S. policymakers because of reports that Hamas is receiving support from Iran and is collaborating with its Lebanese client, Hezbullah. The Hamas representative in Iran denied the allegation that it had received $30 million from Iran in 1992, but he acknowledged Iranian assistance to `Palestinian groups.' In particular, Hamas militants have been given refuge in southern Lebanon where they receive training and support from Hezbollah guerrillas. The accumulation of evidence was persuasive enough to convince the State Department to add Hamas to its U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations in April 1993. , Hamas is still listed. The FBI and United States Department of Justice have stated that Hamas threatens the United States through covert cells on US soil.United States v. Abu Marzook. No. 03 CR 978 12. IL District Ct. 2005.Lake, Eli. "Hamas Agents Lurking in U.S., FBI Warns." New York Sun. 29 April 2004. 10 December 2006. Hamas has, however, repeatedly stated that it is only interested in operations against the Israeli occupation and not one single terrorist attack outside Israel/Gaza/West Bank has ever been attributed to Hamas. History
Brief timeline
1984 Arrest of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, condemned to 12 years of prison after the discovery of an arms cache. Yassin is freed the next year. 1987 Creation of Hamas by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. 1987-1993 First Intifada. 1988 Hamas Covenant. 1989 Israel outlaws Hamas and imprisons Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. 1991 Gulf War. 1992 Creation of the military branch Izz ad-Din al-Qassam. 1993 Oslo Accords. April 1993. First Hamas suicide bombing at Mehola Junction. Palestinian legislative and presidential election, 1996. Hamas boycotts them, allowing the Fatah, led by Yasser Arafat, a large victory. January 5, 1996. Assassination of Yahya Ayyash, Hamas bomb maker. February-March 1996. 47 Israelis killed in three different bombings. October 1997. Freed by Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for "humanitarian reasons" (actually, due to the botched assassination attempt on Khaled Mashal, in September 25, 1997 by the Mossad in Jordan, a deal was brokered by Bill Clinton between Israel and Jordan) Sheikh Yassin is acclaimed as hero at his return to Gaza. September 2000. Beginning of Al-Aqsa Intifada. July 2002. Assassination of Salah Shahade, leader of the Ezzedeen-al-qassam brigades. January 6, 2004. 10 year truce (hudna) offered by senior Hamas official Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi in exchange of Israel's complete withdrawal to the 1967 borders. March 22 2004, assassination of Sheikh Yassin. Yassin, then an old man restricted to a wheel-chair due to his life-long paralysis was assassinated in an Israeli missile strike. Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi replaced him as the leader of Hamas. On March 28, Rantissi stated in a speech given at The Islamic University in Gaza that "America declared war against God. Sharon declared war against God, and God declared war against America, Bush and Sharon" . April 17, 2004, assassination of Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi. Rantissi was also assassinated in an air strike by the Israeli Air Force, five hours after a fatal suicide bombing by Hamas. Khaled Mashal, the leader of Hamas in Syria, said Hamas should not disclose the name of its next leader in Gaza. April 18 2004, Hamas secretly selected a new leader in the Gaza Strip, fearing he would be killed if his identity were made public. However, it was speculated that the new leader is Mahmoud al-Zahar; the second-in-command, Ismail Haniya; and third-in-command, Sa'id A-Siyam. September 2004. Israeli army Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon said that Israel would "deal with [...] those who support terrorism", including those in "terror command posts in Damascus". September 26, 2004. Assassination of Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil. Sheikh Khalil was assassinated by a car bomb in Damascus, Syria. Khalil was described variously as "mid-level", "senior", a "distinguished member", and believed to be in charge of the group's military wing outside the Palestinian territories. Although the Israeli government offered no official confirmation, anonymous Israeli officials acknowledged responsibility for the attack. In a statement released in Gaza, Hamas threatened to target Israelis abroad in retaliation. October 2004. Assassination of Adnan al-Ghoul, assistant of Mohammed Deif, the leader of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam brigades. November 11, 2004. Death of Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and president of the Palestinian National Authority. January 2005 Palestinian presidential election. Hamas boycotts them. PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas elected to replace Yasser Arafat. Palestinian municipal elections, January-May 2005. Relative success of Hamas, which took control of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, Qalqilyah in the West Bank and Rafah. March 2005. Hamas proclaims tahdiyah, a period of calm. January 25, 2006. Victory of the Hamas at the legislative election, which took 74 seats of the 132 seats. Before 1987 - Palestinian Islamic activities prior to the creation of Hamas
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin returned to Gaza from Cairo in the 1970s, where he set up Islamic charities, founding Hamas in 1987 as an offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. According to the Israeli weekly Koteret Rashit (October 1987), "The Islamic associations as well as the [Islamic university - founded in 1978 in Gaza] had been supported and encouraged by the Israeli military authority" in charge of the (civilian) administration of the West Bank and Gaza. "They [the Islamic associations and the university] were authorized to receive money payments from abroad." By the end of 1992, there were 600 mosques in Gaza. Hamas attracted members through preaching and charitable work before spreading its influence into trade unions, universities, bazaars, professional organizations and local government political races beginning in December 2004. “Thanks to Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad (Israel’s Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks), the Islamists were allowed to reinforce their presence in the occupied territories. Meanwhile, the members of Fatah (Movement for the National Liberation of Palestine) and the Palestinian Left were subjected to the most brutal form of repression”, according to L'Humanité. Indeed Israel supported and encouraged Hamas' early growth in an effort to undermine the secular Fatah movement of Yasser Arafat. According to UPI, Israel supported Hamas starting in the late 1970s as a "counterbalance to the Palestine Liberation Organization". At that time, Hamas's focus was on "religious and social work". The grassroots movement concentrated on social issues such as exposing corruption, administration of waqf (trusts) and organizing community projects. 1987 - The establishment of Hamas
The acronym "Hamas" first appeared in 1987 in a leaflet which accused the Israeli intelligence services of undermining the moral fiber of Palestinian youth as part of Mossad's recruitment of what Hamas termed "collaborators". The use of violence by Hamas appeared almost contemporaneously with the First Intifada, beginning with the beating of Palestinians working with the Israeli government, progressing to attacks against Israeli military targets and moving on to violence aimed at civilians. As its methods have changed over the last twenty years, so has its rhetoric, now effectively claiming that Israeli civilians are "military targets" by virtue of living in a state with universal military conscription. The first Hamas suicide bombing was committed in April 1993 at Mehola Junction. 1991 - The Persian Gulf war
Between February and April 1988, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin raised several millions dollars from the Gulf states, which had withdrawn their funding from Fatah following its official support of Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf War. In prison since 1989, Yassin was released under “humanitarian reasons” by Prime Minister Netanyahu following a failed assassination attempt on Khaled Mashal, and expelled to Jordan, from where he was allowed to return to Gaza in October 1997. The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military branch, was created a year before the Oslo Accords, in an attempt to block those negotiations. 2004 - A 10-year truce
On January 26 2004, senior Hamas official Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi offered a 10-year truce, or hudna, in return for a complete withdrawal by Israel from the territories captured in the Six Day War, and the establishment of a Palestinian state (it remade the same offer after winning the majority in the PLC, accepting the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative ). Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin stated that the group could accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Rantissi confirmed that Hamas had come to the conclusion that it was "difficult to liberate all our land at this stage, so we accept a phased liberation." He said the truce could last 10 years, though "not more than 10 years". From the time of an attack on the Israeli southern town of Be'er Sheva in August 2004, in which 15 people were killed and 125 wounded, the truce was generally observed. Hamas violated once, in August 2005, with an attack on the same bus station, wounding seven, and in several attacks on Israeli motorists - killing six in several attacks. End of January 2004, Steve Cohen, US civil servant mandated by the State Department and Colin Powell, assisted to a meeting with Hamas officials, according to the French newspaper Le Canard enchaîné. The mission was not only in informing itself about the objectives of the movement, according to the newspaper, but also to evaluate if Hamas could represent a counter-balance to al-Qaeda. In exchange, Hamas officials asked for the end of extra-judicial "targeted assassinations" practiced against them by the Israeli military. While the group boycotted the 2005 Palestinian presidential election, it did participate in the 2005 municipal elections organized by Yassir Arafat in the occupied territories. In those elections it won control of over one third of Palestinian municipal councils, besting Fatah, which has traditionally been "the biggest force in Palestinian politics". With this electoral success behind it, Hamas contested the 2006 elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council as the main component of the List of Change and Reform. 2005 - Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
In 2004, in a prelude to Israel's unilateral disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces carried out a number of military attacks on Gaza cities and refugees camps, seeking to draw out and kill Hamas-affiliated gunmen. Awareness of high casualties during such incursions has led the Hamas leadership to instruct its activists to avoid putting themselves needlessly in the line of fire. On 12 September 2005 IDF withdrew from the Gaza Strip and declared an official end to Israeli military rule in Gaza, though Israel still retains control of the airspace and of the sea. However, the Palestinan Authority argues that the occupation is on-going, as complete sovereignty includes control of both airspace and seaways. The Gaza strip has been called an "open-air prison". Hamas claimed that this unilateral withdrawal was a victory for its armed struggle and pledged to liberate all the occupied territories, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Fatah, on the other hand, viewed Ariel Sharon's unilateral plan as proof of the Palestinians' failure to obtain international recognition. Both criticized the disengagement plan, citing Sharon's simultaneous encouragement of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including Ma'ale Adummim, a large settlement east of Jerusalem. In April 2005, an advisor of hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu, principal right-wing opponent of Ariel Sharon, secretly negotiated with a Hamas representant, according to the Le Canard enchaîné. The meeting was about the "possibility of an administrative co-gestion with the Hamas in the occupied territories", which is already the case in some Hamas-controlled cities of the West Bank, according to the French newspaper, which continues saying that: "But, in both sides, participants to such a dialogue keeps their mouth shut (bouche cousue). It is impossible to admit that one has met and negotiated with his sworn enemy."
January 2006 - Winning the legislative election
While Hamas had boycotted the January 2005 presidential election, during which Mahmoud Abbas was elected to replace Yasser Arafat, it did participate in the municipal elections held between January and May 2005, in which it took control of Beit Lahia in Gaza, Qalqilyah in the West Bank and Rafah. The January 2006 legislative elections marked another victory for Hamas, which gained the majority of seats, defeating the ruling Fatah party. The "List of Change and Reform", as Hamas presented itself, obtained 42.9% of the vote and 74 of the 132 seats.The CEC announces the final results of the second PLC elections
Political decisions and consequences on economy
The result of the election was regarded as a major setback for governments attempting to mediate the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The George W. Bush administration immediately declared that it will not deal with Hamas until it renounces its support of suicide bombings and violence, and accepts Israel's right to exist. Israeli president Moshe Katsav and Israel's ex-prime minister Shimon Peres both said that, if Hamas will accept Israel's right to exist and give up violence, Israel should negotiate with the organization. President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would not support any efforts to cut off financial assistance to the Palestinians, stating that Hamas gained power by democratic means. He invited some Hamas leaders to Moscow beginning of March 2006, and in May, repeated that cutting funds to the Hamas was a "mistake". The US and the EU cut all funds to the Palestinian Authority, with only Russia warning against the potential dangers of cutting out the PA from any western support. The EU (which gives $500 million per year to the PA) announced that future aid to the Palestinians was tied to "Three Principles" outlined by the international community — Hamas must renounce violence, it must recognize Israel's right to exist and it must express clear support for the Middle East peace process, as outlined in the 1993 Oslo Accords. Hamas does not seems to be ready to accept such conditions, and rejected them as "unfair"."Hamas rejects 'unfair' aid demand", BBC News, January 31, 2006 At best, they would be ready to accept the Arab Peace Initiative formulated on March 28, 2002 during the Arab League Beirut Summit: full normalization of relations with Israel in exchange for Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 internationally recognized borders, implying Israeli evacuation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, east Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the return of all Palestinian refugees and their descendants. Furthermore, the US has imposed a financial blockade on the PA's banks, impeding some of the Arab League's funds (e.g. Saudi Arabia and Qatar) from being transferred to the PA. Israel, on the other side, decided to cut transfers of the $55 million tax-receipts of the PA that it receives on the PA's behalf, since the PA doesn't have any access point to receive taxes. On February 19, 2006, interim Israeli Prime minister Ehud Olmert, who called the PA a "terrorist authority", decided to stop transfer of the $55 million tax-receipts to the PA, which accounts for a third of the PA's budget (two thirds of its proper budget) and insure the wages of 165 000 Palestinian civil servants (among them 60 000 security and police officers). The salary of the Palestinian civil servants permits a third of the Palestinian population to live. Israel had already done that in 1991 and 1992, but international aid had covered up the budgetary losses. Israel also decided to increase controls on check-points, but finally decided against blocking Palestinians from commuting between Gaza and the West Bank and from prohibiting them to work in Israel. Criticizing these measures, moderate Labour leader Amir Peretz said that they were "indirect ways" to "get around Hamas and strengthen moderate forces" among the Palestinians. In May 2006, following a World Bank report about the Palestinian economy, the Quartet on the Middle East (the United States, Russia, European Union, and the United Nations) agreed to transfer funds directly to the Palestinian population. Israeli minister of foreign affairs, Tzipi Livni, said the measure was "acceptable", while PA minister of foreign affairs, Mahmoud Zahar, welcomed the promise of aid but criticised attempts to bypass the PA: "We appreciate every effort in order to help the Palestinian people by legal channels... and the legal channel is the Palestinian Authority, whether the presidency or the government,"."Palestinians to get interim aid", BBC News, May 10, 2006
The World Bank had already compared the 2001 and 2002 economic recession, due to the Second Intifada and Israel's refusal to transfer tax receipts, to the 1929 economic crisis. The UN underlined that unemployment, which was estimated to 23% in 2005, would increase to 39% in 2006, while poverty, estimated at 44%, would increase to 67% in 2006. According to a World Bank report published on May 7, 2006, the delay in paying the PA's civil servants — whom haven't received their wages since March 2006 — is dangerous both on social and security plans. This convinced the United States to accept the EU proposal, supported by Russia and the Arab countries, of finding a way to transfer funds to the Palestinian society without passing by the Palestinian Authority. The Quartet on the Middle East thus accepted, on May 9, 2006, an "international temporary mechanism of limited range and length"
Last Fatah measures
Before the Israeli decision to cut transfer of tax receipts, Palestinian Assembly passed legislation giving to the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, the power to appoint a court that could veto legislation passed by the new Hamas-led parliament to be sworn in start of February. The constitutional court would veto legislation deemed in violation of the Palestinians' Basic Law, a forerunner to the Palestinian constitution. Palestinian deputies also backed a decree which automatically makes members of the incoming parliament members of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) parliament in exile. Unlike the Hamas charter, the PLO charter recognises the legitimacy of Israel. Hamas' declarations since the 2006 legislative elections
Although Hamas omitted its call for the destruction of Israel from its election manifesto, calling instead for "the establishment of an independent state whose capital is Jerusalem," several Hamas candidates insisted that the charter remains in force. On February 8, Hamas head Khaled Mashal speaking in Cairo had clarified that "Anyone who thinks Hamas will change is wrong", stating that while Hamas is willing for a ceasefire with Israel, its long term goal remains: elimination of Israel by Islam via a jihad against what Hamas sees as Zionist Jewish settler-colonial invaders in all of what he called Palestine. However, on February 13, 2006, in an interview in Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the same Khaled Mashal declared that Hamas would stop armed struggle against Israel if it recognized the 1967 borders, withdrew itself from all Palestinian occupied territories (including the West Bank and East Jerusalem) and recognized Palestinian rights which would include the "right of return". This was the first time that Hamas even talked about an eventual stop to armed struggle. But Mashal continued to refuse to acknowledge the Road map for peace, adopted by the Quartet in June 2003, "since nobody respects it". The Road map projected the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in 2005. In May 2006, Hamas leaders threatened a new Intifada, as well as to decapitate anyone who tried to bring down their cabinet.Abu Toameh, Khaled. Hamas armed force readies for action, The Jerusalem Post, May 6, 2006. Cabinet formation
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and his cabinet resigned, leaving Hamas to form a new government, which was completely formed on March 20. On February 19, Hamas had chosen Ismail Haniya as Prime minister of the PA, and on the same day the government of Israel decided counter-measures against the new Hamas-led Palestinian Authority (suspension of $55 million transfer of tax-receipts). After the victory, Israeli human rights organizations have called on Hamas to stop its terror campaign against civilians and to avoid using violence as a tool to achieve a political solution. On March 20, 2006, Hamas unveiled its full cabinet list, placing loyal members in charge of all key ministries; of the 24 ministers appointed, the majority were Hamas (the others were independent or technocrats). Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah refused to join the Hamas government. The position of foreign minister was given to Mahmoud al-Zahar, a Gazan leader and target of previous assassination attempts by Israel. Saeed Seyam, another Hamas leader, was appointed interior minister, in charge of multiple security agencies. Hamas member and engineer Ala el-Deen Al-Araj was appointed economics minister. The position of finance minister was given to Omar Abdel-Razeq, Hamas election official and economics professor from the West Bank. In his interview to The Sunday Telegraph, the newly appointed chief of the Palestinian security services Jamal Abu Samhadana stated: "We have only one enemy. They are Jews. We have no other enemy. I will continue to carry the rifle and pull the trigger whenever required to defend my people." However, president Mahmoud Abbas retained official control over the Palestinian security services. Tensions between Fatah and Hamas
Since the formation of the new Hamas cabinet on March 20, 2006, tensions have progressively risen in the Gaza strip between Fatah and Hamas militants. In May 2006, The Sunday Times reported that Israeli security sources claimed they had uncovered a Hamas plot to assassinate president Mahmoud Abbas.Mahnaimi, Uzi. Israel foils plot to kill Palestinian president , The Sunday Times, May 7, 2006. This was officially denied by a Hamas spokesman, while Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina, described the report as "totally untrue"."Un complot visant Abbas aurait été déjoué grace aux Israéliens", L'Orient-Le Jour, May 8, 2006. On May 8, three Palestinians were killed and 10 wounded in clashes in southern Gaza, near Khan Yunis, between rival Hamas and Fatah gunmen. The PA, confronted to the Quartet's blockade and Israel's refusal to hand out the $55 million in monthly tax revenues impedes it from paying its 165,000 employees (whose wages allow a third of the Palestinian population to live). On May 6 and 7, hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in Gaza and the West Bank demanding payment of their wages. Although this inter-Palestinian incident was one of the most serious since January, tension has been slowly risen with the "economic squeeze" on the PA. Twelve people were killed during the first days of October 2006 in armed clashes between Fatah, and the Hamas Interior ministry police. These clashes started when the interior ministry militia forcibly dispersed a gathering of Policemen demonstrating against unpaid wages. The Fatah affliliated Al-Asqa brigades have threatened to assassinate Hamas leaders including Khaled Meshal, Saeed Seyam and Youssef al-Zahar. The Al-Asqua brigade kidnapped but then released a senior official in the Finance ministry. Agreement and preservation of national unity
On June 27, Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement on the prisoners' document which included the forming of a national unity government. 2006 Israel-Gaza conflict
On June 9, during or shortly after an Israeli operation, an explosion occurred on a busy Gaza beach, killing eight Palestinian civilians. It was initially assumed that Israeli shellings was responsible for the killings, although Israeli government officials later denied this. Prompted by the recent events Hamas formally withdrew from its 16-month ceasefire on June 10, and took responsibility for the ongoing Qassam rocket attacks being launched from Gaza into Israel. On June 24, 2006 Israeli operatives apprehended Osama and Mustafa Muamar in the Gaza Strip, alleged by Israel to be Hamas members.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5112846.stm On June 25, a Hamas attack in Israel resulted in the deaths of two Israeli soldiers and the capture of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit. Israel then launched Operation Summer Rains on June 28 to recover the captured soldier. The ongoing operation initially consisted of heavy bombardment of bridges, roads, and the only power station in Gaza. Several PA facilities were also bombed, such as the Palestinian Interior Ministry and the office of the Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya. On 29 June, Israel captured 64 Hamas officials. Amongst them were eight Palestinian Authority cabinet ministers and up to twenty members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, as well as heads of regional councils, and the mayor of Qalqilyah and his deputy. At least a third of the Hamas cabinet was captured and held by Israel. On 6 August Israeli forces detained the Hamas' Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Aziz Dweik, at his home in the West Bank. On November 2006 a 64 old grandmother executed a suicide bomb mission killing herself and injuring 2 Israeli soldiers slightly. Hamas claimed responsibility and its spokesman, Abu Obeida declared that "both Palestinian men and women are committed to battling the Israelis". Suicide bomber was grandmother aged 64
Legal action against Hamas
In 2004, a federal court in the United States found Hamas liable in a civil lawsuit for the 1996 murders of Yaron and Efrat Ungar near Bet Shemesh, Israel. Hamas has been ordered to pay the families of the Ungars $116 million. On July 5, 2004, the court issued a default judgment against the PNA and the PLO regarding the Ungars' claim that the Palestinian Authority and the PLO provide safe haven to Hamas. On August 20, 2004, three Palestinians, one a naturalized American citizen, were charged with a "lengthy racketeering conspiracy to provide money for terrorist acts in Israel". The indicted include Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, senior member of Hamas, believed to be currently in Damascus, Syria and considered a fugitive by the U.S.. In a 2002 report, Human Rights Watch stated that Hamas' leaders "should be held accountable for the war crimes and crimes against humanity" that have been committed by its members.Erased In A Moment: Suicide Bombing Attacks Against Israeli Civilians V. Structures and Strategies of the Perpetrator Organizations, Human Rights Watch, October, 2002. ISBN 1-56432-280-7
See also
List of Hamas suicide attacks
Palestinian territories
Hamastan
Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
Qassam rocket
Members of Hamas called Qawasameh
Palestinian political violence
Islamic fundamentalism
PLO and Hamas
Policide
List of political parties in the Palestinian National Authority
Terrorism against Israel
Human rights in the Palestinian National Authority
History of Fatah-Hamas tensions
Notes and references
External links
Hamas Charter
Who are Hamas (Al-Jazeera)
Website for the study of the ideas of Hamas, not the official website. Hamas in its own words
"The Palestinian Information Center" Mideast news from the Hamas point of view. In English. Hamas at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Israel
The Hamas organization is responsible for more than 425 terror attacks in Israel from November 6, 2000 to April 17, 2004 at IDF official website. Suicide Bomber's Father: Let Hamas and Jihad Leaders Send Their Own Sons a letter to the editor of the London Arabic-language daily Al-Hayat. October 8, 2002
Hamas Fact Sheet and Hamas in Their Own Words at ADL
Frequently Asked Questions About Hamas at ABC News
Springtime for Hamas by Diane West at The Jewish World Review, April 22, 2005
Hamas vs. America by Daniel Pipes. Published in The New York Sun on May 3, 2005
Hamas terrorist infrastructures in the regions of Hebron and Ramallah exposed by The Israel Security Agency, October 12, 2005
Hamas Without Veils. No more hiding behind the PA by Emanuele Ottolenghi in National Review, January 26, 2006
Political earthquake strikes as Hamas wins landslide by Kevin Simpson on CWI Website, January 29, 2006
BBC: Hamas urges EU not to end funding
The EU's new Palestine dilemma by Khaled Diab
Checkmate: the Hamas victory
Russia is Ready for Dialogue With HAMAS
Give Hamas Nothing for Free by Dennis Ross. (The Washington Post, p. B07. February 5, 2006)
Hamas Triumphant: Implications for Security, Politics, Economy, and Strategy. February 2006
A Hamas Government: Isolate or Engage? U.S. Institute of Peace Briefing, March 2006
Living Conditions Poll after a couple of months of hamas in government
Israel's Birthright and Right to Exist Compels Justice for Palestinian Peoples (Catholic viewpoint)
Category:Hamas
Category:Islam and antisemitism
Category:Anti-Zionism
Category:Designated terrorist organizations
Category:Arab nationalist political parties
National Liberation Movements
Category:Palestinian militant groups
Category:Political parties in Palestine
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zh:哈马斯 April 29, 2004. December 10, 2006. According to Steven Emerson,Hamas has an extensive infrastructure in the US mostly revolving around the activities of fundraising, recruiting and training members, directing operations against Israel, organizing political support and operating through human-rights front groups. While Hamas has not acted outside Israel, it has the capability of carrying out attacks in America if it decided to enlarge the scope of its operations.FBI director Robert Mueller has testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that, It is the FBI's assessment, at this time, that there is a limited threat of a coordinated terrorist attack in the US from Palestinian terrorist organizations, such as Hamas, the Palestine Islamic Jihad, and the al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade. These groups have maintained a longstanding policy of focusing their attacks on Israeli targets in Israel and the Palestinian territories. We believe that the primary interest of Palestinian terrorist groups in the US remains the raising of funds to support their regional goals. [...] Of all the Palestinian groups, Hamas has the largest presence in the US with a robust infrastructure, primarily focused on fundraising, propaganda for the Palestinian cause, and proselytizing. Although it would be a major strategic shift for Hamas, its US network is theoretically capable of facilitating acts of terrorism in the USFBI Press Room: Testimony of Robert S. Mueller, III, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, before the Senate Committee on Intelligence of the United States Senate. February 16, 2005
Public opinion of Hamas
In Arab countries
thumb|125px|Pro-Hamas rally in Damascus
In a 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Survey, 62% of Palestinians had a favorable opinion of Hamas, as do majorities or pluralities in Jordan and Morocco. Opinions of Hamas are divided in Egypt and Kuwait, and Hamas is viewed negatively in Turkey and Lebanon.Pew Research Center Global Attitudes Survey: Global Unease With Major World Powers, June 27, 2007
In Israel
In February 2008 a Haaretz poll indicated that 64% of Israelis favour their government holding direct talks with Hamas in Gaza about a cease-fire and the release of captives. According to a November 2009 survey conducted by Haaretz, 57% of Israelis support the view of MK Shaul Mofaz of Kadima, that Israel should establish a dialogue with Hamas under certain conditions, for example, that Hamas renounces violence, recognizes Israel's right to exist as a Jewish nation, and loses its designation as a terrorist organization. Hamas responded to this by labeling it "Zionist vulgarity" and stating that they will never negotiate with or recognize their "enemy", the state of Israel.Haaretz poll: 57% of Israelis support plan to talk to Hamas. By Yossi Verter, Haaretz Correspondent. Accessed: November 14, 2009. Legal action against Hamas
In the USA
The charitable trust Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development was accused in December 2001 of funding Hamas. The US Justice Department filed 200 charges against the foundation. The case first ended in a mistrial, in which jurors acquitted on some counts and were deadlocked on charges ranging from tax violations to providing material support for terrorists. In a retrial, on November 24, 2008, the five leaders of the Foundation were convicted on 108 counts. In 2004, a federal court in the United States found Hamas liable in a civil lawsuit for the 1996 murders of Yaron and Efrat Ungar near Bet Shemesh, Israel. Hamas has been ordered to pay the families of the Ungars $116 million.$116m awarded in terrorism suit The Boston Globe On July 5, 2004, the court issued a default judgment against the PNA and the PLO regarding the Ungars' said that the Palestinian Authority and the PLO provide safe haven to Hamas. On August 20, 2004, three Palestinians, one a naturalized American citizen, were charged with a "lengthy racketeering conspiracy to provide money for terrorist acts in Israel." The indicted include Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, senior member of Hamas, believed to be currently in Damascus, Syria and considered a fugitive by the US. On February 1, 2007, two men were acquitted of contravening US law by supporting Hamas. Both men argued that they helped move money for Palestinian causes aimed at helping the Palestinian people and not to promote terrorism. In January 2009, the FBI severed its once-close ties with the nation's largest Muslim advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, amid mounting evidence that it had links to a support network for Hamas. The Justice Department identified CAIR as an “un-indicted co-conspirator” in the Holy Land Foundation case in Dallas, which concluded with the sentencing of the two founders of the foundation to life in prison for funneling $12 million to Hamas. In Germany
A German federal court ruled in 2004 that Hamas was a unified organisation whose humanitarian aid work could not be separated from its "terrorist and political activities." In July 2010, Germany also outlawed Frankfurt-based International Humanitarian Aid Organization (IHH e.V.), saying it had used donations to support Hamas-affiliated relief projects in Gaza.Germany bans group accused of Hamas links, Ynet 07.12.10 While presenting their activities to donors as humanitarian assistance, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said, IHH e.V. had "exploited trusting donors’ willingness to help by using money that was given for a good purpose for supporting what is, in the final analysis, a terrorist organization.”Germany outlaws IHH over claimed Hamas links, Haaretz 12.07.10Germany IHH e.V. ban shameful, illegal, says group leader Today's Zaman, July 14, 2010 A spokesperson for the Islamic Human Rights Commission described the decision as "a victory for those who seek to stigmatise all Islamic activism as supporting terrorism."PRESS RELEASE: Germany – Banning of IHH stigmatises all Islamic humanitarian activism July 14, 2010
See also
Fatah-Hamas conflict
Hamastan
Human rights in the Palestinian National Authority
Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic terrorism
List of Hamas suicide attacks
List of political parties in the Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian political violence
PLO and Hamas
Islamization of Gaza
References
Bibliography
External links
Hamas official government Web site (In Arabic)
Sherifa Zuhur, Hamas and Israel: Conflicting Strategies of Group-Based Politics (PDF File) December 2008
Britannica
Hamas leaders CFR
Hamas Charter
The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) (includes interpretation)
Hamas Shifts From Rockets to Public Relations The New York Times, July 23, 2009
22 years on the start of Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades' Information Office
Fatah and Hamas Human Rights Violations in the Palestinian Occupied Territories in 2007 by Elizabeth Freed of Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group
Category:Anti-Zionism
Category:Islamic terrorism
Category:Islam and antisemitism
Category:Muslim Brotherhood
Category:National liberation movements
Category:Palestinian militant groups
Category:Palestinian political parties
Category:Palestinian nationalism
Category:Resistance movements
Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by the United States government
Category:Islamist groups
Category:Islamic fundamentalism
Category:Organizations established in 1987
Category:1987 establishments in the Palestinian territories
Category:Jihadist organizations
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Highlight colors show which account likely added that new text: Marokwitz