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Hamas

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Hamas Logo
Hamas Logo

Hamas, acronym of Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah (Arabic: Islamic Resistance Movement) is a Palestinian Islamist paramilitary and political organization. It was founded by Ahmed Yassin and Mohammad Taha in late 1987 as an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood and is dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Islamic state in Palestine. Hamas is led by Khaled Mashaal. Hamas' stronghold is the Gaza Strip, but it also operates in the West Bank.

Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by many countries, including United States, the European Union, and Israel. Part of its support rests on its provision of welfare and charity for the Palestinian poor as well as its militant views. Hamas is known in the West for using the tactic of suicide bombing against Israel, especially targeting civilians in busy city areas. Hamas also attacks the Israeli military and security forces in its effort to drive them from the West Bank and Gaza strip, and ultimately to eliminate the state of Israel and replace it with an Islamic state.

Background

Hamas regards Palestine, including all of present-day Israel, as an Islamic homeland that can never be surrendered to non-Muslims and asserts that waging holy struggle (jihad) to wrest control of Palestine from Israel is a religious duty for all Muslims. This position is more radical than that of the secular PLO, which in 1988 un-officially recognized Israel's right to exist. Hamas have referred to Israel as the Zionist crusaders, and likened themselves to the Muslim warrior Saladin.

According to the Washington Institute, 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." [1]

Hamas uses both political activities and violence such as suicide bombings (often directed against Israeli civilians) to pursue the goal of establishing an Islamic Palestinian state in place of Israel and the secular Palestinian Authority. As of 2004, Hamas' strength is concentrated in the Gaza Strip and a few areas of the West Bank. Israeli military operations during the Al Aqsa Intifada in 2002 put pressure on Hamas in the West Bank following several bloody bombings for which Hamas took responsibility. Hamas has also engaged in peaceful political activity, such as running candidates in West Bank Chamber of Commerce elections.

The Name

Hamas is an abbreviation of Mathaomos Alterkum-zazi Titikoid Tomugono (Arabic: Islamic Resistance Movement), and the name itself is colloquial Arabic for "enthusiasm". Its military wing is usually named 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 name themselves Students of Ayyash, Students of the Engineer or Yahya Ayyash Units, to commemorate Yahya Ayash, the bomb designer responsible for the deaths of more than 50 Israelis who was assassinated by Israel in 1996.

Beliefs

The founding charter of Hamas, written in 1988, states that its goal is to "raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine", i.e. to eliminate the State of Israel (and any secular Palestinian state which may be established), and replace it with an Islamic republic.

The charter cites a number of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories; it claims that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are genuine; and that the Freemasons, Lions Club, and the Rotarians all secretly "work in the interest of Zionism." Some Hamas members have alleged that the Jewish people are collectively responsible for the French Revolution, "Western colonialism", Communism, and both World Wars.

Top Hamas leaders have been promoters of Holocaust denial. Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi held that the Holocaust never occurred, that Zionists were behind the action of Nazis, and that Zionists funded Nazism.

History

Hamas was funded directly and indirectly during the 1970s and 1980s by various states including Saudi Arabia and Syria. The political/charitable arm of Hamas was officially registered and recognised within Israel at this time. Many experts agree that while Israel never supported Hamas directly, it did allow it to exist to oppose the secular Fatah movement of Yasser Arafat. The group abstained from politics throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, concentrating on moral and social issues such as attacks on corruption, administration of awqaf (trusts) and organizing community projects. Towards the mid-1980s, however, the movement underwent a takeover by the militant faction led by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. For a while, he preached immediate violence and was arrested by Israel for that. However he was released when he promised to stop the preaching and the movement continued to grow.

The acronym "Hamas" first appeared in 1987 in a leaflet accusing Israeli intelligence services of undermining the moral fibre of Palestinian youth as part of their recruitment of "collaborators". The use of force by Hamas appeared almost contemporaneously with the first Intifada, beginning with "punishments against collaborators", progressing to Israeli military targets and eventually actions targeted at civilians. As its methods have changed over the last thirty years, so has its rhetoric, now effectively claiming that Israeli civilians are "military targets" by virtue of living in a highly militarized state with a military draft.

According to the semi-official Hamas biography "Truth and existence", Hamas evolved through four main stages:

  1. 1967-1976: Construction of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gaza Strip in the face of "oppressive Israeli rule".
  2. 1976-1981: Geographical expansion through participation in professional associations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and institution-building, notably al-Mujamma` al-islami, al-Jam`iyya al-islamiyya, and the Islamic University in Gaza.
  3. 1981-1987: Political influence through establishment of the mechanisms of action and preparation for armed struggle.
  4. 1987: Founding of Hamas as the combatant arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine and the launching of a continuing jihad.

Since Hamas underwent a take-over in the mid-1980s (before that time being an organization with an extremely limited political scope), many experts might agree that Hamas' "real" history begins only from that time.

Whilst this reflects the activities of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, their colleagues in the West Bank had a very different development, with less emphasis at the beginning on the creation or control of public institutions. The Muslim Brotherhood movement in the West Bank constituted an integral part of the Jordanian Islamic movement, which for many years had been aligned with the Hashemite regime. Furthermore, the Muslim Brotherhood in the West Bank represented a higher socio-economic profile - merchants, landowners, and middle-class officials and professionals. By the mid-1980s, the Muslim Brotherhood held a significant portion of the positions in West Bank religious institutions.

Pro-Israel commentators have recently suggested that there is a close relationship between the leadership of the PLO and Hamas.

On January 26, 2004, senior Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi offered a 10-year hudna in return for complete withdrawal from all territories captured in the Six Day War, and the establishment of a state. There had earlier been some talks within Hamas about doing this but this time, according to him, "the movement has taken a decision on this". Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said recently the group could accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 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." Rantissi said the truce could last 10 years, though "not more than 10 years." [2] (See Hudna)

On March 22, 2004, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was assassinated in an Israeli missile strike. Following Yassin's death, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi replaced him as the leader of Hamas. On March 28, he stated in a speech given at the Islamic University of Gaza City that "America declared war against God. Sharon declared war against God, and God declared war against America, Bush and Sharon."

On April 17, 2004, Rantissi was also killed in an airstrike by the Israel Defense Forces, five hours after a fatal suicide bombing by Hamas. With the death of Rantissi, the top three Hamas leaders in Gaza had been killed by Israel since August 2003. As a result, Khaled Mashaal, Hamas' leader based in Syria, said Hamas should not disclose the name of its next leader in Gaza. [3]

On April 2, 2004, according to the Boston Globe, a United States federal judge in Providence, Rhode Island, found Hamas guilty in a civil lawsuit resulting from the 1996 murder of Yaron Ungar and Efrat Ungar in Israel. Hamas was ordered to pay the family of Yaron and Efrat Ungar $116 million. The court has not yet ruled regarding the liability of the Palestinian Authority and the PLO.

On April 18, 2004, Hamas secretly selected a new leader in the Gaza Strip fearing that he will be killed if his identity is known. (NYT)

As of late April 2004, it is believed that the new leader of Hamas in Gaza is Mahmoud A-Zahar, the second-in-command, Ismail Haniya, and third in authority is Sa'id A-Siyam. [4]

As of 2004, Israeli military and intelligence sources believed that the Hamas infrastructure in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip has been significantly weakened by targeted assassination and Israeli military operations that came in response to a number of suicide attacks in 2002 and 2003. Israeli sources have supported this assertion by noting that no prominent attacks have been carried out or claimed by West Bank based Hamas militants (whereas bombings by Fatah-linked Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades did occur), even though reputedly Hamas leadership had ordered an escalation of attacks, especially after the assassinations of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi. The West Bank has been placed under a significant level of Israeli military control during Operation Defensive Shield launched in April 2002 severely limiting the mobility and organization of the remaining Hamas members.

In the Gaza Strip, on the other hand, Hamas was generally seen as a major force, rivaling Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. Apparently, its social base in Gaza was very considerable.

In 2004 in a prelude to the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces carried out a number of incursions in Gaza cities and refugees camps, seeking to draw out into the open and kill Hamas-affiliated gunmen who have often engaged Israeli soldiers in skirmishes. This was done, presumably, to make it harder for a weakened and bloodied Hamas to claim the withdrawal as their own hard-won victory. Awareness of high casualties during such incursions have led the Hamas leadership to call its activists to avoid putting themselves in the line of fire needlessly.

In September 2004 Israeli army chief Moshe Yaalon said that Israel would "deal with ... those who support terrorism," including those in "terror command posts in Damascus." On September 26, 2004 Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil was assassinated by a car bomb in Damascus, Syria; Khalil was described variously as "mid-level", "senior", "distinguished member" and "believed to be in charge of the group's military wing outside the Palestinian territories".[5] 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.[6][7].

Activities

Hamas militants, especially those in the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, have conducted many attacks, including large-scale suicide bombings against Israeli civilian targets. These include the Passover massacre in March 2002, in which 30 people were killed; the Jerusalem bus 20 massacre in November 2002 (11 dead); the Jerusalem bus 2 massacre in August 2003 (23 dead); and many more. In total, hundreds of Israeli civilians were killed in these suicide attacks between the years 2000 and 2004. Hamas has used female suicide bombers, including a mother of six and a mother of two children under the age of 10. Anonymous Israeli military sources claim that the women were forced to commit these acts under threat of death by honor killing. Hamas claims that all suicide bombers volunteer for what Hamas terms "martyrdom operations". [8][9]

Hamas has also attacked Israeli military and security forces targets (mostly inside the West Bank and Gaza Strip and occasionally inside Israel), suspected Palestinian collaborators, and Fatah rivals.

Hamas also attacked the Gush Katif settlements with daily mortars' shelling. So far, about 4500 (as for Sep 2004) mortar shellד landed in Gush Katif, killing 3 people.

Since 2002, Hamas has used Qassam rockets to hit Israeli towns in the Negev, such as Sderot. The introduction of the Qassam-2 rocket has allowed Hamas to attack 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.

In addition to its violent attacks, Hamas has many relief and education programs. 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.

Hamas has an unknown number of hard-line members and tens of thousands of supporters and sympathizers. It receives funding from Palestinian expatriates, from Iran, and from private benefactors in Saudi Arabia and in other Arab states. Some fundraising and propaganda activity take place in Western Europe, North America and South America. Like Hezbollah, Hamas has been known to use illicit drug sales to raise funds for its operations.

In addition to its paramilitary activities, Hamas funds a number of 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 is in addition to 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 believed to operate dozens of websites. A current listing can be found at Internet-Haganah (External link below). The main website of Hamas provides translations of official communiques and propaganda in Farsi (see Persian language), Urdu, Malay, Russian, English, and Arabic.

In the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority is reportedly losing control to Hamas, namely the Jabaliya refugee camp and the neighboring neighborhood of Jabaliya in the north of the Strip and the Dir al-Balah area in the center of the Strip, Abasan to the south of it and the Dahaniyeh region in the south.

In 2004, a federal court in the United States found Hamas guilty in a civil lawsuit regarding the 1996 murders of Yaron and Efrat Ungar near Beit Shemesh, Israel. Hamas has been ordered to pay the families of the Ungar's $116 million. On July 5, 2004, the court issued a default judgement against the Palestinian Authority and the PLO regarding the Ungar's 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. The two others — Muhammad Hamid Khalil Salah of Chicago and Abdelhaleem Hasan Abdelraziq Ashqar of Alexandria, Va. — were arrested late on the night of August 19. The indictment states that Salah received $50,000 which was used over the course of the following three months to help Hamas finance eight terrorist attacks that resulted in the deaths of numerous Israeli civilians [10](Washington Times).

List of noteable Hamas members


See also

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