Hamas
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Hamas (Arabic: حماس , acronym of Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya, Arabic: حركة المقاومة الاسلامية, literally "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Islamist Sunni organisation. It was started in 1987 during the First Intifada by Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi as the Gaza branch of the Muslim Brotherhood organziation in Egypt. In the 2006 Palestinian election, Hamas got 74 of 132 seats in parlament and controls the Gaza Strip. The group wants to build a Palestinian state based on Islamic ideas in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip. Hamas does not recognise the State of Israel.[1]
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[change] Name
Hamas is an acronym of the Arabic phrase حركة المقاومة الاسلامية, or Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya or "Islamic Resistance Movement".
[change] Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades
Hamas is known for its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which plans and carries out attacks on Israel and its citizens. Because of numerous suicide bombings and attacking of civilians in Israel, the United States, the European Union, and other countries call it a terrorist organisation. The country of Jordan has made the group illegal. However, the international press, including the Israeli English-language daily newspaper, Haaretz, call Hamas members by the more neutral term "militants."
[change] Popularity
In early 2006, Hamas won a clear victory in the vote for the Palestinian parliament. Voters saw Hamas as an alternative to exchange the long-ruling Fatah party, the main part of the PLO. Fatah had not improved the Palestinian people's conditions and reached statehood, and was thought to be corrupt.
[change] Charitable Work
Hamas has shown its organizational ability by building health, education, and social services to help the population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where there is much poverty. Such efforts have increased its support. In the first half of 2007, Hamas gained political control of the Gaza Strip, while Fatah keeps its headquarters in the West Bank.[1]
Hamas is also associated in some way with Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine headed by Ahmed Jibril.
[change] References
[change] Other websites
- Hamas official website (not updated since 2004)
- Hamas websites
- "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
- 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
- Hamas at Council on Foreign Relations, October 2005
- 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 Online, 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)
