[Reader-list] Hamas Fact Sheet

[Pawan Durani]

http://www.adl.org/main_israel/hamas_facts.htm


Since its founding in 1987 in Gaza by Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Hamas - an Arabic
acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement meaning "zeal" - has been committed
to destroying the Jewish state and replacing it with an Islamic state in all
of Palestine.



*Origins:*

Hamas was created shortly before the December 1987 Intifada as a more
militant, Palestinian offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, a religious,
political and social movement founded in Egypt and dedicated to the gradual
victory of Islam. Since the mid-1970s, the Brotherhood had been expanding
its influence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip through its vast array of
social services. Hamas advocacy of an immediate holy war to liberate
Palestine rendered the Brotherhood's policy of gradual Islamicization
ineffectual.



*Ideology:*

Hamas preaches and engages in violence and terror in order to destroy the
state of Israel and replace it with an Islamic state. Its virulent hatred of
Jews and Judaism is deeply rooted in the anti-Semitic writings of Muslim
Brotherhood theologians.



In August 1988, Hamas issued its Covenant laying down its ideological
principles and goals. Replete with anti-Semitism, it echoes the notorious
Protocols of the Elders of Zion and charges Jews with an international
conspiracy to gain control of the world. In Hamas' worldview, Islamic
precepts forbid a Jewish state in the area known as Palestine, the Jewish
people have no legitimate connection to the land of Israel and Yasir Arafat
is a traitor to the Islamic Palestinian cause. As the Hamas Covenant
proclaims, "The land of Palestine is an Islamic trust... It is forbidden to
anyone to yield or concede any part of it... Israel will continue to exist
until Islam will obliterate it..."



*Organizational Structure:*

Hamas is both a terrorist organization and a mass social, political and
religious movement. The military branch is reportedly divided into three
wings: an intelligence arm which gathers information about Palestinians
suspected of collaboration, an arm which pursues those who have violated
Islamic law and the Izzedine al-Qassam squads who are responsible for most
of the terror attacks. The al-Qassam squads are comprised of a few dozen
activists loosely organized into small, shadowy terror cells, at times
operating independently of each other. Hamas' military and political leaders
are based throughout the West Bank and Gaza and the organization maintains
offices and representatives in Teheran, Damascus and Amman. The connections
and levels of coordination between the military and political branches are
concealed.



The division of Hamas into military and political/social wings has led many
observers to erroneously assume that the social wing of Hamas is completely
separate from its military wing. However, funds raised for the social
programs of Hamas free up other funds for the military wing and there is no
open accounting system whereby the international community can ascertain
whether or not the social wing finances the military wing.  For instance,
so-called humanitarian donations reward the families of Hamas suicide
bombers.



Hamas' military wing also utilizes the organization's social wing for
indoctrination and recruitment. The social, cultural, religious and
educational institutions of Hamas are well-known venues for anti-Israel and
anti-Jewish hatred and serve as recruitment centers for Hamas suicide
bombers. For example, a Hamas-sponsored soccer team in Hebron provided a
ready supply of several Hamas suicide bombers.  In early 2006, Hamas began
operation of a television station based in Gaza, Al Aksa TV, which
broadcasts primarily religious and children's programming.  Al Aksa TV –
which Hamas says it hopes to soon broadcast via satellite to broaden its
audience – is likely to become a key tool in propagating Hamas' extremist
message.  Indeed, the host of the station's children's program told the *New
York Times* that his show "will teach children the basics of militant
Palestinian politics."



*Terrorism and Violence:*

Hamas launched its campaign of violence in 1989, first against Israeli
soldiers and suspected Palestinian collaborators, and then against Israeli
civilians. In the wake of the Oslo agreement, Hamas leaders intensified
their rhetoric and vowed to derail the peace process through violent
attacks. Drive-by shootings, firebombings and stabbings increased.  Suicide
missions began in April 1994, when a Hamas suicide bomber rammed an
explosives-laden car into a bus in Afula killing eight and wounding 50
others.



Since that time Hamas has claimed responsibility for hundreds of attacks
against Israeli civilian and military targets.  Israeli security sources
have thwarted scores more.  Following Israel's unilateral disengagement from
the Gaza Strip in August 2005, Hamas carried out dozens of rocket attacks
against civilian targets in southern Israel.  According to the Israel
Defense Forces, through suicide bombings and other violent attacks,  Hamas
has killed nearly 300 Israelis since September 2000, and wounded over 2,000.




While Hamas agreed to a ceasefire or "*tahdia"* on terrorist operations in
March 2005, according to Israeli sources, Hamas continued to plan and
perpetrate terrorist attacks, and helped provide support for attacks claimed
by other terrorist organizations.



Through systematic religious and political indoctrination and social
pressure, Hamas leaders recruit young Palestinian men for suicide missions
and other attacks. Hamas has also recruited beyond the West Bank and Gaza.
According to Israeli sources, Hamas has recruited and operated a number of
Israeli Arab terror cells. In June 2003, Israel indicted five senior
officials of the Israeli Arab Islamic Movement, including movement leader
Sheikh Ra'ad Salah, on various terrorism-related charges including
membership in Hamas and raising funds abroad for Hamas agencies in the West
Bank and Gaza.  According to Israeli sources, two British Muslim suicide
bombers who blew up a pub in Tel Aviv in April 2003 were Hamas recruits
dispatched by the Hamas military command in Gaza.



*Financial Support:*

Hamas enjoys strong financial backing from Iran (an estimated $20 - $30
million), private benefactors and Muslim charities in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf
states, Palestinian expatriates across the globe and American donors. Its
budget has been estimated at $70 million and 85 percent of it reportedly
comes from abroad; the remaining 15 percent is raised among Palestinians in
the West Bank and Gaza.  A number of Americans and U.S.-based charities have
been implicated in funneling money to Hamas.  It is estimated that Saudi
Arabia continues to channel between $12 - $14 million to Hamas annually. At
a June 2003 press conference, Adel al-Jubeir, a senior adviser to the Saudi
Crown Prince, did acknowledge that many Palestinian institutions funded by
the Saudis may be run or managed by the political wing of Hamas.



Syria remains a key center for Hamas operations, and the Assad regime
provides support and protection to key Hamas leadership based in Damascus.



*Hamas and Palestinian Politics:*

Hamas had tremendous success in the January 25, 2006 parliamentary
elections, routing Fatah, and winning 74 seats in the 132-seat legislature,
with Fatah earning a disappointing 45 seats.  Hamas will thus form the next
Palestinian Authority government, with Mahmoud Abbas remaining as
Palestinian Authority President.



Although the "Oslo II" agreement signed by Israel and the Palestinian
Authority in September 1995, outlining the modalities of Palestinian
elections, bars candidates who "commit or advocate racism; or pursue the
implementation of their aims by unlawful or non-democratic means," President
Abbas did not prevent Hamas' participation in the political process.



Hamas began large-scale participation in the Palestinian political scene in
2005, and they did extremely well in the series of municipal elections held
throughout the year, gaining more than a third of municipal council seats.
As a result of the fourth round of Palestinian municipal elections held in
December 2005, over one million Palestinians live in municipalities governed
by Hamas (while only 700,000 live in municipalities governed by Fatah).



Hamas candidates appeal to Palestinian voters as the alternative to the
perceived corruption, inaction and weakness of Fatah and the Palestinian
Authority leadership.  Candidates promised improved socio-economic
conditions for Palestinian families, and greater social services.  They also
pledged an end to the "Israeli occupation," the establishment of a
Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and the return of all
Palestinian refugees.



Through the 2006 election campaign, Hamas candidates and leadership did not
disavow their commitment to an "armed struggle" against Israel, their
refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist, and the precepts of the Hamas
Charter.  Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar declared on Palestinian TV, "We do not
recognize the Israeli enemy, nor his right to be our neighbor, nor to stay
(on the land), nor his ownership of any inch of land. . . . We are
interested in restoring our full rights to return all the people of
Palestine to the land of Palestine. Our principles are clear: Palestine is a
land of *Waqf** *(Islamic trust), which can not be given up."  At the same
time, a number of Hamas candidates did make pragmatic statements, indicating
that they might deal with Israelis in certain situations, or via a third
party.



The entry of Hamas into Palestinian politics has been somewhat
controversial.  Some Hamas ideologues argue that involvement with the
Palestinian Authority will lead to comprising the party's goals, and the
legitimization of the Palestinian Authority's dealings with the State of
Israel.  Indeed, for these reasons Hamas did not participate in the last
Palestinian elections in 1996.