Hamas

Hamas (an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al- Islamiya, or the Islamic Resistance Movement) is a Palestinian political and militant movement founded in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who preached and coordinated charitable work in the West Bank and Gaza Strip through the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt. Yassin, who had worked in the region for the Muslim Brotherhood since 1973, established Hamas as a local political wing of the organization following the outbreak of the first intifada in December 1987. The organization of Hamas is split among three main pursuits: (1) the political wing, (2) the military wing, and (3) a charitable and social work wing. Hamas is currently the party in [Page 619]power in the Gaza Strip region of the Palestinian Authority and has been engaged in civil conflicts with the ruling Fatah party since the 2006 legislative elections in Palestine. This entry examines the history, activities, and leadership of Hamas.

Hamas departed from the nonviolent principles of the Muslim Brotherhood from its early days, and its founding charter calls for the destruction of Israel as well as the replacement of the current Palestinian Authority with an Islamist state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Among its stated goals are to “raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine,” and it has maintained that the waging of holy war against Israel was the responsibility of every Palestinian Muslim. The militarized wing of Hamas operates as Izz ad-Din al Qassam Brigades, responsible for rocket attacks against Israel and for suicide bombings through 2008.

The first Hamas suicide bombing took place in Israel in 1993, just months before the Israeli- Palestinian peace accords at Oslo, and it is estimated that Hamas is responsible for more than 350 separate terrorist attacks since that time, the numbers of which escalated quickly following the Oslo accords. In 2009, Khaled Mashal, the current leader of Hamas, indicated his willingness to come to a settlement with Israel at 1967 borders, provided East Jerusalem would become the Palestinian capital and Palestinian refugees would be allowed to return. Hamas was excluded from peace talks for not recognizing the state of Israel. Hamas currently has about 1,000 members and thousands of supporters throughout the region and the world.

Because Hamas is the party in power in the Palestinian Authority legislative body, they have some public funds at their disposal, though much of Hamas’s budget comes from donations, particularly from private donors or sympathetic states such as Saudi Arabia and Iran. Some of Hamas’s money, somewhat controversially, also comes from the Islamic charities in the United States and Canada that donate through Hamas-backed groups. It has been estimated, however, that about 90% of Hamas’s budget is dedicated to charity work and social services within the Palestinian Authority. Hamas’s activities within the Palestinian Authority involve social and cultural welfare programs, including establishing schools, soup kitchens, mosques, and sports teams, and much of Hamas’s support comes from the group’s reputation for political honesty and lack of corruption. The charity work has not enabled the group to enjoy consistent public support, however. In June 2011, a public opinion survey of Gazans indicated that 67% of the population would support demonstrations in favor of regime change.

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