One may ask, what is Hamas? Or what does the organization really represent? I will try to give a brief explanation of the modern Hamas. This explanation is not to be confused with the sentiments of all Arabs. Instead I will be looking at the organization since the late 20th century.Hamas is a fairly new organization. The name is an acronym derived from the words, "Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamia" and typically understood to mean "zeal". The organization is ultimately an Islamic Resistance Movement. They are a fundamentalist and militant group that became active during the early stages of the Intifada. The group originally operated in the Gaza District along with Judea and Samaria.
Hamas was originally formed in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin of the Gaza wing of the Muslim Brotherhood during the First Infitada. The group led by Yassin was a horribly violent group who targeted Israeli civilians, military and security forces with terrorist attacks. The purpose Yassin's group was stated in a charter (created 1988 which is still in effect) that calls for the destruction of Israel and to replace it with a Islamic Palestinian state.
The modern face of Hamas is seen as antisemitic and would like to take over the Gaza strip, the West banks, and all of Israel. Just recently, after the death of longtime PLO leader Yassir Arafat, Hamas has won more popularity and been elected into many political positions in Gaza. The elected Hamas officials have now resorted to being stubborn and insist that the only answer is jihad and the removal of Israel. The area known as the West Bank was under Hamas control but has recently changed to Fatah control. The West Bank is still working on trying to coerce the Gazan wing of Hamas to join them in a cease fire agreement. Hamas is now in control of Gaza. But does it represent a majority of Gaza, or even Arabs living in the region? By the looks of it, the fall of the Rafah wall showed that people were in dire need of essentials. The government of Gaza is not providing for its citizens. It is also under tremendous scrutiny from the global community.
As of now Mahmoud Abbas, who was initially elected to replace Arafat, and is a part of the opposing Fatah party, does not agree with the ideologies of Hamas. He is working diligently to have Hamas and the people in the Gaza district come together to create peace. But some can agree that Abbas' actions did not coincide with his words. Though Abbas had called for violence to end in 2005, he did not help disarm the militants involved. Since 2005 Abbas has tried to actively negotiate for Hamas to lay down their weapons and come to an agreement. Hamas is still unwilling.
Both groups, Fatah and Hamas are fighting over the same land. It kind of reminds me of when the south wanted to break away from the north. Both sides had demands and there was no wiggle room for compromise. Many people died because the leading officials at the time did not want to back down from their demands. With this in mind many people could have been spared if only they could have compromised peacefully. Israelis and Palestinians just need to compromise.
In the words of my favorite philosopher of the 20th century...
All we are saying is give peace a chance. -- John Lennon (1940-1980)
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1 comment:
"Israelis and Palestinians just need to compromise."
Thats a highly improbable idea. We are talking about 2 religious factions, both militant and extremely hostile to the others beliefs.
A quick rundown of the Israeli and Palestinian Conflict.
It started back during the crusades where the Jews would be burnt alive, sold into slavery or just outright executed right in Palestine.
"By the mid-19th century, the Land of Israel was a part of the Ottoman Empire and a province of Syria, populated mostly by Muslim and Christian Arabs, as well as Jews, Greeks, Druze, Bedouins and other minorities. By 1844, Jews constituted the largest population group (and by 1890 an absolute majority) in a few cities, most notably Jerusalem (although as a whole, the Jewish population made up far less than 10% of the total)."
^ How to Respond to Common Misstatements About Israel. Anti-Defamation League (2006). Retrieved on 4 October 2006.
^ The Population of Palestine Prior to 1948. MidEastWeb.org (2005). Retrieved on 4 October 2006.
And yet only 50 years or so later the Zionist Revolution started which triggered a large chain of events leading up to current state of the conflict today. There is way to much history to be put into a comment, I will more than likely make an entry containing the history of the conflict soon.
For now, I just want you to be aware of the fact that the conflict between Jews and Palestinians have been going on for centuries and there seems to be no sign of slowing down.
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