Home » Politics & Society » Middle East Affairs » Behind the Israeli Terror: Who is HAMAS?

Behind the Israeli Terror: Who is HAMAS?

© Bryan Dietzler

The Arab-Israeli Conflict has begun to boil over as Israelis are repeatedly being hammered by new suicide bombings. This comes during a time when a new peace plan is being implemented and leaders of both sides are meeting to discuss ending the violence. The suicide bombings are casting a dark shadow over any peace that might be possible in that part of the world, an area that has seen consistent violence for many decades. Will the death and destruction in the "cradle of civilization" ever stop? Who is responsible for such senseless and undiscriminating violence?

The group claming responsibility for a majority of suicide bombings in Israel and its territories is HAMAS, the acronym for the Islamic phrase Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyya, which means courage and bravery in Arabic. The HAMAS is a splinter group, so to speak, based upon a group, created in the 1920's named the Muslim Brotherhood. HAMAS was created to, first, purge any non-believers and traitors who might be collaborating with the invaders (Israel). Then they focused their attention on the Israelis themselves, attacking them whenever possible in order to protest, in their own way, the Israeli occupation of their lands particularly the Gaza Strip which was seized from Egypt during the Six Day War in 1967.

HAMAS was founded by Sheik Ahmad Isma'il Yassin in the Gaza Strip shortly after that area was captured by Israel and then subsequently cut off from Egypt. It was due to this "isolation" that Yassin began to form his own wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, which eventually transformed into the modern day HAMAS. Yassin has since been arrested and is now incarcerated but remains the spiritual leader of the group and is highly respected by the current HAMAS membership. Since Yassin' capture, HAMAS has become even larger and better organized than ever and it has grown far beyond what Yassin had envisioned.

HAMAS is very well organized, well established and well funded thus accounting for their survival and the frequency, ability and intensity of their attacks. In regards to their funding, HAMAS has several avenues in which it acquires the capital to do its deadly work. The Iranian government has donated upwards of three million dollars per year to help keep HAMAS operational and they are not ashamed of everyone knowing that they are a supporter. Iran appears to be, at least publicly, the only foreign government that is actively supporting HAMAS. Another means in which HAMAS receives funding is through charities and fund raising events in some Arab countries and in countries such as Britain and, maybe not so surprisingly, the United States. Even money destined for the poor is being diverted to HAMAS for use in their deadly attacks in Israel and it's surrounding territories.