Bullshit, it's another land grab. Hamas is doing what it was paid to do when the PLO renounced violence.
The PLO renounced violence. They have all renounced violence. The religion of Peace.
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The
History of Hamas is an account of the
Palestinian Islamist[1][2] fundamentalist[3][4][5] socio-political organization with an associated
paramilitary force, the
Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
[1][6][7] Hamas (حماس)
Ḥamās is an acronym of حركة المقاومة الاسلامية
Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamat al-Islāmiyyah, meaning "Islamic Resistance Movement".
Hamas was established in 1987, and has its origins in
Egypt's
Muslim Brotherhood movement, which had been active in the
Gaza Strip since the 1950s and gained influence through a network of mosques and various charitable and social organizations. In the 1980s the Brotherhood emerged as a powerful political factor, challenging the influence of the
PLO,
[5] and in 1987 adopted a more nationalist and activist line under the name of Hamas.
[5] During the 1990s and early 2000s, the organization conducted numerous suicide bombings and other attacks against Israel.
In the Palestinian legislative election of January 2006, Hamas gained a large majority of seats in the
Palestinian Parliament, defeating the ruling
Fatah party. After the elections, conflicts arose between Hamas and Fatah, which they were unable to resolve.
[8][9][10] In June 2007, Hamas defeated Fatah in a
series of violent clashes, and since that time Hamas has governed the
Gaza portion of the
Palestinian Territories, while at the same time they were ousted from government positions in the
West Bank.
[11][12] Israel and
Egypt then imposed an
economic blockade on Gazaand largely sealed their borders with the territory.
[13][14]
After acquiring control of Gaza, Hamas-affiliated and other militias launched rocket attacks upon Israel, which Hamas ceased in June 2008 following an
Egyptian-brokered ceasefire.
[15] The ceasefire broke down late in 2008, with each side accusing the other of responsibility.
[16] In late December 2008,
Israel attacked Gaza,
[17] withdrawing its forces in mid-January 2009.
[18]
Early Islamic activism in Gaza
With its takeover of Gaza after the
1967 war with Egypt, Israel hunted down secular
Palestinian Liberation Organization factions, but dropped the previous Egyptian rulers' harsh restrictions against Islamic activists.
[19] In fact, Israel for many years tolerated and at times encouraged Islamic activists and groups as a counterweight to the secular nationalists of the PLO and its dominant faction, Fatah.
[19][20]
Among the activists benefited was
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, leader of the
Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza, who had also formed the Islamist group
Mujama al-Islamiya, a charity recognized by Israel in 1979. Israel allowed the organization to build
mosques, clubs, schools, and a library in Gaza.
[19]
Yitzhak Segev, the acting governor of Gaza in 1979, said he had no illusions about Yassin's intentions, having watched an Islamist movement topple the
Shah as Israel's military attache in
Iran. However, according to Segev, Yassin and his charity were "100% peaceful" towards Israel during this time, and Segev and other Israeli officials feared being viewed as an enemy of Islam. Segev maintained regular contact with Yassin, met with him around a dozen times, and arranged for Yassin to be taken to Israel for hospital treatment.
[19]
Also, Segev said, Fatah was "our main enemy."
[19][21] Islamists frequently attacked secular and leftist Palestinian movements, including Fatah, but the Israeli military avoided getting involved in those quarrels.
[19] It stood aside, for example, when Mujama al-Islamiya activists stormed the
Red Crescent charity's headquarters in Gaza, but Segev did send soldiers to prevent the burning down of the home of the head of the organization.
[19]
In 1984 the Israeli army received intelligence that Yassin's followers were collecting arms in Gaza. Israeli troops raided mosques and found a cache of weapons.
[19] Yassin was arrested, but told his interrogators the weapons were meant to be used against secular Palestinians, not Israel. The cleric was released a year later and allowed to continue to develop his movement in Gaza.
[19]
Around the time of Yassin's arrest, Avner Cohen, an Israeli religious affairs official, sent a report to senior military officers and civilian leadership in Gaza advising them of the dangers of the Islamic movement, but this report and similar ones were ignored.
[19] Former military intelligence officer Shalom Harari said the warnings were ignored out of neglect, not a desire to fortify the Islamists: "Israel never financed Hamas. Israel never armed Hamas."
[19][22]
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