It’s common knowledge Hamas is a terrorist group- a brutal, barbaric one- who committed atrocities in Israel on Oct 7th, 2023 in a surprise attack akin to Pearl Harbor. But beyond that, what else do we know about them? What makes them tick?
With attribution to articles by Victor David Hanson (Stanford Hoover Institute), Ed Husain (Georgetown Prof. Foreign Service), and Hilar Khashan (Prof, Political Science, American University Beirut), I learned quite a lot to pass on in a brief synopsis.
Hamas is a Sunni Muslim offshoot of the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood that was founded in Gaza by Ahmed Yassin in 1987. The fanatical, religious roots of Islamism go back to 1928 with the creation of the Brotherhood in Cairo. Its Jihadist charter has always been to destroy Israel, and to create a Shariah state and Islamic caliphate. The animus stems from considering Jews as European colonists on Palestinian land. But it goes much deeper than that, as it has religious connotations as the driving force. Hamas’ radical interpretation of the Quran considers those not of the Islamic faith or following strict Sharia law as infidels. The only salvation for infidels is to convert to Islam. Otherwise, they must be exterminated. Hence the Jihad, or the Holy War against Israel.
Ask yourself – With that mindset, how can a peaceful settlement be reached? This conflict predates October 7th by far more than decades.
Iran, ironically a Shia nation, provides Sunni Hamas material and financial support in hope of controlling the Middle East. Basically, Hamas serves as a terrorist proxy for Iran and the Mullahs in Tehran are calling the shots which brings us to the root of the present turmoil. There will be no resolution of the ongoing conflict until the basic issue with Iran is addressed.
Many concepts and myths in the Middle East are not supported by history and factual data. I’ll relate them in subsequent blogs.
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