Crescent and Sword: The Hamas enigma

Abstract

This article analyses the popular support for Hamas, the most important of the Palestinian Islamist movements today and charts the movement's historical ascendancy from a fringe Gaza-based group to a mainstream Islamist movement and mouthpiece for dispossessed Palestinians. Since 2001 Hamas's leadership has come under increasing attack from Israel, which has killed a number of the movement's leaders and senior members, most prominently Sheikh Yasin, the movement's founder and spiritual leader, and his successor as Hamas leader, Abd al-Aziz Rantissi. Nonetheless, Hamas's duality as ‘worshippers’ and ‘warmongers’ has made the organisation extraordinarily popular among dispossessed Palestinians and has created a mounting political challenge to the secular nationalism of the plo. At present two-thirds of the Palestinians live below the ‘poverty line’ and it is likely that it is in this disenfranchised segment of the population that Hamas finds its core support. About one in every six Palestinians in the Occupied Territories benefits from support from Islamic charities. Hamas, for its part, allocates almost all its revenues to its social services, but there is no evidence that Hamas or the other Islamic charities provide assistance conditional upon political support.

Notes

An earlier version of this article was presented on 25 May 2004 at a workshop organised under a co-operative agreement between the Chr Michelsen Institute (cmi, Bergen) and the Palestinian Institute for the Study of Democracy (Muwatin, Ramallah). I am grateful to George Giacaman, Henrik Lunden and the other workshop participants for comments and to suggestions from anonymous twq reviewers. The views and analysis presented here need not reflect those of cmi or Muwatin. The usual disclaimer applies.

1 bbc News Online, ‘Big Hamas win in Gaza's election’, 28 January 2005, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4214375.stm.

2 bbc News Online, ‘Gaza after Israeli disengagement’, 17 August 2005, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4160026.stm.

3 For a review of the ideology of Palestinian Islamist groups, see S Bangstad, Palestinian Islamist Movements: An Annotated Bibliography, Bergen: cmi, 2002, at www.cmi.no/publications/2002/rep/r2002-21.pdf.

4 For hamas's ideology, see A Nüsse, Muslim Palestine: The Ideology of Hamas, Amsterdam: Harwood Academic, 1998. For its politics, see K Hroub, HAMAS: Political Thought and Practice, Washington, DC: Institute for Palestine Studies, 2000. For its history, see B Milton-Edwards, Islamic Politics in Palestine, London: IB Tauris, 1996.

5 B Milton-Edwards, Contemporary Politics in the Middle East, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000, p 123.

6 The details of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood fall beyond the scope of this paper, but see B Lia, The Society of the Muslim Brothers in Egypt: The Rise of an Islamic Mass Movement 1928 – 1942, New York: Ithaca Press, 1996.

7 Milton-Edwards, Contemporary Politics in the Middle East, p 129.

8 MK Shadid, ‘The Muslim Brotherhood movement in the West Bank and Gaza’, Third World Quarterly, 10 (2), 1998, pp 658 – 682.

9 S Mishal & A Sela, The Palestinian Hamas: Vision, Violence and Coexistence, New York: Columbia University Press, 2000, p 17.

10 Shadid, ‘The Muslim Brotherhood Movement in the West Bank and Gaza’, p 661.

11 Milton-Edwards, Islamic Politics in Palestine, pp 64 – 71.

12 Ibid, p 18.

13 Z Abu-Amr, Islamic Fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza: Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Jihad, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1994, p 16.

14 Figures cited in Ibid, p 15. According to a more conservative estimate, the number of mosques in the Gaza Strip doubled from 77 in 1967 to 150 in 1986. Mishal & Sela, The Palestinian Hamas, p 21. In the early 1990s an estimated 40% of the mosques were controlled by Hamas. Abu-Amr, Islamic Fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza, p 16.

15 Religious endowment (waqf ) is an institution that controls landed property, shops, houses and residential areas which are leased to local inhabitants. In the Gaza strip about 10% of all real estate is controlled by the waqf institution. See Abu-Amr, Islamic Fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza, p 15.

16 Milton-Edwards, Islamic Politics in Palestine, p 101.

17 Sheikh Ahmad Yasin, Ibrahim Yazouri, Mahmoud Zahar, Khalil Koka and Abd al-Aziz Rantissi. See Ibid, p 126.

18 For a more detailed biography of Sheikh Yasin, see Z Abu-Amr, ‘Shaykh Ahmad Yasin and the origins of Hamas’, in RS Appleby (ed), Spokesmen for the Despised: Fundamentalist Leaders of the Middle East, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1997.

19 Milton-Edwards, Islamic Politics in Palestine, p 101.

20 Abu-Amr, Islamic Fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza, p 11.

21 Hamas, The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, 18 August 1988, at www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/hamas.htm.

22 Z Abu-Amr, ‘Hamas: a historical and political background’, Journal of Palestine Studies, 22 (4), 1993, p 13.

23 There have been questions as to whether Hamas does have a ‘military wing’, or whether this is just a ploy to discourage attacks. Many, especially Israeli-based, intelligence sources believe that Hamas and the al-Qassam Brigades share a joint leadership and are thus legitimate targets. International Crisis Group, Dealing With Hamas, Amman/Brussels: icg, 2004, at www.icg.org//library/documents/middle_east___north_africa/21_dealing_with_hamas.pdf, p 11.

24 Mishal & Sela, The Palestinian Hamas, pp 88, 161.

25 V Langohr, ‘Of Islamists and ballot boxes: rethinking the relationship between Islamisms and electoral politics’ International Journal of Middle East Studies, 33 (4), 2001, p 595.

26 Hamas's merger of Islamism with nationalism goes against the revolutionary ideology of Sayyid Qutb that Hamas is heir to. Qutb viewed nationalism as a delusion that stood in the way of realising a righteous Muslim community which respected God's laws (dar al-Islam) and therefore could be created anywhere, without reference to land and territory. See Milton-Edwards, Islamic Politics in Palestine, p 182. For similar reasons, Hassan al-Banna objected to the formation of political parties. See Nüsse, Muslim Palestine: The Ideology of Hamas, p 23.

27 Milton-Edwards, Islamic Politics in Palestine, p 196.

28 B Milton-Edwards, ‘The concept of jihad and the Palestinian Islamic movement: a comparison of ideas and techniques’, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 19 (1), 1992, pp 48 – 53.

29 Hamas, The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement.

30 Despite the ideological differences between Islamic Jihad and Hamas, their joint commitment to armed resistance has prompted attempts to unite the two. See Hroub, HAMAS, p 128.

31 Human Rights Watch, Erased in a Moment: Suicide Bombing Attacks against Israeli Civilians, New York: hrw, 2002, at www.hrw.org/reports/2002/isrl-pa/ISRAELPA1002.pdf, p 66.

32 Sheikh Yasin was released from prison in a deal brokered by King Hussein of Jordan following an ill-fated assassination attempt on Khaled Mish‘al (then Head of the Hamas Politburo in Amman) by two Mossad agents.

33 Abu-Amr, ‘Hamas: a historical and political background’, p 15.

34 Hroub, HAMAS, p 217.

35 Mishal & Sela, The Palestinian Hamas, p 124.

36 Langohr, ‘Of Islamists and ballot boxes’, p 596.

37 In March 1996 the National Islamic Salvation Party (Hizb al-Khalas al-watani al-Islami, aka Khalas) was formed in Gaza. Despite denying any connection with Hamas, its leadership and members belong to Hamas. See Hroub, HAMAS, p 259.

38 bbc News Online, ‘Hamas chiefs insist fight goes on’, 13 August 2005, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4148732.stm.

39 Milton-Edwards, Islamic Politics in Palestine, p 197.

40 HH Waage ‘Explaining the Oslo backchannel: Norway's political past in the Middle East’, Middle East Journal, 56 (4), 2002, pp 597 – 615.

41 The Oslo Accords and the Declaration of Principles (dop) postponed issues such as the final status of Jerusalem, the refugees' right of return, and the pull-out of Jewish settlements, leaving them to be settled in the so-called ‘final status’ talks. See R Brynen, ‘Imagining a solution: final status arrangements and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon’, Journal of Palestine Studies, 26 (2), 1997, pp 42 – 58.

42 Milton-Edwards, Islamic Politics in Palestine, p 170.

43 International Crisis Group, Islamic Welfare Activism in the Occupied Territories: A Legitimate Target?, Amman/Brussels: icg, 2003, at www.crisisweb.org//library/documents/report_archive/A400933_02042003.pdf., p 13.

44 Milton-Edwards, Islamic Politics in Palestine, p 178.

45 Hroub, HAMAS, p 240.

46 Mishal & Sela, The Palestinian Hamas.

47 Hroub, HAMAS, pp 240 – 241.

48 icg, Islamic Welfare Activism in the Occupied Territories, p 6.

49 B Milton-Edwards, ‘Political Islam in Palestine in an environment of peace?’, Third World Quarterly, 17 (7), 1996, p 213.

50 Milton-Edwards, Islamic Politics in Palestine, p 6ff.

51 J Pedersen, S Randall & M Khawaja (eds), Growing Fast: The Palestinian Population in the West Bank and Gaza, Oslo: fafo, 2001, at www.fafo.no/pub/rapp/353/353.pdf, p 19.

52 The population and refugee figures have been compiled from the latest statistics published by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (www.pcbs.org) and the United Nations Relief Works Organisation (www.unrwa.org). Note that figures only refer to registered refugees and excludes those not granted unrwa refugee status.

53 Pedersen, Randall & Khawaja, Growing Fast, p 36.

54 icg, Islamic Welfare Activism in the Occupied Territories, p 7.

55 Ibid, p 13.

56 Ibid, p 12.

57 P Sletten & J Pedersen, Coping with Conflict: Palestinian Communities Two Years into the Intifada, Oslo: fafo, 2003, at www.fafo.no/pub/rapp/408/408.pdf, p 23.

58 In 2003 an estimated three-quarters of the Palestinians lived below the UN poverty line of US$2 per day. See icg, Islamic Welfare Activism in the Occupied Territories, p 14.

59 A similar drift towards Islamism is also evident among sections of the Palestinian refugee community in Lebanon. See A Knudsen, ‘Islamism in the diaspora: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon’, Journal of Refugee Studies, 18 (2), 2005, pp 216 – 234.

60 Sletten & Pedersen, Coping with Conflict, p 57.

61 G Usher, ‘Facing defeat: the intifada two years on’, Journal of Palestine Studies, 32 (2), 2003, pp 21 – 40.

62 bbc News Online, ‘Anxious Gaza awaits next steps’, 18 August 2005, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4160702.stm.

63 KS Vikør, ‘Politisk islam: fundament eller utvekst?’ (Political Islam: foundation or outgrowth?), in Ø Bjørnson, E Nysæther & AK Uthaug, Til debatt: Innlegg ved norske historiedagar 1996, Bergen: University of Bergen, 1998, p 89.

64 B Milton-Edwards & A Crooke, ‘Elusive ingredient: Hamas and the peace process’, Journal of Palestine Studies, 33 (4), 2004, pp 39 – 52.

65 Hamas's casualty figures are cited in K Hroub, ‘Hamas after Sheikh Yasin and Rantisi’, Journal of Palestine Studies, 33 (4), 2004, p 28. In September a member of Hamas's military wing, Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil, was killed by a car bomb in Damascus. See bbc News Online, ‘Syria blast kills Hamas militant’, 26 September 2004, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3691082.stm. In October an air strike killed Adnan al-Ghoul, one of the leading Hamas figures in the Gaza Strip. See bbc News Online, ‘Israel raid kills Gaza Hamas man’, 22 October 2004, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3764734.stm.