How Does Hamas Recruit Its Members - Essay Example

Contents Introduction Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamia or Hamas as it is known today is a Palestinian Islamist Militant Organization and Political Party. Hamas was elected as a party to rule the Palestinian authority in Jan 2006Hamas is considered as the largest resistance organization of Palestinian movement so far. It is militant, aggressive and terrorist in nature with very strong presence within the Palestine having support of many of the biggest Islamic countries of the world. Hamas is working in Middle East which is one of the most volatile regions in the world having a long history of violence and bloodshed. There are many causes of this violence and brutality that is happening from the both sides but three of the most important reasons are discussed below: 1) Occupation of Palestine, the third holiest place for Muslims, by the Israel. 2) Perception that Western Policies, culture, values and policies are anti-Islamic and that these policies are well directed at eliminating Muslims from the holy land. 3) Occupation of oil resources: the recent surge in the violence in the region is also directed at the notion that US is after the oil resources of the region and by occupying them, West will deprive the region , its rights on its own resources. I believe that the occupation of Palestine is the root cause of the violence in Middle East and in order to bring in peace to that region, West has to come up with a solution of recognizing the due rights of each party to the region and based on that decide to provide the right political as well as diplomatic support. This work will explore the Hamas as an organization including how it works, what are the criteria for its membership, the belief systems of the group etc. What is Hamas? Hamas is an Islamic militant and political group working in the Palestinian region. Founded in 1987 by Sheikh Yaseen Ahmed in Gaza, Hamas soon emerged as one of the most robust terrorist organizations in the region with Israel as its main target. Listed as terrorist organizations by many countries including Canada and US, Hamas is now considered as the leading political party in Palestine also after the failure of PLO and demise of Yasser Arafat. (Hajjar, 1993). It was also believed that the success of Hamas as political as well as terrorist organization largely depended on the failure of PLO and Yasser Arafat and that the Oslo agreement between Arafat and Israel, brokered by US, provided Hamas necessary political support in the region to flourish and strengthen its roots. (Kristianasen, 1999). It is also believed that Hamas, having an Islamic Brotherhood beginning, emerged as a new militant movement in the region colored with the Islamic hue and it was because of this that Hamas was able to won the elections. Hamas Objectives Hamas is an organization which seems to be combining the Islamic fundamentalism with the Palestinian Nationalism. With the basic aim of the destruction of Israel, Hamas is also intending to replace the PA with an Islamic State on the West Bank and Gaza. The charter of the Hamas under article 9 & 10 suggest following objectives of the organization; “Hamas finds itself at a period of time when Islam has waned away from the reality of life. For this reason, the checks and balances have been upset, concepts have become confused, and values have been transformed; evil has prevailed, oppression and obscurity have reigned; cowards have turned tigers, homelands have been usurped, people have been uprooted and are wandering all over the globe. The state of truth has disappeared and was replaced by the state of evil. Nothing has remained in its right place, for when Islam is removed from the scene, everything changes. These are the motives. As to the objectives: discarding the evil, crushing it and defeating it, so that truth may prevail, homelands revert [to their owners], calls for prayer be heard from their mosques, announcing the reinstitution of the Muslim state. Thus, people and things will revert to their true place. The Islamic Resistance Movement, while breaking its own path, will do its utmost to constitute at the same time a support to the weak, a defense to all the oppressed. It will spare no effort to implement the truth and abolish evil, in speech and in fact, both here and in any other location where it can reach out and exert influence”. (Hamas, 1988). How Hamas recruit its members Hamas is believed to be very particular in selecting and recruiting its members as there is always a chance of the infiltration by the Israeli agents in its ranks. In its earlier years, Hamas followed the model of Muslim Brotherhood in recruiting its members mainly due to the influence of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah group which potentially undermined other organization’s efforts to recruit members. (Aboul-Enein, 2003). In order to be the member of the organization, a Hamas member first need to observe all the Muslim rituals in their strict sense including offering all prayers of the day. Once the member’s religious activities are monitored including the honesty with which he or she performs these religious duties, he or she is then brought under a family or Usra as they call it which ensures the spiritual progress of the potential member. During this phase of the recruiting, the potential member learns two sections of Quran besides learning selected sayings of Prophet Muhammed. Since Hamas has its roots into the Muslim brotherhood therefore during stage of recruiting, the potential members are introduced various ideologies of the brotherhood especially their teachings regarding Jihad as the way of warfare to avenge the blood of innocent Muslims etc. This period is believed to be running for 18 months and not all potential members pass on to the next stage however once one pass the initial stage, he or she is being taken as operational member and assigned to a membership cell. (Aboul-Enein, 2003) Religious beliefs of Hamas Hamas has very deep fundamental beliefs and is based on the idea of Islamic fundamentalism with the aim of raising the flag of all over the place. It is because of this religious philosophy that Hamas target deeply religious youth as suicide bombers. Since it has affiliations with Muslim brotherhood and its origins can be traced backed to the Muslim brotherhood therefore its religious philosophy is oriented towards them. Hamas, as discussed above aims at recruiting deeply religious persons who go under very strong fundamentalist training, observe long fasts, attend lectures and stick to strong religious code. How Hamas attacks Hamas is famous for its multiple suicide attack tactics. It operates by conducting terrorist attacks on its proposed targets mostly through the suicide attacks and terms its members as F-16s who can hit anywhere in the Israel. Hamas is believed to have killed more than five hundred people in more than 350 separate terrorist attacks since 1993. Not all Hamass attacks have been carried out by suicide bombers. The group has also accepted responsibility for assaults using mortars, short-range rockets, and small arms fire. Hamas’s funding sources It is believed that the best and strongest source of money for Hamas is Iran and is officially given under the name of ‘Aid to the Palestinian Islamic Revolution ‘. (Friedman, 1990). Apart from that many also believe that money to Hamas also come from Saudi Arabia if not on the government level than from the private sources in the form of charity and donations by Rich Muslim families as their contribution to the Jihad. Conclusion It is now largely believed that Hamas is one potent source with which Israel and US has to engage as its increasing popularity, its role in taking care of social and economic needs of the refugees in Palestine has made them one of the strongest political force also. An organization which has roots into Muslim brotherhood, Hamas is both a terrorist as well as a Political organization. References Aboul-Enein, Y. H. (2003). Hamas, understanding the organization. Military Review, . Friedman, T. L. (1990). From Beirut to Jerysalem. New York: Anchor Books. Hajjar, L. (1993). The Islamist Movements in the Occupied Territories: An Interview with Iyad Barghouti, by Iyad Barghouti;. Middle East Research and Information Project. Hamas. (1988). Hamas Charter. Retrieved March 31, 2008, from http://www.palestinecenter.org: http://www.palestinecenter.org/cpap/documents/charter.html Kristianasen, W. (1999). Challenge and Counterchallenge: Hamass Response to Oslo,. Journal of Palestine Studies , 28 (3), 19-36. Read More