Frequently Asked Questions About Hamas
Is Palestinian Group a Resistance Movement or a Terrorist Organization?
What are the goals and ideology of the group?
Like the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas believes in the revival of strict Islamic values in government and society. The official Hamas rhetoric is opposed to the very existence of the Israeli state.
How does Hamas operate?
A widely popular grass-roots organization, Hamas has a socio-political wing and a military wing. Although the exact number of active members is not known, the group has tens of thousands of supporters and sympathizers.
The socio-political wing operates a number of schools and hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza, providing services in the refugee camps from which it draws its support base.
The military wing is named the Izzedine al Qassam Brigades after the Palestinian leader who fought the British occupiers of Palestine in the 1930s. While it initially drew its cadre of fighters from the Muslim Brotherhood, it has grown into a formidable organization, capable of carrying out bloody terror attacks, notably suicide bombings, in Israel.
Who finances Hamas?
It's a difficult question. Hamas is believed to receive funding from Palestinian expatriates, the Iranian government, and private donors in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states.
Charities in the United States, Canada and Western Europe have funded Hamas-linked social service groups. In addition, several individuals in the United States have been charged with providing material support to the organization.
Where does Hamas stand in the Palestinian power structure?
Hamas is essentially in opposition to the Palestinian Authority, although the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was careful not to antagonize Hamas fearing the wrath of the organization's tens of thousands of supporters and sympathizers.
In the past, the Palestinian Authority has launched major offensives against the group, notably the arrests of nearly 1,000 Hamas supporters and the taking over of mosques in Gaza in 1996. But the Palestinian Authority has had to be careful not to drive Hamas underground and has made some attempts to co-opt the organization into mainstream Palestinian politics.
