LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Hamas
built 188 days ago
Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, established in 1946 in Gaza. The Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood was a quiescent force whose main goal was a reorientation of Palestinian society to religion. The Brotherhood had relatitvely little to do with the fight against Israel or later in opposition to the occupation, though individual members were active in arms smuggling during the Israeli War of Independence. However, one group initiated by former members of the brotherhood, Hizb ut Tahrir, formed in the West Bank, later evolved into an international Islamist organization.
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Hamas's coup in Gaza is a death blow to the comatose peace negotiations. At this point, the best that can be expected is a precarious cease-fire between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has traveled to the region several times in recent months to speak about a "political horizon." But the recent events in Gaza cast a dark pall over that horizon. As long as Hamas remains in power, a genuine peace is impossible, because Hamas remains implacably committed to the destruction of Israel.
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Today Hamas has the support of many Arab states, some of which urge it to recognize Israel. Since Hamas never supported Saddam Hussein as did Arafat, the rich Emirates, enemies of Saddam, have rewarded it with funds that previously went to Arafat’s al-Fatah party. Egyptians interviewed on the streets of Cairo by Italian TV favor Hamas. The European Union is ready to continue its annual aid of 500,000,000 euros to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas will observe the ceasefire.
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Hamas has its roots in the worldwide Muslim Brotherhood, whose main goal is to re-Islamize traditional Muslim societies. This process of re-Islamization, e.g, propagating Islamic education and fostering Islamic consciousness, is expected to culminate in the reinstitution of a Sunni Islamic political authority, or Caliphate. The last expression of the Sunni Caliphate collapsed with the downfall of the Ottoman State at the end of the First World War.
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Hamas popularity increased after Israel assassinated Sheikh Ahmed Yassin on March 22, 2004. Abdel Azziz Rantissi was chosen to succeed him. Hamas and PLO/PNA began intensive negotiations to allow Hamas to join the Palestine Authority government and ... to rejoin the PLO. At the same time Hamas was marginalized in the Arab world, and reportedly lost all Saudi funding, including the residual funding that was supposedly used for charities. This support has apparently been replaced by massive funding from Iran. Rantissi was assassinated on April 17, 2004.
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Hamas is known for its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which plans and carries out attacks on Israel and its citizens, killing and wounding thousands each year. Because of numerous suicide bombings on Israeli soil and the Hamas policy of targeting civilians, the United States, the European Union, and other countries consider it to be a terrorist organisation. The country of Jordan has banned the group. However, the international press, including the Israeli English-language daily newspaper, Haaretz, call Hamas operatives by the more neutral term "militants."
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Hamas