Hamas

Hamas is not against Jews or Judaism

by News Sources 04.22.2012

Larry Cohler-Esses from The Forward went to Cairo to interview Mousa Abu Marzook, Hamas’s second-highest-ranking official, in the first such interview a senior Hamas leader has conducted with a Jewish publication. “Why am I here?” This was not an existential plea to the cosmos. It was, rather, the first question I put to Abu Marzook [...]

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Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood push for Palestinian unity

by News Sources 03.25.2012

The New York Times reports: As it prepares to take power in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood is overhauling its relations with the two main Palestinian factions in an effort to put new pressure on Israel for an independent Palestinian state. Officials of the Brotherhood, Egypt’s dominant Islamist movement, are pressing its militant Palestinian offshoot, Hamas, [...]

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Hamas leader calls for Palestinian unity after talks in Turkey

by News Sources 03.18.2012

Today’s Zaman reports: Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has called for a unity agreement between Palestinian factions, saying peace is mandatory for Palestinians who are united in fighting Israeli occupation. Mashaal, speaking on Sunday after talks with Turkish leaders, dismissed rivalry between Palestinian groups as a “conspiracy” targeting the Palestinians. “We want to open a new [...]

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Why Hamas is not Iran’s proxy

by News Sources 03.08.2012

Tareq Baconi writes: Hamas officials have said that in the event of a war between Iran and Israel, they will not become involved on Tehran’s side. While this is not surprising, other officials within the movement were quick to deny such reports. Historically, Hamas has always gone to great lengths to assert its independence from [...]

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Hamas rattles the Resistance Axis

by News Sources 03.04.2012

Rami G Khouri writes: The decision last week by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas to abandon its external headquarters in Damascus and support Syrians demonstrating for the removal of Bashar Assad’s regime is noteworthy on several levels. All of them affirm the vulnerable and changing nature of strategic conditions across the Middle East. The decision [...]

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Hamas ditches Assad, backs Syrian revolt

by News Sources 02.24.2012

Reuters reports: Leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas turned publicly against their long-time ally President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on Friday, endorsing the revolt aimed at overthrowing his dynastic rule. The policy shift deprives Assad of one of his few remaining Sunni Muslim supporters in the Arab world and deepens his international isolation. It [...]

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Iran warns Hamas against any ‘compromise’ with Israel

by News Sources 02.12.2012

AFP reports: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned Palestinian movement Hamas against any “compromise” in its fight against Tehran’s nemesis Israel, his official website reported. “Always be wary of infiltration by compromisers in a resistance organisation, which will gradually weaken it,” Khamenei told the visiting Hamas Gaza prime minister Ismail Haniya, according to [...]

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Hamas drifting away from patron Iran

by News Sources 02.11.2012

SAPA reports: Hamas appears to be drifting away from its longtime patron Iran – part of a shift that began with last year’s Arab Spring and accelerated over Tehran’s backing of the pariah regime in Syria. The movement’s top leader in exile, Khaled Mashaal, wants Hamas to be part of the broader Islamist political rise [...]

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Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas to form unity government

by News Sources 02.06.2012

The Guardian reports: The rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have agreed to form a new unity government in the West Bank and Gaza, which will be headed by Mahmoud Abbas, it was announced on Monday. Reconciliation talks between the two factions have struggled to make progress since an agreement in principle was signed last [...]

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Turns out Hamas isn’t really an Iran proxy

by News Sources 02.01.2012

Paul Scham writes: One of the most enduring epithets for Hamas, right up there with “terrorist,” is “proxy.” If you Google “Hamas Iran proxy,” you get 1,750,000 hits. The idea that the relationship between Sunni Hamas, the Gaza affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Shia Iran was merely a marriage of convenience and not a [...]

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Hamas political chief to step down

by News Sources 01.21.2012

The Guardian reports: Khaled Meshaal, the political head of Hamas, is to step down from his position when elections for the leadership of the Palestinian Islamist organisation take place in the next few months. A statement from Meshaal’s office said the Damascus-based leader would not seek re-nomination after 16 years at the helm, but would [...]

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Israeli war drums ignore Hamas move for change

by News Sources 01.01.2012

Gideon Levy writes: The writing is clearly on the wall. The head of the Hamas political bureau, Khaled Meshal, has ordered his group’s military wing to stop terrorist attacks against Israel, saying his organization will make do with popular protest. Hamas is declaring that it supports a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, and the [...]

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Hamas forces ordered to cease attacks on Israeli targets, Palestinian sources say

by News Sources 12.30.2011

Haaretz reports: Hamas leader Khaled Meshal has instructed the group’s military wing to cease attacks on Israeli targets, senior sources in Fatah say. The sources say Meshal issued the order based on understandings between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Meshal during their recent talks in Cairo. Israeli defense sources say they are unaware of such [...]

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Israel shouldn’t ignore Palestinian reconciliation deal

by News Sources 12.28.2011

Zvi Bar’el writes: [T]hanks to Syria’s murderousness, along with help from Egypt and support from Jordan, Hamas is reexamining the map of the region’s political topography and changing course: no more armed struggle against Israel, but a popular struggle, meaning demonstrations and civil disobedience, as well as a willingness to drop its previous preconditions for [...]

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Hamas’s Haniya applauds, Israel denounces PLO unity moves

by News Sources 12.24.2011

AFP reports: The Hamas premier of Gaza, Ismail Haniya, praised steps toward reconciliation taken by the Islamist group and its former rival Fatah, which were angrily denounced in Israel. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal took steps in Cairo on Thursday towards reforming the Fatah-dominated Palestine Liberation Organisation, such that Hamas could [...]

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Hamas responds to the Arab Spring

by News Sources 12.22.2011

The Washington Post reports: Buoyed by the success of Islamist movements in countries swept by the Arab Spring, Hamas, the militant Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip, is showing signs of pragmatism as its sense of isolation fades. The organization is jockeying to reposition itself amid shifting terrain in the Arab world. It is [...]

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Hamas moves away from violence in deal with Palestinian Authority

by News Sources 12.18.2011

The Guardian reports: Hamas has confirmed that it will shift tactics away from violent attacks on Israel as part of a rapprochement with the Palestinian Authority. A spokesman for the Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniya, told the Guardian that the Islamic party, which has controlled Gaza for the past five years, was shifting its emphasis [...]

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Hamas edges closer to the mainstream: agreeing to nonviolence, opening the door to recognizing Israel

by News Sources 11.27.2011

Time magazine reports: The leaders of the two biggest Palestinian parties met in Cairo on Thanksgiving, and just going by the headlines afterward, you’d have thought nothing had happened. “Palestinians talk unity, no sign of progress,” said Reuters. AP: “Palestinian rivals talk, but fail to resolve rifts.” But read the stories, and it becomes clear [...]

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New winds in Mideast favor Hamas

by News Sources 11.23.2011

The New York Times reports: For years, the imposing black gate that sealed the border between Egypt and Gaza symbolized the pain and isolation that decades of conflict have wrought on this tiny coastal strip, especially under Hamas in recent years. But recently, the gate has come to represent a new turn for the increasingly [...]

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Jordan seeks Palestinian respect by offering Hamas a new home

by News Sources 11.23.2011

Zvi Bar’el reports: Jordan’s King Abdullah is not an innovative leader. But last week he surprised Arab leaders and the whole world by becoming the first Arab ruler to call on Syrian President Bashar Assad to resign. “If I were in his shoes, I’d step down,” he told the BBC. This declaration set off a [...]

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Hamas is becoming what it says it opposes

by News Sources 11.10.2011

Chris McGreal reports: Samah Ahmed is once again a prisoner of Gaza, but this time it is at the hands of Hamas not Israel. Years of travelling relatively freely after Israel lost control of the enclave’s border with Egypt came to an abrupt halt a few months ago when Ahmed’s strident criticisms of Hamas caught [...]

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Visions of slaughter: Jennifer Rubin, Rachel Abrams and the Washington Post

by Paul Woodward 11.08.2011

Here’s the post that got this story rolling. It’s written by Rachel Abrams and appears on her blog, Bad Rachel, and is her bloodcurdling response to the release of the Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, on October 18: GILAD!!!!!!!!!! He’s free and he’s home in the bosom of his family and his country. Celebrate, Israel, with [...]

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The flotilla and the siege of Gaza

by News Sources 11.08.2011

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Inside the Mideast prisoner swap

by News Sources 10.23.2011

Ali Abunimah writes: In recent days, we’ve witnessed the rare spectacle of Israelis and Palestinians celebrating at the same time. Ironically, this was the result of negotiations between the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian resistance organization Hamas, which Israel and the United States describe as “terrorists.” It was a moment [...]

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