Hamas believes that the Zionist colonization scheme can only be extirpated through a holy struggle in which armed struggle is a basic instrument. Hamas also sees that the best way to conduct the fight with the Zionist enemy is to mobilize the resources of the Palestinian people to raise the banner of struggle in Palestine and to keep the embers of conflict burning until the conditions for a decisive battle with the enemy are complete … believing in the sacredness of Palestine and its Islamic status, Hamas believes it impermissible under any circumstances to concede any part of Palestine or to recognize the Zionist occupation if it. (Simon and Stevenson, 2003, p.59)

The ideological mission stated above is culled from the Introductory Memorandum of the Harakat al-Maqawama al-Islamiyya, better known as the Palestinian Hamas. Literally the “Islamic Resistance Movement” for the fight against Israeli occupation of former Palestinian lands, the ideological mission of Hamas shows a dedication that allows no room for negotiation or political maneuver. In recent years, however, Hamas has undergone such transformation that it is slowly moving away from

To prove this thesis, this paper shall look into the history of Hamas. It is imperative that a sufficient understanding of the organization and its roots be achieved in order to fully comprehend the significance of its presence to the Palestinian people. More importantly, this paper shall also look into the motives and goals of the organization. This will allow the study to fully grasp the rationale behind the movement and its actions. Lastly, this study shall look into the events that let to the transformation of the organization from a movement advocating armed resistance to a successful political party dominating the Palestinian parliament.

its uncompromising position towards a less hostile and more liberal stand. This study looks into the journey of Hamas, from its beginning as a resistance movement (dubbed “terrorist” because of its tactics) to its success as the leading political party of Palestine.

But Hamas was not even the most powerful organization to immediately replace the PLO in terms of local support. Prior to Hamas’ win at the polls in 2006, the leader in the Palestinian government was the Fatah. However, allegations of incompetence and widespread corruption left the party wide open for criticism and distrust. Observer Peter Bourne described the Fatah as, “…what we would describe in the [United States] as ‘the old fat white guys who had been in power too long and both were corrupt and had failed to deliver any benefit to local communities’.” (Wall, 2006, p.8) It was precisely for this reason that Hamas was able to gain significant support from the Palestinian masses.

Despite its status as the pseudo-official representative of the Palestinian cause, the realities of political maneuvers left the PLO quite unable to pursue its original hard-line goals. The organization’s dedication to the reclamation of pre-1948 territories eventually gave way for a solution that would be acceptable to both the Palestinian and Israeli camps. The chains of international diplomacy had forced the PLO to be more of a negotiator than a resistance movement, eventually diminishing the credibility of the organization in the eyes of its Palestinian supporters. It is for this reason that other Palestinian groups emerged and sought to replace the PLO as the voice and leader of the Palestinian nation.

Some topics in this essay:
Israel Realizing, Rise Power, Resistance Movement”, Whereas PLO, Bank Gaza, PLO Palestinians, Abbas Fatah, Islamic Jihad, Introductory Memorandum, Simon Stevenson, palestinian nation, armed struggle, political party, palestinian people, harakat al-maqawama al-islamiyya, hamas able, representative palestinian, palestinian government, international diplomacy, harakat al-maqawama, al-maqawama al-islamiyya, simon stevenson 2003, history palestinian struggle, stevenson 2003 p59, rise hamas power,