Who is Hamas

Hamas is a Palestinian fundamentalist Islamic terror organization and is considered such by the governments of the U.S., Israel, the U.K., and the European Union. During the last 10 days, over half of Israel’s population, about 5 million people, suffered from rockets launched from Gaza into Israel. Gaza is ruled by Hamas.

Hamas’ goal is to create an Islamic fundamentalist Palestinian state. Its original manifesto advocated the destruction of the State of Israel, and called for the raising of “the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.”
Hamas’ refusal to recognize the State of Israel is one reason why it has been excluded from peace talks. In 1993, it opposed the Oslo Accords, a peace pact between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Hamas’ perception of Jews and Christians 
The Hamas Charter (or Covenant), issued in 1988, outlined the position of the Palestinian Islamic organization on many key issues at the time. The Charter identified Hamas as the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine and declares its members to be Muslims who “fear God and raise the banner of Jihad in the face of the oppressors.” The charter states that “our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious” and calls for the eventual creation of an Islamic state in Palestine, in place of Israel, and the obliteration or dissolution of Israel. The Charter adds that “renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion” of Islam.

According to the charter, Jewish people “have only negative traits and are presented as planning to take over the world.” The charter claims that the Jews deserve God’s/Allah’s enmity and wrath because they received the Scriptures but violated its sacred texts, disbelieved the signs of Allah, and slew their own prophets. “The Day of Judgement” will not come until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees.

Since Hamas forcibly took over the Gaza Strip in 2007 and enforced the Islamic law, there has been increasing pressure on the Christian minority. Abu Saqer, leader of Jihadia Salafiya,  announced the opening of a “military wing” to enforce Muslim law in Gaza. “I expect our Christian neighbors to understand the new Hamas rule means real changes. They must be ready for Islamic rule if they want to live in peace in Gaza.”  Sheik Saqer has asserted that there is “no need” for Christians in Gaza to maintain Christian institutions and demanded that Hamas “must work to impose an Islamic rule or it will lose the authority it has and the will of the people.