Hamas – genocidal plotter just like Haman!
Hamas is actually an Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement – effectively, the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which spawned the so-called 'Arab Spring' that led to such appalling unrest in the Middle East. Almost unanimously recognised around the world as a terrorist organisation, it has nevertheless come to control the Gaza enclave from which it launches a constant volley of rockets aimed at the destruction of Israel (its ultimate goal).
Significantly, we believe, the word hamas in Hebrew means 'terror', or 'to treat violently'.
Hamas has gained some semblance of legitimacy among left-wing groups in the West – for example, Britain's Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has referred to them as "friends"1 – perhaps partially in view of its partnership with Fatah in the disputed territories, the latter being in charge of the West Bank (incorporating Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem).
Although bitter rivals, they share a common policy – refusal to recognise the Jewish state. As a relative newcomer to the political scene, Hamas (like the Palestinian Authority) has been hugely successful in re-writing history, having managed to persuade much of the media world that Israel has no historical link to the land (despite heaps of archaeological and biblical evidence to the contrary) which, in their view, gives them every right to attack their neighbours.
Hamas Tactics
Hamas propaganda has even stretched to ludicrous claims that Jewish Zionists collaborated with the Nazis, and has been so effective in recent Gaza wars that they have managed to convince numerous gullible journalists that Israel is committing atrocities such as targeting innocent children. But the Hamas military machine is actually using them as 'human shields' in a sick ploy designed to make it look like Israel is committing 'war crimes' when in fact Palestinian kids are being deliberately put in harm's way.2
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu rightly counters that Hamas is thus guilty of a "double war crime",3 killing innocent Israelis as well as their own people in a desperate bid to win sympathy for their cause. Former Israeli Premier Golda Meir famously said: "We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us."
Tragically, Gaza's children are taught to hate the Jews – and Israel has already been 'wiped off the map' in their geography classes, which depict Palestine as occupying all the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean.
Hamas' Culture of Death
What few realise is that today's Muslim fanatics have historic connections with the Nazis. Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti (Muslim religious leader) of Jerusalem in the years leading up to the founding of modern Israel, was in cahoots with Hitler over plans to exterminate the Jews.
As for Hamas, they appear to be a revival of an ancient threat to destroy the Jews under the Persian King Xerxes. The man at the centre of that plot had a very similar name – Haman. Fortunately, God raised up the beautiful Queen Esther to intervene on her people's behalf. She was prepared to sacrifice her life for her people (Est 4:16). But martyrdom under Hamas and its allies is part of a culture of death that seeks to destroy, not save.
The 1988 founding Charter (or Covenant) of Hamas reads: "The Islamic Resistance Movement is one link in the chain of jihad confronting the Zionist invasion...[which] aspires to the realization of Allah's promise, no matter how long that should take."4 Quoting 'the Prophet', it adds "The Day of judgment will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews)".5
Suicide bombings and other attacks since 1989 have killed hundreds and wounded thousands. Erick Stakelbeck, in The Brotherhood, writes:
The Hamas culture of death is driven by indoctrination that extends virtually from womb to tomb. From earliest childhood, Hamas teaches it adherents the Koran-mandated necessity of destroying Israel, the inferiority and inherent evil of the Jewish people in particular and non-Muslims generally; the glories of martyrdom and suicide attacks and the abundant rewards in the afterlife for those who sacrifice their lives for Allah. If you live in Gaza, these points are bombarded into your brain all day, every day on Hamas TV (including in cartoons and children's programming), in schools, mosques, and on billboards, murals and posters that adorn neighbourhoods, and in parades honoring each new suicide bomber or 'martyr'.6
By contrast, Israel does something unique in warfare – informing civilians in advance of their intentions via leaflets, phone calls and text messages. "There is no instance in modern military history where a force has taken greater measures to give the innocents as much chance to get out of the way", writes Steven Bucci, American foreign policy expert and former high-ranking Pentagon official.7
Charles Krauthammer, in a Washington Post article on 17 July 2014, challenges apologists for Hamas, who attribute the region's blood lust to Israel, to recall the Jewish withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 in a 'land for peace' deal. Instead of investing in industry and infrastructure, the new rulers spent millions on weapons with which to attack Israel, deliberately placing them "in schools, hospitals, mosques and private homes to better expose their own civilians..."8
References
1 E.g. McCann, K. Jeremy Corbyn refuses to denounce terrorist 'friends' Hamas and Hizbollah. The Telegraph, 2 May 2016.
2 Krauthammer, C. Moral clarity in Gaza. Washington Post, 17 July 2014. Also quoted in In Defence of Israel, research by Philip Vander Elst.
3 As told to ABC News, 20 July 2014.
4 Hamas Covenant, 1988. Read online here.
5 Ibid.
6 2013, Regnery Books. Quoted in In Defence of Israel, research by Philip Vander Elst.
7 Bucci, S. The Moral Difference Between Israel and Hamas. The Daily Signal, 17 July 2014. Also quoted in In Defence of Israel, research by Philip Vander Elst.
8 See note 2.
