Israeli Roots of Hamas Are Being Exposed

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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I also read somewhere that Likud asked Hamas to carry out suicide bombings just before the election in 96, so that Netanyahu could win against Labor" All the suicide bombings happen at the most conveniant times…

I will try to locate the article, stay tuned.

http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2002/2902isr_hamas.html

Israeli Roots of Hamas Are Being Exposed

by Dean Andromidas
Speaking in Jerusalem Dec. 20, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer made the connection between the growth of the Islamic fundamentalist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and Israel’s promotion of the Islamic movement as a counter to the Palestinian nationalist movement. Kurtzer’s comments come very close to EIR’s own presentation of the evidence of Israel’s instrumental role in establishing Hamas, and its ongoing control of that organization.

Kurtzer said that the growth of the Islamic movement in the Palestinian territories in recent decades—“with the tacit support of Israel”—was “not totally unrelated” to the emergence of Hamas and Islamic Jihad and their terrorist attacks against Israel. Kurtzer explained that during the 1980s, when the Islamic movement began to flourish in the West Bank and Gaza, “Israel perceived it to be better to have people turning toward religion rather than toward a nationalistic cause [the Palestinian Liberation Organization—ed.].” It therefore did little to stop the flow of money to mosques and other religious institutions, rather than to schools.

According to the Dec. 21 Israeli daily Ha’aretz, Kurtzer made these extraordinary statements at a seminar on religion and politics sponsored by Oz V’Shalom-Netivot Shalom, a largely Anglo-American organization that promotes peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Rabbi Dr. Aharon Lichtenstein, the head of Har Etzion Yeshiva in Alon Shvut, who is an active advocate of a just regional peace, also spoke. Kurtzer said that as a result of the growth of Islam at the expense of education, there are now Palestinians who are “determined terrorists that use religious beliefs in a perverted way to appeal to the masses.”

Kurtzer said that cultural and religious interaction is potentially a way to “build bridges.” But instead, “the perverted use of religion in the region is today becoming one of the great challenges for the years ahead.” He said that there is no “inherent component” in Islam that advocates violence. But one of the five principles of Islam, jihad—resistance—“in classic religious associations connotes religious belief and fervor, not violence.” But extremists have distorted the meaning of jihad, so it now has a connotation of violence in the service of a religious purpose.

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Israel never had an intention to create an organization that wanted to destroy Israel. I hear over and over that Israel created Hamas as if that then it an excuse for Hamas to do all the terror they please to Israel. Hamas is not supported by Israel but by masses of Palestinians.

The PLO was a terrorist group so who could blame Israel for seeking out a different partner for peace? Clearly if Daniel Kurtzer statements are true Hamas was not this partner but yet another violent group that Israel should have never trusted. When will the Palestinians bring forth and support a group that is interested in peace rather than war?

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Abdali, your article doesn't really support the argument or provide adequate examples with regards to Hamas having Israeli roots.

The difference between Hamas and the PLO is that the PLO is secular whereas Hamas promotes Islamic nationalism as a means of retaining the whole of Palestine through Jihad. This combination of nationalism and religion is known as 'wataniya'. So the statement in your article, "*Kurtzer explained that during the 1980s, when the Islamic movement began to flourish in the West Bank and Gaza, "Israel perceived it to be better to have people turning toward religion rather than toward a nationalistic cause [the Palestinian Liberation Organization—ed.]." * would be incorrect.

Therefore I really don't think Hamas has any Israeli roots. Hamas was created at the dawning of the first Intifadah, where they believed that the Muslim Brotherhood and the PLO weren't doing enough for the Palestinian cause. It was basically the military wing of the Brotherhood. If at all, there is an Israeli hand in any of this, it would be in the PLO, which has time and again worked against Hamas and has been responsible for surrendering Hamas militants to Israel. Yasser Arafat would not be alive and kicking while his Hamas counterparts are locked up in prison cells - some food for though.

For more information on this subject, you are welcome to consult my thesis. :)

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yeah cat-woman knows what Daniel Kurtzer said more than he knows himself :)

Hamas and Israeli govt have this symbiotic parasitic relationship, They both need one another. Without the oppression Palestinians will not have any reason to supporet extremist groups like Hamas, so its a power thign for them. Without such groups Israel would not be getting handouts from US and excuses to further develop illegal settlements to further complicate the issue and a settlement.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Fraudz: *
yeah cat-woman knows what Daniel Kurtzer said more than he knows himself :)

[/QUOTE]

hey, I never ever sourced Daniel Kurtzer! :p

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by cat-woman: *
Therefore I really don't think Hamas has any Israeli roots. Hamas was created at the dawning of the first Intifadah, where they believed that the Muslim Brotherhood and the PLO weren't doing enough for the Palestinian cause. It was basically the military wing of the Brotherhood. If at all, there is an Israeli hand in any of this, it would be in the PLO, which has time and again worked against Hamas and has been responsible for surrendering Hamas militants to Israel. Yasser Arafat would not be alive and kicking while his Hamas counterparts are locked up in prison cells - some food for though.

For more information on this subject, you are welcome to consult my thesis. :)
[/QUOTE]

Where did you copy paste these thesis?
Does It make sense at all?
Catty I wouldn't have expected that from you at least.
Let me proof you that it has Israeli roots, although it will take some time.

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All things being equal, I will rather go with the more common sense explanation. I find it too implausible that Israel will actually promote Hamas. Its possible, however, that in their efforts to marginalize Arafat (due to personal animosity between Sharon and Arafat) Israel is hoping for an alternate power structure within the Palestinians.

Additionally, Hamas' activities, though they kill Israeli civilians on a regular basis, help Lekud Party to solidify its position not to give any concessions to Palestinians which is the main issue which differentiates Lekud with Labor.

Given a choice, Israel will ideally want to have no Hamas, no Hizbollah and a meek PLO/PA to deal with, so they can steamroll the negotiations without giving much into the Palestinian demands. From an Israel POV, they select the bigger of two "evils": Arafat or Hamas, and they seem to be taking a chance that Hamas' revolutionary and consistent militaristic approach will allow Israeli government to adopt a more beligerent posture and to gain sympathies in Washington not to give anything to Palestinian demands. So far, this seems to be working.

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Faisal

we are not talking about today. Today Hamas is a thorne in Israel's side..I guess to some extend a desireable thorn but the is from a time when Israel wanted to marginalise PLO and Yasser Arafat. Its hidden support to Hamas at that point was on the premise of 'enemy's enemy = friend"

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Mr Frauds, I'm not sure whether the PLO and Hamas are entirely enemies. Some assert that they have more in common than not. They have come to several mutual agreements and the PLO, despite its promises to the Israeli government, has time and again, backed and protected Hamas.

Ali, please, I would really like to see how and when Israel helped in the founding of Hamas.

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we are not talking about today. Today Hamas is a thorne in Israel's side..

I agree we are not talking about today, but Hamas and Hizbollah with backing from Syria and Iran, always espoused a radical militaristic solution to the problem of Palestinian people. Their actions, fortunately or unfortunately, play right into the hands of Lekud party and their strong-arm tactics.

Then again, we are so far away from the ground situation that it is very easy to misread the situation and issue opinions. The Palestinians I have talked to, more or less, agree that Israel will never give an inch through negotiations, and will only be willing to compromise if it sees its own security at risk due to continued confrontation. This is the line, which I presume, is taken by Hamas and other militias.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by cat-woman: *
Mr Frauds, I'm not sure whether the PLO and Hamas are entirely enemies. Some assert that they have more in common than not. They have come to several mutual agreements and the PLO, despite its promises to the Israeli government, has time and again, backed and protected Hamas..
[/QUOTE]

But when Hamas was an alternative to PLO and thus was less of a secular nationalist movement and more of an extremist and religiously oriented group, it stole the thunder from PLO. The time Hamas gained prominence was when PLO's presence in palestine was almost non existent due to exiles and what nots.

what you see now is frankenstein's monster gone out of hand..

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by cat-woman: *
Ali, please, I would really like to see how and when Israel helped in the founding of Hamas.
[/QUOTE]

Sometimes it's good to use the links which are posted with each open thread.

If you read on and scroll down you'll find this:

[quote]
Hamas has always been seen as a tool by which Israel could undermine the nationalist movement led by Palestinian Authority President and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat. Similar statements by Arafat have been dismissed by Israel as "cranky" propaganda. In an interview with the Dec. 11 Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Arafat said, "We are doing everything to stop the violence. But Hamas is a creature of Israel which at the time of Prime Minister [Yitzhak] Shamir [the late 1980s, when Hamas arose], gave them money and more than 700 institutions, among them schools, universities and mosques. Even [former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin ended up admitting it, when I charged him with it, in the presence of [Egpytian President Hosni] Mubarak."

To the Italian daily L'Espresso, Arafat laid out the reasons for this support. "Hamas was constituted with the support of Israel. The aim was to create an organization antagonistic to the PLO. They received financing and training from Israel. They have continued to benefit from permits and authorizations, while we have been limited, even to build a tomato factory. Rabin himself defined it as a fatal error. Some collaborationists of Israel are involved in these [terror] attacks," he said. "We have proof, and we are placing it at the disposal of the Italian government."

On one level the support for Hamas is simply the application of the old saying, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Indeed, in the minds of crude Israeli ultra-nationalists and fascists such as Sharon and his faction, this is indeed the case. Sharon is not interested in peace and therefore is not concerned that the violence and needless deaths of Israelis and Palestinians continue. In the Jan. 3 Ha'aretz, Yossi Sarid, chairman of the Meretz party, wrote, "What does frighten Sharon ... is any prospect or sign of calm or moderation. If the situation were to calm down and stabilize, Sharon would have to return to the negotiating table and, in the wake of pressure from within and without, he would have to raise serious proposals for an agreement. This moment terrifies Sharon and he wants to put it off for as long as he possibly can." In contrast, Sarid said that Sharon understands "that the terrorists and those who give them asylum are not the real enemies. Instead, the real enemies are the moderates.... You fight terrorists—a pretty simple operation—but you must talk with moderates, and this is a very tricky, if not dangerous, business."....

[/quote]

What you say now?

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Here are some more links to the topic:

Sharon War Plan Exposed:
Hamas Gang Is His Tool
http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2001/2827sharon_hamas.html

Arafat: Hamas Are Sharon’s Children
http://www.larouchepub.com/pr/2001/2850arafat_on_hamas.html