Hamas (حركة حماس; acronym: حركة المقاومة الاسلامية, or Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya or "Islamic Resistance Movement" ) is a Palestinian Islamist militant organization and political party. In January 2006, Hamas was elected as the parliament of the Palestinian Authority. east/4650788.stm" target="_blank">"Hamas sweeps to election victory", BBC News.

Hamas was created in 1987 by Sheikh _Ahmed Yassin of the Gaza wing of the Muslim Brotherhood at the beginning of the First Intifada. Best known in Israel and the rest of the world for its suicide bombings and other attacks Best known for suicide bombings/attacks:

• "Among the various organizations that emerged during the intifada were two that continue to challenge the dominance of the PLO over the Palestinian national movement: the Islamic Resistance Movement (better known by its acronym, Hamas) and its counterpart, Islamic Jihad. These organizations are best known for having injected a new lethality into the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians - the tactic of suicide bombings." (James L. Gelvin, The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 221 ISBN 0521852897)
• "Best known for the violence it launched against Israel through suicide bombings and rocket attacks... " (Murphy, John. "Hamas aims for political might", The Baltimore Sun, January 22, 2006)
• "To the outside world, Hamas is best-known — infamous — for its reliance on suicide bombers." (index.html" target="_blank">Palestinian territories:Inside Hamas,_PBS FRONTLINE:World, May 9, 2006)
• "Defined as a terrorist organization by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union because of its suicide attacks on Israeli civilians..." (Karon, Tony., blank">"Hamas Explained", _Time Magazine, December 11, 2001)
• "Hamas is best known abroad for the scores of suicide bombings it has carried out and its commitment to the destruction of Israel." (Barzak, Ibrahim. "Israel blames Iran, Syria for bombings", ABC News, January 20, 2006, p. 2)
• "...the militant organization, best known abroad for its attacks against Israeli civilians..." (Musharbash, Yassin. blank">"Could Victory be Undoing of Hamas", _Der Spiegel, January 27, 2006)
• "Although Hamas is best known for its suicide attacks..." (blank">"Palestinian Political Organizations", _PBS FRONTLINE, April 4, 2002)
• "...is perhaps best known for its suicide bombings against Israeli targets." (Lynfield, Ben. blank">Hamas gains grassroots edge, _Christian Science Monitor, December 27, 2004)
• "...it was best known in Israel and abroad for the suicide attacks it used..." (blank">"After the Hamas earthquake", _The Guardian, January 27, 2006).
• "But his organization, Hamas, is of course dedicated to the destruction of an entire country and infamous for its suicide attacks." (Mann, Jonathan. ins.01.html" target="_blank">"Reaction to Killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin", _CNN, March 22, 2004.
• "This dismal place was (and remains) a breeding ground for Hamas, the fundamentalist group now infamous for their suicide bombings." (Andersen, Mark. All the Power: Revolution Without Illusion, Punk Planet Books, 2004, ISBN 1888451726, p. 178)
• "Hamas, an organisation best known for its suicide bombings but which also runs social services, capitalised on widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo of economic, political and security instability to gain a stunning 76 seats out of the 132-member parliament." (Lynfield, Ben. blank">"Shock result prompts calls to end policy of violence", _The Scotsman, January 27, 2006.

directed against civilians and Israeli military and security forces targets, Hamas' charter (written in 1988 and still in effect) calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and its replacement with a Palestinian Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. The organization is widely described as antisemitic. Antisemitic:

• Aaronovitch, David. blank">"The New Anti-Semitism", The Observer, June 22, 2003.
• Anti-Semitism at Core of Hamas Charter, _Anti-Defamation League, February 27, 2006. Accessed April 17, 2007.
• Levin, Andrea. context=7&x_issue=16&x_article=1078" target="_blank">Ignoring Hamas Hate-Indoctrination, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, February 8, 2006.
• "Hamas, which is deeply engaged in teaching anti-Semitic, and anti-Christian hate in schools," Puder, Joseph. Levitt Can't Strike Hopeful Note About Hamas, _Philadelphia Bulletin, March 27, 2007.
• "Hamas refuses to recognize Israel, claims the whole of Palestine as an Islamic endowment, has issued virulently antisemitic leaflets,..." Laurence F. Bove, Laura Duhan Kaplan, From the Eye of the Storm: Regional Conflicts and the Philosophy of Peace, Rodopi Press, 1995, ISBN 9051838700, p. 217.
• "But of all the anti-Jewish screeds, it is the Protocols of the Elders of Zion that emboldens and empowers antisemites. While other antisemitic works may have a sharper intellectual base, it is the conspiratorial imagery of the Protocols that has fuled the imagination and hatred of Jews and Judaism, from the captains of industry like Henry Ford, to teenage Hamas homicide bombers." Mark Weitzman, Steven Leonard Jacobs, Dismantling the Big Lie: the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, KTAV Publishing House, 2003, ISBN 0881257850, p. xi.
• "There is certainly very clear evidence of antisemitism in the writings and manifestos of organizations like Hamas and Hizbullah..." Human Rights Implications of the Resurgence of Racism and Anti-Semitism, United States Congress, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on International Security, International Organizations and Human Rights - 1993, p. 122.
• "In calling for holy war against Israel, the covenant of Hamas, drawn up in 1998, also employs the language elecquention of the Protocols." Frederick M. Schweitzer, Marvin Perry, Anti-Semitism: myth and hate from antiquity to the present, Palgrave Macmillan, 2002, ISBN 0312165617, p. 116.
• "The demonization of the Jews/Zionists by the Hamas organization is also heavily shaped by European Christian anti-Semitism. This prejudice began to infiltrate the Arab world, most notably in the circulation of the 1926 Arabic translation of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion... Reliance upon the document is evidenced in the group's charter... The Protocols of the Elders of Zion also informs Hamas's belief that Israel has hegemonic aspirations that extend beyond Palestinian land. As described in the charter, the counterfeit document identifies the Zionists' wish to expand their reign from the Nile River to the Euphrates." Michael P. Arena, Bruce A. Arrigo, The Terrorist Identity: Explaining the Terrorist Threat, NYU Press, 2006, ISBN 0814707165, pp. 133-134.
• "Standard anti-Semitic themes have become commonplace in the propaganda of Arab Islamic movements like Hizballah and Hamas..." Bernard Lewis, Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry Into Conflict and Prejudice, W. W. Norton & Company, 1999, ISBN 0393318397, p. 266.

Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by Canada, Israel, Japan, and the United States, blank">"Country reports on terrorism 2005", _United States Department of State. Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism. US Dept. of State Publication 11324. Released April 2006 and is banned in Jordan. Karmi, Omar. id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=22307#" target="_blank">"What does the Hamas victory mean for nearby Jordan?", The Daily Star, February 18, 2006 Australia and the _United Kingdom blank">United Kingdom Home Security Office. Terrorism Act 2000. Proscribed terrorist groups list only the militant wing of Hamas, the _Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, as a terrorist organization.

Since the death of Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat, Hamas's political wing has entered and won many local elections in Gaza, Qalqilya, and Nablus. In January 2006, Hamas won a surprise victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, taking 76 of the 132 seats in the chamber, while the ruling Fatah party took 43. The Hamas charter states: "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad," blank">"The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)", MidEast Web, August 18, 1988; "The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement", The Avalon Project at Yale Law School, retrieved April 22, 2006. and this stance has found a receptive audience among Palestinians; many perceived the preceding Fatah government as corrupt and ineffective, and Hamas's supporters see it as an "armed resistance" movement defending Palestinians from the _Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Hamas has further gained popularity by establishing hospitals, education systems, libraries and social services throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Palestinian territories have experienced internal conflicts for many years; since Hamas's election victory, particularly sharp infighting has occurred between Hamas and Fatah, leading to many Palestinian deaths. blank">"The Gangs of Gaza", Newsweek, June 26, 2006.

After coming to power, Hamas announced it was giving up suicide attacks and "offered a 10-year truce [with Israel] in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories: the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem." Hamas also declared a unilateral ceasefire with Israel which, after Israeli air strikes in response to Hamas smuggling weapons into Gaza, was formally renounced. Following the _Battle for Gaza in June 2007, when Hamas used force to take control of the Gaza Strip after Fatah refused to hand over control to the new government, elected Hamas officials were ousted from their positions in the Palestinian National Authority government in the West Bank and were replaced by rival Fatah members as well as independents. On June 18, 2007, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Fatah) issued a decree outlawing the Hamas militia and executive force.blank">http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/17/palestinian.cabinet/index.htmlhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070621/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians

According to the _US State Department, the group is funded by Iran, Palestinian expatriates, and private benefactors in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states.