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When considering terrorism and homeland security on a global scale, it is difficult to have a discussion about specific terrorist groups threatening homeland security without mentioning the radical Islamic group Hamas. Hamas is easily one of the more well-known organizations in the world and are an incredible threat to homeland security. Hamas was formed in 1987 and has been considered a terrorist organization by the United States for almost its entire existence. Hamas was formed as a direct result of the first Palestinian uprising, known as an “intifada” in Arabic (“Terrorist Groups: Hamas,” n.d.). Ultimately, the primary goal of Hamas is for the establishment an Islamic state (“Terrorist Groups: Hamas,” n.d.) in Palestine as a replacement to Israel. In this essay, the following sections will be fully explored: first, the history and background of Hamas will be discussed, as well as acts that either the organization has admitted to committing or have been alleged to have committed; second, victims of Hamas’ terrorism will be identified and discussed; third, the motivations of this organization will be discussed; fourth, this essay will consider how Hamas is attempting to mitigate threat in the region. By the end of this essay, a full picture of Hamas will be given and it will be clear how Hamas is a threat to homeland security.
Hamas History
The history of Israel and Palestine is incredibly complicated and spans, quite literally, thousands of years. Following the creation of Israel in 1948, the entire region has been subjected to war, anti-political movements, religious movements, and general upheaval and instability. Numerous Islamic groups have formed as a result of the region’s instability and have proposed a number of solutions to fix this plagued region. Hamas is one such group.
Simply put, Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist as a country or place (Jeffrey, 2006) and seeks to replace Israel with a state specifically for Muslims called Palestine. Israel is broken into a number of different geographic areas that often hit the news. A majority of Hamas’ strength is concentrated in the Gaza Strip and West Bank (“Terrorist Groups: Hamas,” n.d.).
In response to the general political upheaval in the area, another organization known as the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was established to bring general awareness to the Palestinian plight in Israel. Although originally an organization that concentrated on armed struggled, in recent years the PLO has embraced peaceful exchange with Israel and has been officially recognized by Israel as the official representative of the Palestinian people living in Israel (Murphy, 1993).The connection to Hamas is that Hamas does not recognize any of the progress that Israel and the PLO have made, thus showcasing itself as a counter-organization (Jeffrey, 2006)
Recently, Hamas became known for winning legislative elections that were held in 2006 (Jeffrey, 2006). The win by Hamas over the party that was previously in power, Fatah, was a surprise by almost everyone. Fatah, in much the same way as the PLO previously mentioned, was attempting to work with Israel in order to fix the region. However, as Hamas came into power in the Palestinian regions, there were many that doubted whether or not this was a positive move for ultimate peace in the region. President of the United States, George Bush, stated that the United States “would not deal with a Hamas-led government unless the party recognized Israel’s right to exist (Jeffrey, 2006).” This quote further shows that Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist as a country and by placing them in power there is extreme discontent among the Palestinians and that the region is still absolutely plagued by political and religious instability.
Acts Committed by Hamas
Hamas has a section of its organization that is strictly dedicated to military-type acts. This is known as the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (“Terrorist Groups: Hamas,” n.d.). This portion of Hamas is directly known for committing acts of violence in Israel essentially since its organizations founding.
Hamas often works with what are referred to as “sleeper cells.” These sleeper cells are parts of the organization that are inactive until they are called upon. What we have seen over the course of the last few years is that Hamas will activate these sleeper cells when they are ready to carry out attacks (Toameh&Keinon, 2015). Otherwise, they are incredibly secretive and do not engage in political or religious acts.
Unfortunately, Hamas participates in what are known as suicide bombings. As of 2006, when Hamas gained power in the Palestinian regions of Israel, they had committed over 60 suicide bombings (Jeffrey, 2006). More recently, Hamas has stated publicly that they plan on continuing suicide bombings and that these attacks will concentrate on political and security figures, which includes Israeli politicians and police officers (Issacharoff, 2015).
One of the more famous suicide bombing attacks that Hamas has claimed responsibility for is the Afula Bus attack. In this attack, which occurred on April 6th, 1994, Hamas killed six people and an additional 55 were injured (Stork, 2002). Further, and perhaps what makes this attack one of the more widely known, is that this was the first suicide bombing carried out by Palestinians against Israeli civilians (Stork, 1994).
Hamas is also known for committing acts of violence by way launching rockets into Israel. Specifically, many of these rockets are coming from the Gaza Strip (“Hamas rocket attacks,” 2015). In a 50 day conflict in 2015 alone, Hamas is alleged to have fired more than 4,800 rockets and 1,700 mortars from Gaza towards Israel (“Hamas Rocket Attacks,” 2015). Further, approximately 224 of those 6,500 are estimated to have hit Israeli residential areas (“Hamas Rocket Attacks,” 2015). The BBC states that these rockets are unguided missiles (“Hamas Rocket Attacks,” 2015). This essentially means that Hamas cannot control where the missiles are going to ultimately land. Therefore, in addition to attempting to Israeli targets, the BBC states that there were many during this specific period of rocket launching that also hit Palestinians (“Hamas Rocket Attacks,” 2015). It is painfully obvious that Hamas is willing to target civilians in order to meet their political and religious goals of establishing an Islamic State as Palestine.
Victims of Attacks
Interestingly, there is an entire virtual library completely dedicated to allowing visitors the opportunity to view the entire comprehensive list of Hamas victims (“Terrorism Against Israeli,” 2015). This list includes people that have died as a result of war in Israel, beginning in 1993. This website includes victims that are directly tied to Hamas, but it also includes other organizations as well as individual acts of violence that are not necessarily tied to any organization but are a result of the tension and instability in the region. While this website is obviously biased towards the Jewish and Israeli perspective, it nonetheless provides the researcher and viewer a fantastic opportunity gain one perspective of the conflict.
According to the BBC, after one of the rocket attacks, a four-year-old Israeli boy was killed. The BBC states that a mortar landed outside of his family’s home, hit a car, and that the resulting shrapnel killed the young boy (“Hamas Rocket Attacks,” 2015). It is my opinion that these types of acts do not phase organizations such as Hamas. In order for them to accomplish their ultimate goals, these are side effects and incidents that must be accepted as part of the process in getting their goals.
Motivation for Attacks
The motivation for these attacks is relatively simple – the ultimate destruction of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian state in place of Israel. It stands to reason that Hamas, and other terror-based organizations, believe that if they can cause enough instability that governments and other entities will recognize their existence and be more likely to listen to their demands. Further, often these types of attacks highlight other issues at hand. For example, without the attacks, Hamas might believe that the plight of the Palestinian people might not ever reach the media or the news. A motivation for these types of attacks could absolutely be the reality that without the attacks and violence, very few people would care about, much less even know about, the current conditions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Therefore, these attacks, in addition to causing instability, also highlight the issues present in the region.
Further, Hamas believes that they are responding to the Israelis. As many conflicts are not one sided, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not either. After Israel was created in 1948, countless Muslims and Palestinians were displaced from their homes and lands that they had owned or lived on for, sometimes, generations. In fact, between 700,000 and 750,000 Palestinians would become displaced by the creation of Israel (Stern, 2008). Eventually, these would become known as the Palestinian refugees. Simply put, this displacement is absolutely a large motivation for not only the attacks, but the entire creation of Hamas in the first place. It is hard to argue that the Palestinians have some type of claim to the region and that the creation of Israel caused immense issues for any Palestinians that were occupying these areas. It stands to reason that, in some way, Hamas believes that they are attempting to right a wrong that was done to their people in 1948.
Finally, in addition to the countless bombings and killings that have been conducted by Hamas, there also have been Israeli attacks on Palestinians. In the 2014 Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel is widely credited as initiating the conflict (“Occupied Palestinian Territory,” 2014). There is no doubt that Hamas believes themselves justified in their attacking and suicide bombing due to the fact that the Israeli’s also engage in these types of attacks.
Mitigating Threat
Simply put, Hamas does nothing to mitigate threat or instability to the region. Rather, Hamas encourages threat and, while the organization believes that they will ultimately work to create stability, will always create instability. Even if they were to accomplish their goal of establishing an Islamic state in replace of Israel, the aftermath of such an act would continue to create instability (“Stable Instability Won’t Work,” 2014). It is quite ironic, however, as this is exactly what happened after the establishment of Israel in 1948.
Ultimately, the organizations that are working for a two-state system in Israel are working to mitigate threat most effectively and work to bring peace to the region. A one-state solution that Hamas, and other seemingly radical organizations, are proposing simply will not work due to the complicated history of the area (“Stable Instability Won’t Work,” 2014). It must be noted that the current one-state solution with Israel being the recognized country is also not going to work long-term. In order to mitigate threat and instability, a two state solution must be initiated.
In conclusion, Hamas is an Islamic organization that is attempting to bring an Islamic State to Palestine and see to the destruction of Israel. In attempting to accomplish this goal, they have used primarily suicide bombings and rocket launchers to cause mayhem and destruction. Further, they have not mitigated the instability that is inherent in the region and their ultimate goals do not create peace or stability for the region.
References
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