The Rise of Islam
- “MY NAME IS MOSAB HASSAN YOUSEF. I am the oldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, one of the seven founders of the Hamas organization. I was born in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and I am part of one of the most religious Islamic families in the Middle East.” - son of Hamas founder
- He describes how the growth of the Ottoman Empire from 1517 spread the influence of Islamic power, but after a couple of centuries there was corruption and poverty in the further regions from Turkey like here in the Middle East → people started to turn to the religious texts of Islam again to find meaning and faith that things would get better, with groups like the Muslim Brotherhood forming to convert new believers
- Israel declared independence in 1948: “Muslims throughout the Middle East were outraged. According to the Qur'an, when an enemy invades any Muslim country, all Muslims are called as one to fight to defend their land. From the viewpoint of the Arab world, foreigners had invaded and now occupied Palestine, home of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest place on earth after Mecca and Medina. The mosque was built on the site from which it was believed that Mohammad had traveled with the angel Gabriel to heaven and spoken with Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.” → he describes Islamic life like a ladder, where the bottom rungs are prayer and helping people but these religious groups slowly inched their way to the top rung, or Islamic jihadist, who kills nonbelievers for the glory of the Qu’ran
Hamas Starts to Protest
- The first step of Hamas was civil disobedience, deciding that they would protest the Israelis by throwing stones and burning tires (the first intifada) → this was when his father was first captured and taken prisoner by the IDF, as they tortured him to learn about the impending Hamas plans
- What’s the most dangerous thing in the world? Someone with nothing to lose… The Palestinians were so frustrated that they escalated the war and started stabbing Israelis to enact vengeance
- These groups constant demand is that Israel returns all the land, launching strikes until that’s the case: “What the two groups shared, however, was a deep hatred for what they labeled "the Zionist entity." Finally, the two organizations agreed that Hamas would have its strike on the ninth of every month, and Fatah — the PLO's largest faction - would have its strike on the first. Whenever a strike was called, everything stopped. Classes, commerce, cars - everything. Nobody worked, earned, or learned.” (Kids basically stopped learning)
- At this time it was complete anarchy for the Palestinians, as they would fight with each other and had no government structure, so they put their trust in the hands of religious leaders like his father, Hassan Yousef
- By the end of the first intifada, Hamas members had gotten their hands on guns and were increasing their resistance, with young new members looking forward to the fight itself than any peace
Peaceful Coexistence is the Last Goal for Hamas
- As Israeli peace talks took place between Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin in the mid 90s, some of the radical groups grew concerned that their influence would be challenged: “my dad was against the DOP. He didn't trust Israel or the PLO and therefore put no trust in the peace process. Other Hamas leaders, he explained, had their own reasons for opposing it, including the risk that a peace accord might actually stick! Peaceful coexistence would mean the end of Hamas. From their perspective, the organization could not thrive in a peaceful atmosphere.”
- One of the worst terror events against the Palestinians happened during this time, as an American named Baruch Goldstein walked into a mosque and opened fire on the people praying, killing 29 and injuring many more → this only led to a retribution campaign from Hamas where they started blowing up Israeli buses and suicide bombing: “I was proud of Hamas, and I saw the attacks as a huge victory against the Israeli occupation. At fifteen years of age, I saw everything in stark black and white. There were good guys and bad guys. And the bad guys deserved everything they got. I saw what a two-kilogram bomb packed with nails and ball bearings could do to human flesh, and I hoped it would send a clear message to the Israeli community.”
- As Arafat negotiated for peace, Hamas grew angry and lost trust in his leadership because they were not happy settling for a Palestinian state within Israel → “Hamas was not an organization as most people understood organizations, with rules and a hierarchy. It was a ghost. An idea. You can't destroy an idea; you can only stimulate it. Hamas was like a flatworm. Cut off its head, and it just grew another.”
The Problem is Not Israel’s Policies, It Was Israel’s Right to Exist…