This is a paper giving a look into Hamas, its founding, its philosophy and its history as a terrorist organization. FROM DISCOVERTHENETWORKS.ORG:
Islamic terrorist group founded in 1987
Received funding from Saddam Hussein
Receives funding from Iran
Responsible for many suicide bombings and terrorist acts against Israeli targets
Hamas (an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawamat al-Islamiyya, or "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a radical fundamentalist group founded on December 14, 1987 by the Muslim Brotherhood. ( Hamas describes itself as "one of the wings of the Muslim Brother[hood].") As a single Arabic word rather than an acronym, "Hamas" means "zeal." Its avowed purpose is "liberating Palestine" from the Jew "oppressors," whose presence in the Middle East it considers an affront to Muslims' rightful sovereignty in the land of the Prophet Mohammad. The organization's individual co-founders were Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al Rantisi.
With tens of thousands of loyal supporters, Hamas' strength is concentrated principally in the Gaza Strip and a few areas of the West Bank. The group's leadership is dispersed throughout these same areas, with a few senior leaders residing in Syria, Lebanon, and the Gulf States. Hamas receives some funding from Iran but is supported primarily by donations from Palestinian expatriates around the world and private benefactors in Arab nations. Some clandestine fundraising takes place in Western Europe and North America as well. When the United Nations Oil-For-Food program was in effect, Saddam Hussein skimmed more than $21 billion from its coffers and sent some of it it directly to Hamas.
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