Hamas Writing Fo John

Hamas is a fundamentalist Islamic organization that want established an Islamic state on what it considers ''historic Palestine,'' which includes modern-day Israel. Hamas' military wing is responsible for the majority of terrorist attacks against Israel since the signing of the Declaration of principles in 1993. Hamas' political wing provides welfare and social services to the Palestinian poor. The also builds schools and hospitals, and it develops social and religious projects. Hamas is the largest and most influential Palestinian militant movement. In January 2006, the group won the Palestinian Authority's PA general legislative elections, defeating Fatah, the party of the PA'S president, Mahmoud Abba's, and setting the stage for a power struggle. Since attending power, Hamas has continued its refusal to recognize the state of Israel, leading to crippling economic sanctions. Historically, Hamas has sponsored an extensive social service network. The group has also operated a terrorist wing, carrying out suicide bombing and attacks using mortars and short-range rockets. Hamas has launched attacks both in the Palestinian territories of the west Bank and Gaza Strip, and inside the pre-1967 boundaries of Israel. In Arabic, the word hamas'' means zeal. But it's also an Arabic acronym for ''Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya,'' or Islamic Resistance Movement. Historically, Hamas has operated as an opposition group in Gaza, the West Bank, and inside Israel. Most of the population of Gaza and the west Bank is officially ruled by the Palestinian Authority government, so hamas 'new role as the legislature's controlling party has forced the group to reconsider the function and scope of its operations. For instance, since taking power in2006, Hamas leaders have embarked on several diplomatic visits throughout the region. Early on, some observers hope that political legitimacy-and the accountability that comes with it -could wean Hamas away from violence. But to data, the group has refused to eschew violence and remains adamant about reversing the decision by its rival factor, the more secular Fatah movement, to recognized Israel's right to exist. In the summer of 2007, Hamas tension with the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abba's, a Fatah man, came to head and Hamas holding sway in Gaza and Fatah maintaing the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank town of Ramallah . Egyptian efforts to reconcile the two factions have come to nothing.