Lite om Hamas bakgrund

En experts syn på Hamas (intervju med general David Hacham): EDITOR'S NOTES: THE GAZA EXPERT (Jerusalem Post)
...“Israel did not establish Hamas, but what was done in 1979 eventually led to what we know today as the terror organization,” Hacham said. “That was the original sin.”

Looking at Hamas’s evolution in the almost 30 years that have passed, Hacham is rarely surprised. Yassin, he says, had a long-term vision. “He planned everything from the beginning.

He didn’t just want to engage in social work, so when the intifada broke out he jumped at the opportunity.”

So, I asked, is there any hope for the future? Is there any chance that Hamas will one day change and be willing to accept Israel, a state it explicitly calls in its charter to destroy? The usually jovial Hacham turns serious. Hamas, he explained, can be split into two layers of thinking – ideology and tactics. On a tactical level, Hacham said, Hamas would be willing to reach short-term hudnas or tahadiyas – cease-fires – with Israel, but nothing more.

“On an ideological level, Hamas will never change and will never be a partner for a peace process,” he said.

So what does this mean for a resolution to the conflict? “The chance to advance something with the Palestinians today is slim to nil,” he says. “Under the current reality, there is no room for optimism.”