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Hams: A Conflict Within Brief Introduction: Studying religious phenomenon in Arab communities has increased recently due to the public interaction with religious movements, which as a result increased the impact of these groups on various aspects of life; economic, political and military. Despite the great attention directed toward studying these religious movements in Arab communities, political sociology in the Arab world – with all its continuous efforts in the area – did not contribute much in analyzing this phenomenon.
This research is an attempt to explore one of these groups Hams; the Islamic resistance movement in Palestine. Hams was founded in 1987 as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. The Co-founder Sheikh Aimed Haskins stated that Hams was founded to liberate Palestine from the Israeli occupation and to establish an Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Http:// en. Wisped. Org/wick/Hams.
In 2007 a takeover in Gaza by Hams happened after Palestinian parliamentary elections and deadly clashes with Fatal political organization which is considered a major political party in Palestine. Summary of the Research: This research is an attempt to analyze Hams in terms of its unity and a trial to observe and analyze the characteristics that shape the relations between individuals and different currents within the movement. It will focus on the conflict within the movement and the causes behind this conflict and in order to conduct such research certain methodologies will be followed.
This research can be considered as a first attempt to address this topic which was not addressed previously. As a result of this most of the data gathered relevant to the topic will be obtained for the first time which introduces extra difficulty and increase the significance of this research. Both questionnaires and interviews will be conducted with members of Hams in Gaza Strip and those who live abroad mainly in Syria along with people from the public who are not affiliated either to Hams or Fatal.
Around 6 members from Hams and public figures will be asked around six questions, whereas the questionnaire will consist of six questions targeting 40 individuals from the mass public and young members of Hams. This research will take around 6 months to come up with the final conclusion. Statement of the Problem: The purpose of this research is to shed some light on Hams internal relations and to raw some attention to the hidden conflict within the movement and the reasons behind these organizational conflicts.
Analyzing the conflict among Hams will pave the way for peace makers to achieve real peace in the region. Existing conflict is considered a number one cause for sabotaging any reconciliation efforts, thus understanding the ongoing conflict between the different parties in Hams and working on resolving it, will result in unifying both Fatal and Hams in one unified government which could be an opportunity to enhance Israel’s security as well as the Palestinians.
There are a lot of researches that addresses the conflict between Hams and Israel, however this research will only concentrate on the internal conflict within Hams. Research Objectives: The objective of this research is to focus on two main different streams in Hams. The first stream found in Gaza strip which is known for its strictness, this stream is led by Mahout AY Zachary. While the other stream is based in Syria which is led by Chalked Messiah. The research will address certain questions; what are the reasons behind the conflict within Hams and especially between Chalked Mescal and
Mahout AY-Zachary? What are the necessary criteria that should be taken into consideration in order to resolve the ongoing conflict between the two streams? Methodology: This research focuses on the political structural violence within Hams movement. Although Hams leadership is not admitting any kind of organizational conflict in the infrastructure of its movement, according to Al-Suds newspaper on February 22nd: “the Islamic Resistance Movement ‘Hams’ is living in a stormy internal crisis in which some officials try to cover it up by giving statements showing the opposite”.
However, this research is going to prove that there are deep and strategic conflicts, and the foundations that must exist in order to achieve reconciliation with President Mahout Baas and Fatal movement in general. Moreover, The Israeli newspaper “Heart” has stated in its issue 03. 12. 2012 “that the intention of the President of the Political Bureau of Hams to retire from Hams leadership came as a result of the escalated conflict between the Hams leadership in Gaza and its leadership abroad, which opposes amendments in the political movement led by Mescal.
Another resource that proves the existence of a conflict within Hams is The Kuwaiti newspaper. It reported in its issue dated February’s 2012: “It has been revealed by trusted resources to Hams the occurrence of deep differences between leaders in Gaza Strip and abroad”. The first time to speak in public about the conflict between the two streams in Hams was after the reconciliation agreement signed between Mahout Baas and Chalked Mescal in Doth. The Syrian Social National Network reported with some details that Hams leaders in Gaza Strip were annoyed due to their normalization which made Mahout AY-Zachary stresses the importance of
Hams leaders in Gaza Strip and their impact in deciding the future of the movement. This conflict is considered a very challenging one since it is between the two backbones in Hams in which one party believes that their needs aren’t met and this could lead the other party undergo change unwillingly. Data Collection: This research will use both qualitative and quantitative methods in the data collection. This will be conducted through various ways; gathering all related press releases, public speeches that represent Hams position on the subject of the research.
Finally trying to access Hams back scene through interviews and questionnaires that will be directed to both different parties in Hams and the Palestinian public. The initial phase of this research will include getting consent from both Chalked Messiah and Mahout AY-Zachary since this research focuses on the conflict between them and any other figure that will be mentioned in the research. In order to collect these data and come up with a reliable sources regarding Hams internal conflict, interviews should take place within Hams leaders.
I will interview 8 leaders from the two streams in Hams and the suggested time for coming up with a final conclusion is about 6 months. The leaders that will be interviewed are as follows: 1- Khalid’s Mammas, the main leader of Hams since 2004 and the Chairman of the Hams Political Bureau 2- Mousse ABA Marabou, Deputy Chairman of Hams Political Bureau 3- Zeta El-Rasher, an abroad Hams leader 4- Mahout AY-Sahara, the co-founder of Hams and a member of the Hams leadership in the Gaza Strip. – Small Handy, the prime minister in Gaza Strip and a senior political leader of Hams 6- Hosannas House, one of Hams leaders in the West Bank. 7- Aziza Dakar, President of the Palestinian Legislative Council and one f Hams leaders in the West Bank. 8- Kali Al-Hay, Hams leader in Gaza Strip. The questions addressed to each of them separately focus on the nature of the internal relations in the movement and their opinion about the assumed conflict. Each interviewee will be asked five questions; these questions will be directed as follows: 1- It has been argued that there is conflict within Hams movement.
What is your comment? Do you really believe that there is a hidden conflict? 2- How would you describe the relation between Hams leaders in Palestine and those who live abroad? – What is your reflection about the argument that describes Hams leaders in Gaza Strip as strict members? 4- Do you think it is true what has been mentioned lately in the news that Hams leaders in Gaza Strip succeeded in sabotaging the Doth reconciliation agreement with President Mahout Baas that was signed by Chalked Mescal? 5- How would you describe the relationship between Chalked Mescal and Mahout AY-Zachary? – In your opinion why do you think Chalked Mescal decided not to run for the coming elections? Is it true that Hams leaders in Gaza Strip wouldn’t let him this time? Another interview will be conducted UT this time it will target Palestinian public figures who are interested in the Palestinian internal affairs. These interviews will be conducted with 5 public figures. These public figures gave an approval for mentioning their identity in the body of the research. 1- Keyed ABA Keyed was former Foreign Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. – Abdul Barb Atman is the editor-in chief of the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Suds Al-Arabia. 3- Wald Al-Kigali is a political science professor in the US 4- Zamia Basher was a former member of the Nests, the Israeli parliament, politician, and writer. – Aimed AY-Tuba is a member of the Nests, the Israeli parliament and a politician This interview consists of 6 main questions that help in analyzing how the public and intellectuals view the conflict between Hams parties and the root causes behind this conflict. – According to your point of view, how would you analyze the elevated conflict within Hams leaders? 2- How would you evaluate the ongoing conflict between both parties in Hams, is it a conflict between radical and moderate parties or is it conflict due to geographical basis? 3- Do you think that this elevated conflict would affect Hams unity? – Is there any possibility of internal division and split in Hams due to the conflict between Hams members abroad represented by Chalked Messiah and Hams members in Gaza Strip represented by Mahout AY-Zachary? – Do you think that the conflict within Hams could be the main reason for slowing down Palestinian reconciliation? 6- WSDL resolving this conflict lead the region to the real meaning of peace internally between Fatal and Hams and internationally between Palestine and Israel? And what are the measures that should be taken in the future to resolve the ongoing conflict between the two parties? The other side of the field study in this research will be based on a questionnaire that will target two sectors in the Palestinian community.
The questionnaire will include 7 questions and will be directed to 20 members of the first sector which will be Hams members in Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and another 20 in the Palestinian public, which will include both males and females, employed and unemployed in order to have a wider scope of the publics view about the organizational conflict within Hams. Some members would prefer not to reveal their identity, so in this case their identity would stay anonymous. The questionnaire will be as follows: 1- It has been argued that there is conflict between Hams members in Gaza Strip and those who live abroad?
Strongly agree – agree- disagree – strongly disagree – don’t know 2- In your opinion, which of the following reasons are the main causes behind this hidden conflict? Power struggle – regional conflict – adherence to Hams main goals 3- Which party do you think is compatible with the movement’s main goal? Gaza Strip – abroad 4- Do you support Mahout AY-Sarah’s election to be the Chairman of the Hams Political Bureau? Know Strongly agree – agree – disagree – strongly disagree – don’t – From scale from to 10 how would you describe the relationship between Mahout AY-Zachary and Small Hawaiian?
Whereas 1 is very complicated and 10 is very satisfactory. 6- What do you think of a possible military intervention in case of future conflicts between Hams leaders? Strongly agree – agree – disagree – strongly disagree – don’t know There was a questionnaire conducted by Palestine News Network (PAN). The purpose of this questionnaire was to come up with an estimate about how much these internal conflicts in Hams affected negatively the formation of a Palestinian unity overspent. The estimate was as follows; 56. % believes that these internal conflicts will hinder the formation of a unified government. While 32. 8% argues that this could be a reason for dealing this step, whereas, only 10. 4% believe that these conflicts would not affect at all in the formation of a unified Palestinian government. Hams worked hard to conceal the results of Hams political meeting that took place in Cairo February 23rd 2012, and tried to deny any differences between Hams leaders, however, it became very clear that there are two opposite streams within Hams; one n Gaza strip and the other one abroad mainly in Syria.
This opposition was clearly shown when Mahout AY Zachary criticized the Doth agreement stating that Chalked Messiah didn’t discuss the Doth agreement with Hams leaders in Gaza strip. Http://radiology. IR/en/news/93/viewed/1898120/Mammas Method of Analysis First task is analyzing and sorting information and data that were obtained, then classifying it in order to achieve and reach the desired goals. Data could be classified according to the topic and situations such as the cause of national reconciliation and Hams members’ views over the Fatal and President Baas.