Authors: Jay Sekulow
16
. Charter, art. 1.
17
. “Intifada is an Arabic word for âcivil uprising' that literally means âshaking off.'â” “The First Intifada,”
Ma'an News,
August 16, 2009,
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=212093
.
18
. Charter, art. 6.
19
. Masters, “Hamas.”
20
. Ibid.
21
. Charter, quoting the Quran (3:110â112).
22
. Ibid., arts. 5, 8.
23
. Ibid., introduction, quoting Hasan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 and director general until his assassination in 1949.
24
. Ibid., art. 14. Quran 17:1 states: “Glory to (Allah) Who did take His Servant For a Journey by night From the Sacred Mosque To the Farthest Mosque, Whose precincts We did Blessâin order that We Might show him some Of Our Signs: for He Is the One Who heareth And seeth (all things).” Ali,
The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an,
17:1. Nocturnal journey is a reference to Muhammad's “Night Journey” from the “sacred mosque” (the Ka'aba in Mecca) to “the Farthest Mosque” (which Muslims consider to be a reference to the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem). In his commentary on verse 17:1, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, a notable translator of and commentator on the Quran, states that during the night journey, “[t]he Holy Prophet [Muhammad] was first transported to the seat of the earlier revelations [Torah, Psalms, the Gospels] in Jerusalem, and then taken through the seven heavens even to the Sublime Throne, and initiated into the spiritual mysteries of the human soul struggling in Space and Time.” Ibid. Note that the word
aqsa
means farthest and does not necessarily mean that Muhammad was actually referring to the site of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Furthermore, this verse does not mention the word Jerusalem or make any reference to it. Muslims, however, believe the farthest mosque is the reference to the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. One hadith observes Muhammad as saying “[w]hen the people of Quraish did not believe me (i.e. the story of my Night Journey), I stood up in Al-Hijr and Allah displayed Jerusalem in front of me, and I began describing it to them while I was looking at it.'â” Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 5, Bk. 58, No. 226,
http://sahih-bukhari.com/Pages/Bukhari_5_58.php
.
25
. Charter, art. 11.
26
. Ibid., art. 7.
27
. Ibid., art. 3.
28
. Ibid., art. 6.
29
. Ibid., art. 6.
30
. Ibid., art. 13.
31
. Ibid.
32
. Ibid., preamble.
33
. Ibid.
34
. Ibid., art. 13.
35
. See text accompanying notes 194â206.
36
. U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2011, ch. 6, “Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, July 31, 2012,
http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2011/195553.htm
.
37
. Masters, “Hamas.”
38
. U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2011: “Designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on October 8, 1997, Hamas possesses military and political wings and came into being in late 1987 at the onset of the first Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, as an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
39
. Council Common Position 2003/651/CFSP of 12 September 2003 updating Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism and repealing Common Position 2003/482/CFSP,
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32003E0651:EN:HTML
, listing “Hamas (including Hamas-Izz al-Din al-Qassem)” among “Groups and Entities” defined as terrorist organizations. See also Anton La Guardia, “Hamas Is Added to EUs Blacklist of Terror,”
Telegraph,
September 12, 2003,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/1441311/Hamas-is-added-to-EUs-blacklist-of-terror.html
.
40
. Ibid.
41
. U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2011.
42
. Masters, “Hamas.”
43
. Ibid.
44
. Fares Akram and Jodi Rudoren, “To Shape Young Palestinians, Hamas Creates Its Own Textbooks,”
New York Times,
November 3, 2013,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/04/world/middleeast/to-shape-young-palestinians-hamas-creates-its-own-textbooks.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
.
45
. U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2011.
46
. Marissa Newman, “Hamas Said to Have Executed Dozens of Tunnel Diggers,”
Times of Israel,
August 11, 2014,
http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-said-to-have-executed-dozens-of-tunnel-diggers/
.
47
. “Gaza E.R.: Fatah vs. Hamas,” PBS. See also “Profile: Fatah Palestinian Movement,” BBC News, August 4, 2009,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1371998.stm
.
48
. FATEH Constitution, arts. 2, 17,
http://www.acpr.org.il/resources/fatehconstitution.html
; see also PLO Charter, arts. 3, 9 (1968),
http://www.iris.org.il/plochart.htm
.
49
. “Gaza E.R.: Fatah vs. Hamas,” PBS.
50
. FATEH Constitution, arts. 7, 8; see also PLO Charter, arts. 15, 22.
51
. “Gaza E.R.: Fatah vs. Hamas,” PBS.
52
. Andrew Higgins, “How Israel Helped to Spawn Hamas,”
Wall Street Journal,
January 24, 2009,
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB123275572295011847
.
53
. Charter, art. 27.
54
. Ben Lynfield, “Make Way, Fatah Young Guns Tell Arafat Generation,”
Independent,
August 4, 2009,
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/make-way-fatah-young-guns-tell-arafat-generation-1766950.html
. See also “Profile: Fatah.”
55
. “Gaza E.R.: Fatah vs. Hamas,” PBS. See also Lynfield, “Make Way.”
56
. Masters, “Hamas.” See also Richard Falk, “Preparing the Path to a Just Peace for Palestine/Israel,”
Foreign Policy Journal,
June
17, 2014,
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2014/06/17/preparing-the-path-to-a-just-peace-for-palestineisrael/
.
1
. Masters, “Hamas”;
see also
Bryony Jones, “Q&A: What Is Hamas?,” CNN, November 24, 2012,
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/16/world/meast/hamas-explainer/index.html
.
2
. Jones, “Q&A: What Is Hamas?”
3
. The International Crisis Group is “an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict.” Its staff publishes reports and briefings that give policy recommendations regarding “over 50 conflict and potential conflict situations” that are monitored by its field agents. “About Crisis Group,” International Crisis Group,
http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/about.aspx
.
4
. Jones, “Q&A: What Is Hamas?”
5
. Masters, “Hamas.”
6
. Jim Zanotti, “Hamas: Background and Issues for Congress,” Congressional Research Service, December 2, 2010,
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/R41514.pdf
.
7
. Sara Sidner, “First Rocket Fired from Gaza into Israel Since November Cease-fire,” CNN, February 26, 2013,
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/26/world/meast/israel-gaza-rocket/index.html
. See also “Calm Elusive as Rockets Rain in Gaza, Israel,” CNN, November 21, 2012,
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/20/world/meast/gaza-israel-strike/index.html
(Hamas repeating its refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist).
8
. “Israel Blames Hamas for All Attacks from Gaza,” Al Jazeera, December 27, 2013,
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/12/israel-blames-hamas-all-attacks-from-gaza-201312270847706182.html
.
9
. Hamas carried out its first suicide bombing in April 1993, and only months later, Hamas publicly condemned the Oslo Accords, an historic pact that had been agreed to by both Israel and the PLO. Masters, “Hamas.” Hamas claimed responsibility for its first suicide bombing directed at Israeli civilians on April 6, 1994. The bomber in Afula killed 8 civilians and wounded 34. Joe Stork,
Erased in a Moment: Suicide Bombing Attacks Against Israeli Civilians
(New York: Human Rights Watch, 2002), 66. Only one week later, Hamas claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a crowded bus, an attack that killed 5 Israeli civilians and wounded 30 others. Clyde Haberman, “5 Killed in Israel as Second Bomber Blows Up a Bus,”
New York Times,
April 14, 1994,
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/14/world/5-killed-in-israel-as-second-bomber-blows-up-a-bus.html
. On October 19, 1994, a Hamas suicide bomber detonated a bomb while on an Israeli passenger bus in Tel Aviv, killing 22 civilians and wounding another 48. “One Victim Survives Her 2d Bus Bombing,”
New York Times,
July 25, 1995,
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/25/world/one-victim-survives-her-2d-bus-bombing.html
. Another Hamas suicide attack on an Israeli bus happened on April 9, 1995, when the attacker rammed his bomb-rigged car into the bus, causing an explosion that killed 8 and injured 52. Elaine Ruth Fletcher, “Terror Deals a Blow to Mideast Peace,”
SFGate,
April 10, 1995,
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Terror-deals-a-blow-to-Mideast-peace-3148607.php
. On July 30, 1997, two Hamas suicide bombers detonated bombs in a Jerusalem open-air market, killing 14 civilians and wounding another 150. “14
Killed in Jerusalem Suicide Bombings,” CNN, July 30, 1997,
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9707/30/jerusalem.noon/
. On September 4, 1997, three Hamas bombers detonated nail bombs on Ben Yehuda Street, a crowded Jerusalem thoroughfare, killing 8 and injuring over 150 others. “1997: Suicide Bombings Put Peace Visit in Doubt,” BBC News, September 4, 1997,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/4/newsid_2499000/2499009.stm
. On June 1, 2001, a suicide bomber detonated his bomb outside a Tel Aviv discotheque, killing 21 teenagers and wounding 120 others. “Tel-Aviv Suicide Bombing at the Dolphin Disco,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, June 2, 2001,
http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFA-Archive/2001/Pages/Tel-Aviv%20suicide%20bombing%20at%20the%20v Dolphin %20disco%20-%201-.aspx
. A Hamas suicide bomber killed 15 Israelis inside a Jerusalem restaurant, including an Israeli family with three children, provoking mourners to call Hamas's campaign of violence “a Holocaust.” “ââThis Isn't a Funeral. It's a Holocaust,'â”
Guardian,
August 10, 2001,
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/aug/11/israel
. A series of suicide bombings, including another bombing at the Ben Yehuda Street pedestrian mall, over the weekend of December 1, 2001, killed 25 people and wounded over 200. “Bomb Blasts Kill Scores in Israel,” Fox News, December 2, 2001,
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2001/12/02/bomb-blasts-kill-scores-in-israel/
. A suicide bombing carried out by the Izz al-Din al-Qassem Brigades killed 11 people and injured 54 at a Jerusalem café. Suzanne Goldenberg, “Bombing Shatters Illusions in an Oasis of Civility,”
Guardian,
March 10, 2002,
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/mar/11/israel1
. A May 2002 Hamas suicide bombing at a billiards hall in Rishon LeZion killed 15 and injured another 60. Matthew Kalman, “Israel Vows to Hit Back After Suicide Bomb Kills 15,”
Daily Mail,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-113414/Israel-vows-hit-suicide-bomb-kills-15.html
. Hamas claimed responsibility for using a bomb packed with ball bearings in a suicide attack on June 18, 2002, that killed 19 bus passengers, including an eleven-year-old girl. James Bennet, “Suicide Bomber Hits Jerusalem Bus, Killing at Least 18,”
New York Times,
June 19, 2002,
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20020619wednesday.html
. On September 29, 2004, a Hamas militant fired a Qassam rocket into Israel, killing two children, ages 4 and 2. “Israel Kills Hamas Militant Blamed for Deadly Rocket Attack,”
Los Angeles Times,
October 10, 2004,
http://articles.latimes.com/2004/oct/10/world/fg-gaza10
. Hamas launched an antiaircraft missile at an Israeli school bus moments after it had dropped off most of the students. The one remaining passenger, sixteen-year-old Daniel
Viflic, died in the explosion. “Boy Hurt in Gaza Rocket Attack on Israeli Bus Dies of His Wounds,”
Haaretz,
April 17, 2011,
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/boy-hurt-in-gaza-rocket-attack-on-israeli-bus-dies-of-his-wounds-1.356477
. See also Foreign Secretary Statement on the Death of Daniel Viflic, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, April 17, 2011,
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-statement-on-the-death-of-daniel-viflic
.
10
. Masters, “Hamas,” citing “Rocket Attacks on Israel from Gaza,” Israel Defense Forces,
http://www.idfblog.com/facts-figures/rocket-attacks-toward-israel/
.
11
. Serge Schmemann, “Bombing in Israel: The Overview; 4th Terror Blast in Israel Kills 14 at Mall in Tel Aviv; Nine-Day Toll Grows to 61,” N.Y. Times (5 Mar. 1996),
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/05/world/bombing-israel-overview-4th-terror-blast-israel-kills-14-mall-tel-aviv-nine-day.html?scp=1&sq=dizengoff%20center%20 suicide&st=cse&pagewanted=print
.
12
. “Alleged Passover Massacre Plotter Arrested,” CNN, March 26, 2008,
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/03/26/israel.hamas/
.