Was Hamas the work of the Israeli Mossad?

[bemildred]

While various Western governments are struggling to define a possible relationship with the Palestinian movement Hamas, some progressive and leftist circles are also uneasy regarding their own perception of the Islamic movement.

Some have even made the claim that Hamas is, more or less, an Israeli concoction. In fact, the accusation that Hamas was created by Israeli intelligence has become so commonplace that it often requires no serious substantiation. While the claim, as it stands, is erroneous, there is certainly a reason and history behind it. But was Hamas, in fact the work of the Israeli Mossad?

The mere suggestion is consequential, for not only does it discredit one single faction, but implies that Palestinians are deceived into thinking that they actually have some control over their collective destiny. This notion - that Hamas is the brainchild of Israel - is simply incorrect.

It could very well be complicated for one to grasp how such a movement could take a foothold and flourish with such popular support if one has no familiarity with the social, economic and religious history of the Gaza Strip, the birthplace of Hamas.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KC06Ak02.html

[LeftishBrit]

1. Good article

But who seriously thought Hamas was created by the Mossad? The Israeli government may be stupid, but not that stupid. And the Palestinians are not robots controlled by Israel.

[bemildred]

2. I see the idea all the time.

But with "seriously" attached, I don't know. I have no doubt the Israeli intelligence services have meddled with Hamas from day one, and it seems reasonable to me to hold them (the IIS) accountable for the results of their policies, but I doubt they set out to get where we are now, and I doubt that it was in their power to "create" something like Hamas.

[aranthus]

3. Not exactly.

I think the Israelis may have given some support (or at least not countered as hard as they could) when Fatah was still considered too hostile to talk to. The idea being not to have Hamas replace them, but to make life difficult for Hamas. In a similar vein, the US supported Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war. It's not that the US liked Saddam Hussein. We simply thought that Iran was a bigger enemy, and we wanted to keep Iraq and Iran busy fighting each other. In the same way, I think that the Israelis thought to give Fatah something to do besides shoot at Israelis. Unfortunately, Hamas proved to be too well organized and too politically savvy (and Fatah to corrupt and incompetent).

[Christa]

4. From a right wing source

Cohen curses Hamas and also what he sees as missteps that allowed Islamists to put down deep roots in Gaza. The machinations oops I mean naive mistakes openly described here are entirely consistent with Israel's cunning elsewhere. The strategy was simply to drive a wedge between Fatah, as it gained strength, and its opposite, the Islamist movement, when Fatah was looking like a genuine threat to Israel's total control.

From the WSJ:


snip

In its recent war in Gaza, Israel didn't set the destruction of Hamas as its goal. It limited its stated objectives to halting the Islamists' rocket fire and battering their overall military capacity. At the start of the Israeli operation in December, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told parliament that the goal was "to deal Hamas a severe blow, a blow that will cause it to stop its hostile actions from Gaza at Israeli citizens and soldiers."

Walking back to his house from the rubble of his neighbor's home, Mr. Cohen, the former religious affairs official in Gaza, curses Hamas and also what he sees as missteps that allowed Islamists to put down deep roots in Gaza.

He recalls a 1970s meeting with a traditional Islamic cleric who wanted Israel to stop cooperating with the Muslim Brotherhood followers of Sheikh Yassin: "He told me: 'You are going to have big regrets in 20 or 30 years.' He was right."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123275572295011847.html

[bemildred]

6. That's a very interesting piece, thanks for posting it.

Lot's of good quotes in there.

"But at the time nobody thought about the possible results."

[Idealism]

5. No way to really know, but Mossad undermined the PLO while supporting Hamas in the past

They would crush PLO demonstrations, limit free speech, etc but would let Hamas pass out their propaganda and hold rallies. Israel certainly supported Hamas over Fatah in the 2006 elections, or leading up to them, and it definitely had an impact on Hamas winning the plurality of votes.