Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic political party that includes a military wing. It is the de facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip, and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and
Hamas
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Israel News Shalit Deal Shows Culture of Two Nations
It was an uncharacteristic moment of uncertainty — and a rare divergence from Israeli policy — when the usually emphatic Republican presidential candidates were asked how they would have handled Hamas’s demands for the release of Master Sgt. Gilad Shalit, the soldier for whom Israel traded 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, including some terrorists. “You can’t negotiate…
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Opinion Israel, Egypt and the Chill in the Arab Spring Air
With political and social upheaval sweeping the Middle East, Israel is threatened by a tsunami of hand-wringing, angst-ridden warnings of impending doom. New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner summed up the situation in this news analysis over the weekend. Here is Reuters’ Crispian Balmer on the issues a week earlier, and here’s Haaretz’s…
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Opinion How the Flotilla Helps Hamas
Chrisopher Hitchens, in a July 4 piece on Slate linked to on Tuesday by J.J. Goldberg, almost got it almost right. “It seems safe and fair to say that the flotilla and its leadership work in reasonably close harmony with Hamas, which constitutes the Palestinian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood,” he wrote. It’s unclear if…
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Opinion Hitchens Has a Few Questions for the Flotilla
Christopher Hitchens, writing in Slate, has a few questions about the Free Gaza flotilla that he wishes the journalists on the scene would find time to ask. Most of the speculation so far has been to do with methods and intentions, allowing for many avowals about peaceful tactics and so forth, but this is soft-centered…
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The Schmooze Friday Film: Five Years Later, Gilad Shalit Is Still Captive
Getty Images On June 23, the International Red Cross asked Hamas to provide proof that Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured in June 2006, is still alive. Hamas — to no one’s surprise — refused. The timing is not coincidental. June 25 will mark five years that Shalit has been held prisoner by Hamas, without…
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The Schmooze Ismail Haniyeh Injured in Soccer Match
In the delicate Middle East, leaders are constantly watching their backs. But not quite enough, so it seems. Of all the hazards facing Ismail Haniyeh — Palestinian Prime Minister, according to his organization Hamas, a pretender to the throne, according to Fatah, and a terrorist, according to Israel — who would have thought that the…
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Opinion Fatah Spokesman: ‘Bin-Laden’s Elimination Is Good for the Peace Process’
The statement by Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh mourning Ben-Laden and condemning his killing is getting a lot of internet traffic. It’s instructive; optimists make much of the group’s occasional hints at softening and its conflicts with Al Qaeda. Worth remembering that it still sees itself as part of Jihad International. Here is Ynetnews.com’s report…
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Opinion Bibi Forbids Aides To Find Any Upside to Fatah-Hamas Pact; JTA Attacked for Reporting Facts
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed his cabinet ministers to stick to a single message regarding the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement, Israel’s Channel 10 News reports on its Nana-10 website. The message: “there is no possible positive component in the reconciliation agreement.” That’s right:Cabinet ministers are forbidden even to speculate on any conceivable upside. You…
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Opinion Forgiveness has its limits: a Yom Kippur reflection on justice
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Opinion Atoning during a war feels impossible. Instead, resolve to do better
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