There are two aspects to this educational document:  a history of the region; and an evaluation of Hamas/Gaza.

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History:

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There has never been an independent nation of “Palestine” in history.  There has never been an Arab or Moslem independent nation of Palestine anywhere in the Middle East region.  “Palestine” has never been a country, and no people called “Palestinians” existed until the name was used in the 20th century.

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• The oldest kingdom in the region is the Jewish Davidic Kingdom, dating back roughly 3000 years ago.  This is confirmed by the oldest cemetery in the region, Mt Olive Cemetery in Jerusalem, which is over 3000 years old.  Prior to the Davidic Kingdom, the region was filled with nomadic tribes and clans.  The boundaries of this kingdom were identified in the Bible, and were a small bit larger, but roughly similar to the State of Israel after 1967 (including West Bank and Gaza).  There was no “Palestine”

• The Jewish kingdom continued, was conquered by the Babylonians, Romans, and others, but retained it’s identity as a Jewish kingdom of “Israel”.  No nation of Palestine existed.

• In 70.C.E, the Romans conquered the Jews, destroyed the Temple, and dispersed Jews around the Roman Empire.  Still identified as a Jewish kingdom (that had been conquered), the Romans sought to remove the identity of the different kingdoms of the region, and tried to identify the entire region as “Philistenia” (after the extinct nomadic Philistine tribe that roamed all of the Middle East).  What we now call Israel, Egypt, , Jordan, and Lebanon was identified as Philistenia (similar to calling Indiana, Ohio, Kansas, Michigan et al “The Midwest”).  There still was no nation of Palestine.  By 136 C.E.; Jews had been dispersed, but were still a large percentage (probably majority) of people living in the region that was the Jewish kingdom.

• From 313-636 Israel is controlled by the Byzantine Empire (whose religion was Christianity), and still populated by Jews.

• Islam is founded in 7th century after Mohammed (570-632).  The Dome of the Rock is built in Jerusalem in 631 as Moslems control the region.  Still a large Jewish presence in Israel, and still no state or nation of Palestine, although the entire Middle East region is sometimes referred to as Philistenia.

• The Crusades capture Jerusalem and make Israel a Christian Kingdom from 1099-1291.  Still a contiguous Jewish presence, still no state of Palestine.

• The Mamluk Empire, an Islamic theocracy, capture the region and control it from 1291-1516.

• The Mamluks are supplanted by the Ottoman Empire, an Islamic theocracy, in 1517, which controlled the region until WWI and 1917. 

• In the mid-19th century, the Ottoman calls the region “Palestine”, but also identifies each country as Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc.  Still a contiguous Jewish presence, and still no state or nation of Palestine.

• The British offer kingships to two prominent Arab families if they will help fight the Ottomans.  When the British win the war, they deliver those kingships to those families, and Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Transjordan, etc have kings under British mandate.  Although the British had promised a Jewish independent State of Israel, it was not realized.  Still Jewish population in Israel, still no country or people of Palestine.

• In 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood is formed to establish a worldwide Islamic theocracy through force similar to the Ottoman Empire.

• 1948, the United Nations recognizes an independent nation of Israel.  Still no country of Palestine.  What is now called the West Bank was Jordan, Gaza was part of Egypt, and the northern border of Israel was Lebanon and Syria.  People living in Gaza called themselves “Egyptians”, and those living in the West Bank called themselves “Jordanians”.

• Arab nations repeatedly attack Israel, and repeatedly lose their wars.  As importantly, because Israel is the “underdog” and outnumbered 200:1, the Arabs are being hated in the world as incompetent and nasty bullies.

• In 1964, the Arab League (Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Tranjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen) hires the public relations firm Dudley-Anderson-Yutzy of New York to fix their p.r. problem.  George Anderson came up with the solution, which became the biggest public relations lie of modern history.  He realized the Arabs would always be hated as long as Israel was the underdog, and that they would need to create a “victim” that would make the world hate Israel as the bully instead of the Arabs.  And so….

On June 2, 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organization was created.

• In 1967, Israel is attacked, defends itself, and in accordance with international law, keeps some of the territories as a buffer zone between its enemies:  the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and the Sinai Peninsula.

• From 1949-1967, Gaza was part of Egypt.

• In 1979, the Camp David Peace Accords are signed between Israel and Egypt.  Egypt commits to not attacking Israel again, and Israel gives back much of the land it won in the Sinai the 1967 war. Egypt does not want Gaza back as part of Egypt for fear of Gazans emigrating to Egypt and causing challenges in Cairo, and Egypt keeps the border closed between Gaza and Egypt.

• In 1988, Hamas is created as an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.

• From 1979-2005, Israel builds infrastructure in Gaza so that ultimately the people there can have autonomy.  Israel builds fruit orchards, factories, hospitals, schools, etc.

• In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdraws from Gaza, having built enough infrastructure for Gaza to self govern and succeed.  Governance of Gaza is given to the Palestinian Authority.

• In 2007 by over a 90% margin, the people of Gaza elect Hamas as their government.  Each subsequent election reelects Hamas by similar margins.

• From 2005-2023, Israel supplied Gaza with billions in aid in both finances and thing like fuel, food, electricity, etc.

• On October 7, 2023, gaza attacks Israel in the most devastating and depraved ways, starting the current war.

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Before going into a history of Hamas, we must understand the Islamic concept of “waqf”, the rite of “holy possession.  Waqf is an Islamic concept developed in the 12th century that believes that a Moslem can get unto heaven through gifts to Allah.  If those gifts are ultimately taken away from Allah, then the person could be thrown out of heaven.  As a result, according to this extremist philosophy, any land conquered in Allah’s name is always to be Muslim.  By conquering Israel for Allah in the 7th century and then again with the Mamluks and Ottomans, according to the rite of Waqf, that land is Muslim in perpetuity.  Hamas does not claim an historical right to the region of Palestine, including Israel, but only the right of Waqf… holy possession.  Waqf also demands that the land is under strict Sharia law.

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Hamas

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• Founded in 1988 as an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.

• Some excerpts from the Covenant of 1988, the Charter of Hamas (entire text can be found Here)

• * Article 7:  The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.

• * From Article 11:  The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day.

• * From Article 11:  Palestine is an Islamic Waqf land consecrated for Moslem generations until Judgement Day.

• * From Article 11:  This is the law governing the land of Palestine in the Islamic Sharia (law) and the same goes for any land the Moslems have conquered by force, because during the times of (Islamic) conquests, the Moslems consecrated these lands to Moslem generations till the Day of Judgement

• From Article 11:  This Waqf remains as long as earth and heaven remain. Any procedure in contradiction to Islamic Sharia, where Palestine is concerned, is null and void.

• *  Regarding any peace process, Article 13 is clear it is never to happen.

• *  From Article 13:  Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement.

• *  From Article 13:  There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors. The Palestinian people know better than to consent to having their future, rights and fate toyed with.

• *  Hamas leadership has repeatedly said that they will repeat October 7 “2 times, 3 times, a million times until Israel is destroyed”.

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Hamas is not and has never been interested in peace, or even a 2 state solution.  They are equally uninterested in allowing non-Sharia law Moslem countries to exist… part of the reason that Egyot has been recalcitrant to accept these extremists into their own country.

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By their own words, Hamas is only interested in making the entire Palestine region, which includes Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and the surrounding nations (and ultimately the world) a Sharia Law Islamic theocracy of a Caliphate.