What is the Hamas movement? – Freedom Socialist Party

That's the name of the party that represented the Hamas movement on the January 25 ballots in Palestine: the Change and Reform Party.

About 440,000 people voted for Hamas and 403,000 for the Fatah Party, or 44 percent versus 42 percent.

The election upset did translate into 74 seats for Hamas on the Palestinian Legislative Council versus 45 for Fatah.

Many campaigners were women, recruited from the social aid organizations that Hamas has funded over the years.

What will the Hamas victory mean for Palestinians? A look at its roots and record is not encouraging.

Hamas is an outgrowth of the reactionary Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in Egypt and sprouted in other countries during the l930s and '40s. One of its defining slogans was "Communism = atheism = liberation of women." In 1970, the Brotherhood supported the Black September massacre of Palestinians by Jordanian king Hussein.

Hassane Zerouky reports in Canada's Global Research that between February and April 1998, for example, Hamas raised several hundred million dollars from Arab nations that once funded the PLO. "It is estimated that one Palestinian out of three is the recipient of financial aid from Hamas," Zerouky writes.

After the start of the second intifada in September 2000, Hamas won widespread respect for attacking Israel militarily.

Today in the Hamas stronghold of Gaza, women without a head scarf or veil are a rare sight, schools are segregated, polygamy is common, and there has been a rise in "Honor killings" of women who defy Sharia repression.

In the more secular West Bank, women gauge the Hamas victory warily.

Whatever the U.S. and Israel are saying about the Hamas win, it actually serves their ends.

With its hostility to secular and left revolt, Hamas can only be bad news for the Palestinian fight for freedom.