Ismail Haniya

From AICbackground

Ismail Haniya

Hamas Leader and Former Prime Minister of Palestinian Authority

Quotes:

‘Hamas will stop rockets if Israeli forces cease aggression.’
‘The pressure should be imposed on the Israeli occupier as it is the one carrying out mass killings in Jabalya refugee camp, Bait Hanun and Bait Lahya, in accordance with the United States.’
‘Factions have discussed how to supply the Palestinians with force elements to face this aggression and protect the resistance, as it is the only weapon through which the Palestinians can defend themselves, defeat the occupation and attain all their rights.’
"it [Israel] should have responded differently to the democracy expressed by the Palestinian people."

EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION

You were born in 1962 in the Shati refugee camp to the west of Gaza city, after your parents fled their home near what is now the Israeli town of Ashkelon during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. You studied Arabic Literature at the Islamic University of Gaza, where you became involved in the Islamist movement. You graduated in 1987, just as a mass uprising, or intifada, against the Israeli occupation erupted in Gaza. You were detained for the first time by the Israeli authorities for participating in protests soon afterwards, though your prison sentence was short. In 1988, with Hamas coming to the fore in Gaza as a leading resistance movement, you were again detained, but this time imprisoned for six months. The next year, with Israel unable to quash Palestinian resistance, you were arrested yet again and sentenced to three years in prison. Clearly, you have been part of the struggle of the Palestinian people since childhood and you understand the meaning of the conflict from every angle of life.

PUBLIC LIFE
Following your release in 1992, Israel deported you along with senior Hamas leaders Abdel-Aziz Rantissi, Mahmoud Zahhar and over 400 other activists to Southern Lebanon. You spent more than a year camped at Marj al-Zahour, where the Islamist group received unprecedented media exposure and became known throughout the world.
You later returned to Gaza in December 1993 and were appointed dean of the Islamic University. After Israel released Sheikh Yassin (Hamas spiritual leader) from prison in 1997, you were appointed his assistant. Your close relationship with Sheikh Yassin led you to gain increasing prominence within the movement and you ultimately became the group's representative to the Palestinian Authority.
With your new high profile, however, came the threat of Israel's policy of eliminating Hamas' military and political leaders. In September 2003, you and Sheikh Yassin were slightly injured in an Israeli air strike on an apartment block in Gaza City, when you left the building seconds before the bomb struck, after hearing the approaching Israeli aircraft. Only six months later, Sheikh Yassin was killed by Israeli helicopter gunships as he left a mosque after dawn prayers. When Sheikh Yassin's successor in Gaza, Abdel-Aziz Rantissi, was killed by Israel in April 2004, Hamas decided to keep the name of its new leader in Gaza secret. But Palestinian sources said you were appointed to the group's "collective leadership" with Mahmoud Zahhar and Sayyid al-Sayyam.
Following the elections on January 26, 2006 in which Hamas won a majority of the seats, you became Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. You attempted to include Fatah in the government by forming a unity government; however, this unity government never came to fruition, despite many attempts by you and the leaders of Fatah as well as help from outside powers such as Saud Arabia. Without a government, violence between Hamas and Fatah broke-out eventually leading to a Hamas take over of the Gaza Strip. At this point, President Abbas officially fired you and appointed Salam Fayyad in your place. You, however, have maintained control of the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip has faced harsh conditions since its break from the West Bank and Fatah. Its transactions with the outside world have been mostly cut-off; it no longer receives much needed aid money; and, it has been ostracized by much of the world. With this backdrop, you and your fellow Hamas leaders have kept life moving in the Gaza Strip; however, times are tough.

DOMESTIC ISSUES OF CONCERN
Currently, you have major domestic issues of concern. Most notable is the issue of a divided Palestine. Currently, you are one of the leaders of Hamas which is in control of the Gaza Strip, while Fatah is in control of the West Bank. It is clearly not in the Palestinian people's best interest for the territories to be divided, but Hamas was fairly (democratically) elected to run the country, and you feel that it is ridiculous to make further concessions to Fatah and the outside world, because they did not like the results of the election. You feel that you have been more than reasonable in trying to find a solution for a unity government. This being said due to the divided governance, foreign aid money is only going to Fatah and the West Bank, while fellow Gazans struggle. Furthermore, people cannot cross into the West Bank easily for any reason be it to work or to just visit family. The divided governance is a major hardship on Gazans.
Typically, Hamas, as a grass root movement, has always focused on social activities to gain its support and widen its constituents. You and others in the leadership have constantly mentioned that implementing reforms in the government will be a main priority. This has been clearly illustrated because despite the scale of the victory, Hamas quickly approached Fatah with the idea of forming a coalition. Hamas insiders say they were drawn to the notion because joining forces would allow Hamas to concentrate on social concerns like education and health care while leaving Fatah to deal with issues like Israel. However, this did not happen and now you are part of a divided government. Furthermore, you have not been able to focus on these social and humanitarian activities, and in fact the living standard in Gaza is rapidly declining. You certainly want to find a way to improve the conditions of everyday Gazans, as well as West Bankers, and you would be delighted to be able to focus on your social agenda if the political scene clams down.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
As a resistance movement, Hamas has always aligned itself with the Arab world and different Islamic organizations for funding and moral support. Hamas is well funded and according to the U.S. State Dept, it is funded by Iran, Palestinian expatriates, and private benefactors in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states. However, various sources, among them United Press International and L'Humanité have highlighted that Hamas' early growth had been supported by the Mossad as a "counterbalance to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)." Created in 1987 and connected to the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt, Hamas's charter calls for the destruction of the State of Israel, as well as of any secular Palestinian government that may be set up. Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, one of its co-founders, stated that the movement's goal is "to remove Israel from the map." However, Hamas omitted its explicit call for the destruction of Israel from its election manifesto, and has not acted on that statement even since it gained control of Gaza. That being said one of the major points of contention between Hamas and Fatah when they were trying to form a unity government was that Hamas would not recognize the state of Israel. Even after the 2006 elections, Israel has refused to deal with Hamas, calling it a terrorist organization. At the same time, rockets continue to be fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip presumably by members of Hamas, or its supporters.
Furthermore, Israel, The United States, The European Union as well as other Western and Arab states suspended all foreign aid to Palestine after the elections. You are in power, though not backed by Fatah and void of any of the aid money that Palestine traditionally depended-upon. When Palestine divided, aid resumed to the Fatah-controlled West Bank while you and your people, hit by trade sanctions, harsh border controls and a lack of aid money, continue to flounder.

ROLE PLAYING NOTES
As a party apparatchik who lives in a refugee camp, you have long been a voice of realism within the sprawling Islamist fundamentalist movement, a movement that is Israel's sworn enemy and, to the United States and the European Union, a terrorist organization. You are considered a moderate in the movement's ranks whose position on the list was intended to appeal to mainstream Palestinian voters. Many believe that you embody Hamas's internal struggle between the old path of resistance and a debut in mainstream politics. You have urged the United States to respect the result of Wednesdays vote, adding that you would consult with all armed groups, including Hamas's main Islamist rival, Islamic Jihad, on future political partnerships. You are more open to dialogue with Israel than many other Hamas leaders. However, you insisted that Israel would have to recognize Palestinian rights before talks could begin. Your negotiations will be tough and rigorous, taking into consideration your constituents that have elected you to fight for their rights that you very well yourself know. It will be very hard for you to give up what you stand for and take a dovish stance. On the other hand, any agreement that you reach will be more supported by the Palestinian people because of your background, a background that demonstrates your dedication to the cause and your unwillingness to compromise in this existential conflict unless it is for a better future.

REFERENCES:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Ismail%20Haniya%20&btnG=Google+Searc

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4655146.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haniya

http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1154193,00.html

http://cfrterrorism.org/groups/hamas.html

http://www.almubadara.org/new/edetails.php?id=394

http://www.pktaylor.com/pksblog/2006/01/hamas.html

http://www.counterpunch.org/hass02022006.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060131/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpalestinian

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/03/17/palestinian.abbas/index.html?section=cnn_latest