Hamas and Terrorism: A Blockage to Peace Between Israel and Palestine

Essay by _Gem_ October 2006

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The war between Israel and Palestine is a continuous fight of hatred and misunderstandings. It seems almost impossible to solve the conflicts from this age old argument as several blockages to peace have blinded hope for both groups. One of the major blockages to peace has been, and still is, the violent attacks from terrorist groups such as Hamas. Although Hamas is ultimately fighting for freedom, it is evident that terrorism creates mistrust between Israel and Palestine, provokes more attacks from both sides and contradicts the steps towards peace already taken and therefore is not successful in achieving freedom or peace.

Hamas remains one of Palestine's most prominent terrorist groups zealously fighting for a free, Islamic Palestine and the destruction of Israel. As more people are caught up in this argument dating back to biblical times, each generation is raised in a state of war and combat. Part of the reason that many terrorist organizations, including Hamas, choose to use violence as a method of finding freedom is that it is the only method they have ever known.

Hamas has conducted suicide bombings and rocket attacks as their way of destroying Israel which has caused 2905 injuries and 603 fatalities (MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base 2006). Despite these attacks, Hamas was elected as leader of the Palestinian Parliament in January 2006 by a landslide victory. This could be a blockage to peace because of Hamas' terrorist activity and the refusal by Israel to negotiate with them. Hamas may be torn between its parliamentary duties and its violent attacks to demolish Israel.

A result of these violent attacks is the mistrust that exists between the Israelis and the Palestinians. This is an understandable consequence considering Hamas has not shown any compassion towards the Israelis in the past. Their recent acknowledgement of...