When Mohamed Bouazizi of Tunisia set himself on fire in January 2011, he never imagined that his actions would put Hamas at a crossroads.
The protests known as the “Arab Spring,” which sparked the fire in Tunisia and spread to various Arab regimes, left a gap in the structure of “Hamas”, the Palestinian movement that the United States of America has designated as a terrorist since 1995.
An uprising broke out in Syria in March 2011 against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad under pressure, and its leaders, led by Khaled Meshaal and Ismail Haniyeh, announced their support for – Syrian opposition and called them. for regime change.
Haniyeh said at the time: “We are very optimistic about this spring, these revolutions, and this revival for these blessed Arab Islamic people.”
For many years, since Jordan was expelled from Amman in 1999, the leadership of Hamas has been based in the Syrian capital, Damascus. But in January 2012, Hamas leader Meshaal abandoned the movement’s headquarters in Damascus and moved to Doha, Qatar.
This was a clear sign of the break in the relationship between Hamas and the Syrian regime, and the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, referred to the matter later in a television interview, saying: “It is This situation is a situation. betrayal, because on this side, not because we stood up to it, but because we advocated against it at that time, and I’m talking about the leaders , I’m not talking about all of Hamas, that’s the only one who carried the flag. of the French occupation of Syria (meaning the flag adopted by the Syrian opposition).
Not only did this show a break in the relationship with Damascus, but that he had withdrawn to the entire “axis of resistance” led by Iran.
In addition, it has become a source of division within the Hamas movement itself, between two currents, the first of which stands with Qatar and Turkey in support of the “Arab Spring” against Iran and Hezbollah, which support the Assad regime.
In response to Meshaal’s move, the deputy leader of Hamas, Musa Abu Marzouk, said at the time, saying: “The Iranians are not satisfied with our position on Syria, and when they are not happy, they are not treat us the same way. .”
Beyond that, the division within the movement between these two wings appeared in statements by the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Al-Zahar, in which he criticized the head of the movement’s political bureau, Meshaal, stressing that the departure of the leaders of the movement from Syria was an individual decision, not a political decision.
This difference also appeared in a letter of condolence sent by Muhammad al-Deif, Commander-in-Chief of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, to Hezbollah, in which he said: “It is enough for the country to expend its energy and spread its will.”
According to a study by researcher Akl Muhammad Ahmed Salah titled “The Movement of Hamas and Its Political and Democratic Practice 1992-2012,” that phase saw “a serious embarrassment for the internal leadership and the military wing over the situation official of the movement, which failed. those who accepted them at a time when everyone abandoned them.”
The study believes that this level “saw a clear difference in the statements of the leaders of Hamas and their position, even if the decision of the movement is the decision of the institution, not the individual .”
The study notes that “the statements of some Hamas leaders, such as Al-Zahar and the leadership of Al-Qassam, clearly indicate that there is a clear distinction between internal and external situations, or the situation that Al-Zahar represents. and those who are in harmony with him and the other position that is more compatible with Qatar and Turkey, which is represented by Khaled Meshal and those who are loyal to him within the movement. ”
The researcher concludes that Hamas, because of its position on the “Arab Spring,” “relied on the alliance of the Muslim Brotherhood that lost its bet on the Arab revolution and was under besieged by the Arabs.”
In December 2014, Tehran refused to receive Meshaal, according to the researcher, because “Iran viewed Meshaal with suspicion because of his position on the events in Syria. ” However, Iran’s funding for Hamas did not stop completely at that point, according to a research paper published by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
While the dispute between the movement and Tehran affected the financing of Hamas’s political activities, Iran, according to the institute, continued to finance the movement’s military activities. Relations between Hamas and Iran did not begin to improve until 2014, according to the Washington Institute.
This division returns to the forefront today with the assassination of Yahya Sinwar, head of the movement’s political bureau, who replaced Ismail Haniyeh after the latter’s assassination in Tehran. Haniyeh was closer to the Qatari-Turkish Muslim Brotherhood movement, while Sinwar is believed to be associated with the Iranian movement in the movement.
The division left by the situation of the “Arab Spring” is still present within the movement, which sees tension between the two currents in terms of accepting its leadership and being ‘ guide the direction in the future, in a sea full of disputes, between the Iranian Movement represented by the majority of internal leaders such as Mahmoud Al-Zahar and Al-Sinwar (before his death) , as well as some foreign leaders, such as Khalil Al-Hayya, who is linked to Iran and others, with the military leadership Al-Qassam, represented by Muhammad Al-Deif, the younger brother of Sinwar, Muhammad and Marwan Issa, and other military leaders (whose fate in the ongoing war is uncertain).
As for the Brotherhood movement, it is represented by foreign leaders based in Qatar, led by Khaled Mashal and Musa Abu Marzouk.
Where does the direction turn?
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2024-10-19 11:44:00
