Al Qaeda and HAMAS

By -
            Although both Islamic-based and in response to particular frustrations, HAMAS and Al Qaeda have stark differences. The starkest difference is the goals of the two groups. HAMAS was concerned with liberating the people of Palestine and getting rid of Israel. Al Qaeda had multiple goals but a main one was to expel Westerners from the Middle East. The two groups had different tactics as well. 
            Al Qaeda had many goals for their tactics. The of these was to globalize their version of Islam. This is present in Osama Bin Laden’s “Messages to the World.” In this he calls on Muslims from all around the world.[1]He wants to spread his ideals of Islam to the rest of the world. Another goal is to rid Westerners out of the Middle East and for Muslims to take back the land. This comes from a long history of Western nations like the United States and United Kingdom getting involved in the politics and political structures of Middle Eastern nations. One example of this is the United States staging a coup to overthrow the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran: Mohammad Mossadeq. The people of Iran eventually lead a revolution and overthrew the Shah that was put in Mossadeq’s place. As one can see the United States has intervened in Middle Eastern politics to put the leader in that would not nationalize the oil. Another goal which is similar to this is to end western and nonbeliever interference in their lands. Al Qaeda also used violence to accomplish their goals. The most known attack by Al Qaeda is the attack on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. By committing this act, they demonstrated their goal to bleed the United States dry. While it is very unlikely that a relatively small group like Al Qaeda would be able to take down the United States, they thought they could win the fight or at least prove their point by bleeding the United States dry. They were somewhat effective in shifting the American focus onto the Middle East, although this had negative effects on many different countries in the region, resulting in the increase of attacks.[2]They were able to lead the United States to conflict, which obviously this did not present well for the Bush administration. Finally, another goal that the group had and why they attacked the United States was because they wanted to frighten the western nation. They knew that the United States was would be shaken up by these attacks and this would throw them off. They thought that there was a lot of terror being committed against the Muslim people, so they responded to this with attacks.
            The HAMAS came to being after the west intervened and tried to create the Jewish state of Israel in the location of Palestine. HAMAS’s goal was a single Islamic state and was strongly against the two-state system proposed by many. The two groups, Al Qaeda and HAMAS, were for the expulsion of westerners. They also both attacked civilians. HAMAS’s attacks were more related to violence for attention to give themselves a platform. 

[1]Osama Bin Laden, Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama Bin Laden, ed. Bruce Lawrence, trans. James Howarth, Verso, (2005: London).

[2]Jessica Purkiss, Jack Serle, and Abigail Fielding-Smith, “US Counter Terror Air Strikes Double in Trump’s First Year,” The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, last modified December 19, 2017, https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-12-19/counterrorism-strikes-double-trump-first-year.

Comments

  1. Taylor WhiteApril 25, 2018 at 9:38 PM

    Hi Drew,

    I found your post very interesting. I agree with you, both groups went about achieving their goals in very different ways.Yet HAMAs contained its actions to the Middle East, while al Qaeda brought its grievances to American soil. While they both were against western intervention in the Middle East, al Qaeda seemed more willing to go out of its way to achieve its goals rather than HAMAS. Although HAMAS' enemy may have been local it did not achieve the same "success" as al Qaeda because it went about achieving its goal in an abstract way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownApril 27, 2018 at 11:27 AM

    Hi Drew,

    I really liked this blog post. You touched upon a lot of things we learned in class such as the goals of both HAMAS and Al Qaeda. I liked how you recognized and could explain the differences between them very well. To improve this post you should include ways in which these two groups are similar. Overall awesome job!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownApril 29, 2018 at 11:02 AM

    Great work, Drew!

    I liked that you explained and compared the groups by drawing on information we learned in class. Also touching upon the United States' involvement in the Middle East really emphasizes the different goals of the two groups. Both had different motivations and different tactics based on different factors. Good job!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is Terrorism?

By -
Cassandra Monteiro Global Politics of Terrorism Professor Shirk February 5 th 2018 What is Terrorism?             Terrorism occurs when a weak person or group of people who are involved in a struggle of power premeditate an attack against a more powerful nation-state with the aim of inflicting terror and fear among the group and people involved or within. Terrorists use violence with attempts of getting their beliefs and ideas across to others. Terrorism occurs when the group or person is rebelling the current state and aims to get a response from the one’s in power. Motive is one of the main keys in defining terrorism as there has to be a political or power motive involved. Terrorism is not just a random attack for no reason, it is often made very clear what the reason for the attack is as one of the goals is to get a response from the people being attacked and for changes to be made.    ...
Read more

How the Media Impacts Public Perception of Violent Attacks: ELF

By -
Taylor White POL 357 Professor Shirk 31 March 2018              How the Media Impacts Public Perception of Violent Attacks: ELF             As society transitions from print media in the form of newspapers to broadcast media via television, the headlines and breaking news of news outlets including CNN and Fox News draw in viewers and impact the way they perceive the information. In class on Thursday, we discussed how the media influences the way we view public events; the media molds the public perception of the ideology of all groups to which attacks are linked, and therefore is the catalysts for the way the nation either condemns or praises the act. Regarding the Earth Liberation Front(ELF), broadcast media is to blame for why the members of the group have been demonized and why the movement deemed futile.             When a ...
Read more

NORAID assignment

By -
Rachel Sousa NORAID reading 1)       Noraid’s premise for existing was to advocate for the Irish after perceived abuse by America and the British. Irish immigrants in America were exploited and discriminated against and Irish citizens struggled for their independence from Britain; these two scenarios inspired the birth of Noraid. Representatives from the PIRA and Irish activists in New York founded the Noraid. The purpose of the group was to provide “financial and practical assistance to nationalist districts in the north”. Eventually, the group supported the families of Irish prisoners who advocated for Irish independence. In addition, they subtly raised money for arms for activists. At first, the group wanted to gain support from Irish Americans to the plight in Ireland but the public perceived them as the “ sole representative” of the PIRA in America. Noraid wanted to spread the influence of PIRA and try to convince Irish republicans...
Read more