36). Though the organization has not completely ceased its hostile stand against Israel, it may be said that Hamas" present willingness to negotiate already shows a change in its core. .
To prove this thesis, this paper shall look into the history of Hamas. It is imperative that a sufficient understanding of the organization and its roots be achieved in order to fully comprehend the significance of its presence to the Palestinian people. More importantly, this paper shall also look into the motives and goals of the organization. This will allow the study to fully grasp the rationale behind the movement and its actions. Lastly, this study shall look into the events that let to the transformation of the organization from a movement advocating armed resistance to a successful political party dominating the Palestinian parliament. .
History.
Hamas traces its roots to the very core of Palestinian Nationalism. Central to the Palestinian movement is the desire to regain Palestinian territories deemed unlawfully occupied by the Zionist Movement of Israel, completed under the auspices of the United Kingdom and other Western nations. As such, it may be said that all the organizations and movements working under the banner of Palestinian nationalism exist with only one motivation: the expulsion of Israel from Palestinian lands. According to Mishal and Sela (2000), "the legitimacy of any political leadership in the Arab-Palestinian community has been conditioned on its adherence to an unequivocal rejection of the Zionist enterprise and a commitment to the just cause of Palestinian Arabs." (p.14).
One of the biggest and most powerful organizations in the history of the Palestinian struggle is the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). The PLO became the voice of the Palestinian nation, gaining support from Palestinians who believed that only the reclamation of lands lost to Israel in 1948 can end the Arab-Israeli struggle.