1. Project Proposal
Project Topic: The Impact of Armed Groups in the Liberation of Palestine: A Case Study
of the HAMAS 2000 - 2014
1.1Introduction
The quest for the liberation of Palestine started way back since 1948, when the Jewish
State of Israel was formed. The General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) had in
December 1947 divided the land of the area Palestine which has been in dispute of
ownership between the Jews and the Arabs into two parts. The UN Partition plan had
mandated the existence of the Jewish state of Israel, existing side by side with an
independent Arab state of Palestine. While the Jewish state was established in 1948, the
Palestinian state did not come into existence. Diplomatic pressure did not bring the
establishment of the state of Palestine. The Arabs living in the area demarcated as
Palestine formed the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) at Cairo Egypt in the year
1964 as the Umbrella of all the groups who seeks liberation of Palestine. The PLO had
been formed as a result of the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood movement which
was spreading in the Muslim world in the 1960s.
The brotherhood sought the establishment of independent Arab states based on the
teachings of the Holy Prophet (www.yahoosearch.com/PLO). The PLO had argued then
that the Jewish state of Israel was not suppose to exist in the first place, because as far
as they are concerned the Jewish state is an illegality. The opposition by the Israelis to a
state of Palestine is more than an insult hence, the formation of the PLO as an umbrella
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2. body of all groups fighting for the establishment of the state of Palestine under the
leadership of late Yessar Arafat.
In an attempt to extinct the state of Israel the Arabs launched a war in 1967. The 1967
Arab/Israel left serious problems in its wake, rather than the Jewish state being
destroyed Palestine lost more lands. The Israelis captured Golan Height, Sinai Peninsula,
Gaza and the West Bank all designated Palestinian territory under the 1947 UN Partition
plan. By 1973 an accord was brokered known as the Camp David Accord. Based on the
Accord, Golan height (in Syria) and Sinai Peninsula were to be returned to the Arabs but
Gaza and the West Bank still remained under Israeli control after the return of the Sinai
Peninsula in 1979, the Golan Height was partially returned but the Israelis still controlled
it. However, the Golan height was never really returned as the Israelis re-acquired it. As
a result of this several Palestinians became internally displaced and refugees in
neighboring Arab countries and in their own Land.
The apparent weakness of the PLO to pose any serious challenge to the Israelis (it must
be added that the Israelis incapacities the PLO) and forced them to vacate the occupied
Palestinian territory made a hitherto humanitarian organization i.e. HAMAS to turn
militant in 1987. This led to the beginning of the intifada (armed resistance against
Israel). HAMAS went on to employ suicide bombing tactics and this changed the
complexion of the resistance against the occupying forces. The inability of the Jews to
get a solution to this tactics seems to inform the Oslo peace Accord of 1993, the
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3. formation of the Palestinian National Authority in 1996, the Camp David Agreement of
2000 (this gave a loop sided peace deal which favoured Israel) and the ‘Road Map to
peace’ of 2002, which gave rise to the August 2005 so called withdrawals of the Israelis
from Gaza and some settlement in some parts of the West Bank was achieved after
HAMAS came into the equation. It must be added that it was not a total withdrawal, as
the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) still goes in to attack Palestinians at will. The terror
attacks particularly on Israeli civilians informed these withdrawals more than anything
else. The ability of HAMAS to get the stubborn Israelis’ make concessions and withdraw
from those settlements is an indication that their long time dream of an independent
Palestine is can be achieved.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
After the seeming successes achieved by HAMAS in forcing the Israelis to make
concession, the prospect of a Palestinian state living side by side with a Jewish state is
still far off. In 2009 HAMAS, Hizbolah and other Palestinian resistant movements
engaged Israel in war. HAMAS and Israel were also locked in other runs of violent
hostilities in 2013 and 2014. All of this some argue rather enhance the peace process
has indeed hurt it. There is a need to interrogate the role of HAMAS and the impact of
its resistance to the quest for an independent state of Palestine.
This study therefore is a critical evaluation of the impact of HAMAS on the quest to
liberate the Arabs in Palestine and the creation of the state of Palestine.
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4. 1.3 Research Assumption/ Hypothesis
1. That HAMAS is the most influential of all the armed groups in Palestine.
2. That HAMAS has contributed positively to the quest for the liberation of
Palestine.
3. That the concession made by Israel and the progress made towards the two
state solution in the Palestine/Israeli conflict were as a result of the resistance of
HAMAS.
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The study seeks to achieve the following objective;
1. Examine the cause of the conflict between the Jews and Arabs over Palestine.
2. Highlight the factors that necessitated the resort to armed resistance by the
Palestinians
3. Enumerate the various armed groups that are at the fore of the resistance against
Israeli occupation of Palestine.
4. Examine the role and impact of HAMAS in the quest for the liberation of Palestine
from the Israeli occupation.
5. Examine the factors that aid or impede HAMAS in the group’s resistance against
the IDF.
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5. 1.5 Scope and Limitations of Study
The work essentially covers the period from 2005 to 2015; it is pertinent to note
however that events before the date shall be examined in order to put the work in
proper perspectives.
The envisaged limitation to this study is time, like it is the case with all research works of
this nature, the work shall be submitted within a particular time frame, this will certain
not make new developments which could to relevant to the study to be captured. Also
the researcher is also constrained by finance; the researcher shall not be travelling to
Israel or Palestine, materials for the study shall be drawn from the Palestinian mission
and the Israeli embassy at Abuja. However despite all of these they shall not in anyway
affect the conclusions drawn in the work, as the research shall verify the facts before
making use of them to avoid bias reporting.
1.6 Definition of Key Terms
Armed Groups: These are groups that are organized organizations that challenge the
state’s monopoly of legitimate coercive force. They include a variety of factors, including
opposition and insurgent movements, pro-government militias, and community-based
vigilante groups. Even though armed groups possess less than one per cent of the
world’s small arms, they can often procure sophisticated types of weaponry. They are
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6. groups that are not under the control of the state(s) in which they operate and can
include: rebel movements, ethnic militias, and economic and military entrepreneurs.
Nation-State: An independent country, which is free from the
control of another country.
Liberation: The art of securing freedom by a people from the oppression or occupation.
HAMAS: A Gaza based organization registered by the Israeli Authorities in 1978 under
the leadership of Sheik Ahmed Yassin. The group turned militant in 1987 and pioneered
suicide-attacks on Israel.
Palestine: This is the territory of the area from the Mediterranean and the coastal plains
in the west through the transitional zone of the Ha-shefela to the hill country of Judea
and Samaria. The wilderness of Judea slope down eastwards to the Jordan River valley,
the hills of Galilee, part of modern Lebanon and Syria.
1.7 Organization of Chapters
For effective analysis the work is divided into five chapters. Chapter one is the ‘General
Introduction’ it includes; background to the study, statement of the problem, research
questions, propositions, aims and objectives and method of data collection and analysis.
Others are justification of the study, scope and limitation, definition of terms and
concepts and chapter organization. Chapter two is ‘Literature Review and Theoretical
Framework,’. Chapter three is ‘Background to the Arab/Israeli conflict’, here the cause
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7. of the conflict and various developments in the conflict is outlined and discussed.
Chapter four is ‘the impact of HAMAS on the in liberation struggle of Palestine’. Here the
various contributions of HAMAS on the conflict are discussed and the history and tactics
of the group analyzed. Chapter five is Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation.
Materials to be used
Books
BADIL Resource Centre (2004) Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced
Persons in 2003. Al-Ayam Press Bethlehem, Palestine.
Boulding, K. E. (1962) Conflict and Defense: A General Theory, New York, UN of
Michigan Press
Collins, R. (1994) Four Sociological Traditions: Selected Readings, Oxford University
Press.
Coser, L. A. (1956) The Function of Social Conflict, Glencoe Free Press
Fact on file publication (1974) Israel and the Arabs: The October, 1973 War, fact on file
Inc. New York
Encyclopedia of Social Science vol. 7 ‘Game Theory’ Prentice Hall, New York.
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences Vol.5 ‘Conflict theory’
Israel Information Centre Book (2005) The Land of Promise, Tel Aviv,Graphlit Press
Lenski, G. E. (1966) Power and Privilege: A Theory of Social Stratification, McGraw-Hill
Press.
Nachmias, O. and Nachmias F.C. (1992) Research Methods in Social Sciences, London St.
Martins Press.
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8. JOURNALS
Adams, M. (1988) ‘What went wrong with Palestine?’ Journal of Palestine Studies.
Arafat. Y. (1988) Address to the United Nation General Assembly session held at Geneva,
on the 13th
of December, 1988” Edited Version in Nigerian Institute of International
Affairs, Journal September/October, 1988 vol. 9 No. and 10.
Collins, R. (1971) ‘Functional and conflict theories of Societies’, American Sociological
Review, 1002-1019.
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005) ‘Renewing the peace process: The cost of the
withdrawal’.
John C. (2004) Frontline ‘HAMAS: The organization’ Issue of Indian National Magazine,
April 10-23 vol. 21.
Kalani, M. 2006) ‘HAMAS and Israel in a New Perspective’ The Palestinian News Letter.
Magnes, J. (1972) ‘The Palestinian Question’, Journal of Middle East Study, vol. ix No 3
Marie. D, (1998) ‘Nested Conflict in Perspectives’, journal of Conflict Studies, Vol1 No.2
pp. 23-34
Palestine Mission (2005) ‘Understanding the Palestinian Problem’. Palestinian Embassy,
Abuja.
Palestinian Embassy Reports 1992 ‘Who are the Palestinians?’ Embassy of the PLO,
Lagos
INTERNET INFORMATION
The Oslo Peace Accords http//www.cnn.com/Oslo peace Accords.
The Internationalist April 19 2002 ‘How the Zionist use HAMAS as a tool of provocation’
www.yahoosearch.com
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9. Terror Victims Associations: Anti-Israel groups at yahoo.search.com/HAMAS and its role
today” yahoosearch.com/HAMAS
Yossi, S. (2003) Militancy in the Israel/Palestine conflict’ www.yahoosearch.com
http//www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAMAS
http//www.uno.or/general Assembly resolutions Palestinian conflict.
http://www.bbc.com/war_on_Gaza/updates
http://www.macropedia.com/palestine/
http://www.mfagov.ie “The history of Israel
http://www.yahoosearch.com/history of Palestine
http://bbc.world.com/Israeli-palestine conflict news update
http://bbc.world.com/Israeli-palestine conflict news update
http://bbc.world.com/hamas
http//www.uno.org/general Assembly resolutions Palestinian conflict.
http//www.mfa.com/Israel
Microsoft Encarta February, 2005 edition ‘HAMAS’
Microsoft Encarta February, 2005 edition ‘The Intifada’
UNITED NATION RESOLUTIONS
UN General Assembly Resolution 93 of May 18th
1951
UN General Assembly Resolution 237 of June 14th
1967
UN General Assembly Resolutions 194 of 11th
December 1948,
UN General Assembly Resolution 3236 of 22nd
November 1974
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10. UN General Assembly Resolution 2252 of 4th
July 1967
OTHERS
Materials on the 2009, 2013 and 2014 Israeli HAMAS conflict shall also be used.
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
• INTRODUCTION
• CRITICAL REVIEW OF EXISTING LITERATURE IN THE FIELD
• IDENTIFICATION OF GAPS /FLAWS IN THE LITERATURE
• THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
• CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE THEORY/THEORIES
• RELEVANCE OF THE THEORY /THEORIES TO THE STUDY
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
• INTRODUCTION
• RESEARCH DESIGN AND PHILOSOPHY
• INSTRUMENTS OF DATA COLLECTION
• DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE
CHAPTER FOUR: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY AREA
• HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY AREA
• ORGANISATIONAL/ CONTEXTUAL ARCHITECTURE OF THE STUDY AREA
• POLICY CONSTRAINTS, IF ANY
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11. • TREND-MAPPING
• STATISTICAL REVIEW OF EXISTING TRENDS
• IMPLICATIONS FOR THE STUDY
CHAPTER FIVE: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
• QUANTITATIVE AND/ OR QUALITATIVE ANALYSES
• CRITICAL DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
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