Thirty years on, Hamas ponders past performance, future
Hamas recently asked for, and received, critical analyses of its course over the past three decades, as well as suggestions on how to proceed from here.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — After 30-plus years in existence, Hamas is sizing itself up and examining its performance. The Palestinian movement has solicited lots of opinions and advice, but it remains to be seen if it has any realistic hope of implementing its conclusions.
The group held a conference Sept. 18 titled "Hamas: 30 Years on, Reality and Hopes.” About 1,200 movement leaders and cadres, as well as thinkers and researchers, participated in the conference to assess the movement in all areas. They laid out a vision aimed at improving Hamas’ performance.
The conference discussed 38 research papers on how Hamas has fared since its inception in areas such as science, politics, advocacy, social issues, and military and media matters. Also, it reviewed Hamas’ experiences since 2007. Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections held in 2006 and managed to militarily control the Gaza Strip in mid-2007 in the wake of armed conflicts with rival party Fatah and Palestinian security services.
The movement celebrated its 30th anniversary in December.
