In Hamas's worldview, dawa ("preaching" or "calling")
plays an important role in the organization's activities and
is one of the more prominent means by which it realizes its
immediate goals: inculcating Islam in the community,
increasing public support for the organization and recruiting
new members.
Hamas's dawa is, in effect, the movement's
infrastructure. It includes a range of organizations that
provide various services (welfare, education, health, etc.)
to the population, either for a token price or absolutely
free.
Charitable and social welfare activities are a significant
part of Hamas's dawa activities, since giving to
charity is a fundamental principle of Islam. These activities
are carried out by a network of dozens of charitable
societies and committees throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
While these organizations do provide services to the public
at large, they grant preference to those close to the
movement.
Hamas's charitable societies and committees in Judea, Samaria
and Gaza also provide food and monetary assistance to the
families of those who have been killed and wounded in the
course of perpetrating acts of terror and who have been
imprisoned for their involvement in acts of terror. Such
families typically receive an initial, one-time grant of
between $500-5,000, as well as a monthly allowance of
approximately $100. The families of Hamas terrorists usually
receive larger payments than those of non-Hamas
terrorists.
These charitable societies and committees also provide the
families with scholarships and educational subsidies. The
dawa groups also provide financial assistance for the
rebuilding of homes that have been demolished due to their
owners' involvement in terror.
The movement's network of mosques and Islamic preachers
serves as a platform for disseminating incitement against
Israel, for encouraging suicide terrorism, and for recruiting
terrorists.
Those injured also enjoy medical care and treatment -- either
subsidized or free. Hamas also aids its members who are
imprisoned either in Israel or the Palestinian Authority, as
well as the imprisoned members' families. Released prisoners
receive generous release grants.
Hamas's dawa network makes the perpetrating of
violence, including suicide terrorism, something that
provides economic security in the difficult economic
situation in which the Palestinian population currently finds
itself, and thus encourages the perpetrating of such acts of
terrorism.
Hamas exploits the distressed economic situation by creating
financial dependence and the continued flow of new recruits
out of a sense of obligation. Moreover, funds designated for
dawa have been diverted directly to terrorists in
order to fund attacks.
Hamas's wide-ranging activities among the Palestinian
population have led to its strengthening vis-a-vis the
Palestinian Authority and have prevented the PA from acting
against it, due to Hamas's support among the wider
Palestinian public.
Hamas is thus, in effect, preparing itself as an alternative
to the PA through its educational, social and medical
infrastructure.
Most of the funds for dawa activities are raised
outside Judea, Samaria and Gaza. These funds, some $25-30
million per annum, form the bulk of Hamas's budget. Pro-Hamas
Islamic charitable societies in Saudi Arabia, the Persian
Gulf emirates and in the West, transfer funds to Hamas's
charitable societies and committees in Judea, Samaria and
Gaza. Among these pro-Hamas charitable societies are The
World Congress for Islamic Youth and the World Islamic
Organization from Saudi Arabia; Interpal, based in London
(which transferred $6 million in 2002); and the recently
outlawed Al Aqsa Fund, based in Germany.
Interpal has continued to transfer money to Hamas in recent
months. In 2002, it transferred $6 million, of which between
$3-$4 million were used in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. At the
same time, the Interpal leadership asked Arafat for help in
funding its activities, as they were very concerned about the
possibility that they would be closed down and that they
themselves might suffer. The fund's leaders asked Arafat and
the Palestinian Authority to publicly support and sponsor its
activities; which they believed would make it more difficult
for their organization to be harmed. It is as yet unclear how
the Palestinian Authority has responded to this request. But
the Palestinian Authority has not taken any concrete steps
against Hamas operations so far.
The Al-Aqsa Fund is mainly active in the Netherlands and
Germany and maintains smaller delegations in Denmark and
Belgium. The fund continues, albeit indirectly, to transfer
hundreds of thousands of dollars to Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
In August 2003, the European courts were not convinced that
it was funding for hostile terrorist activities.
