| www.euronews.net Hamas was founded during the First Palestinian Intifada uprising, in 1987, stemming from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. The aim stated in its founding charter was to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation and to establish an Islamic state in place of Israel. Hamas, meaning enthusiasm, is an acronym for 'Islamic Resistance Movement'. The Islamist principles of one of its founders, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, differed starkly from the secular nature of Fatah in that Hamas would not tolerate sharing land. |