The Arab Spring and HAMAS Political Thoughts Changes

This study investigates the most important changes the Arab spring has incurred on the policies and attitudes of Hamas in its domestic and foreign affairs, and the effect these changes have had on its political thought. These two elements constitute the motivation for the study, where the research tries to identify the changes that occurred in Hamas's thought and political culture with respect to armed resistance and the way it manages its internal Palestinian affairs, in particular the reconciliation with Fatah. This research also analyzes the alterations that came out as a natural consequence of the Arab Spring, and Hamas’s ability to adapt to those and employ them in a manner that serves the interests of the Palestinian people. Using a descriptive analytical approach, the research tries to answer the following question: what are the strategic and tactical changes that occurred on the thought of Hamas upon the reach of Islamists to power? This is done in the context of the hypothesis that the Arab Spring in Egypt and Syria had caused changes to the movement’s political thought process with regards to its internal affaires and regional alliances. The primary sources of the study rely on several literature, statements and speeches given by officials, and agreements signed by the movement, as well tracking the movement’s political conduct before and after the Arab Spring. The study comes to conclude that the Arab spring and its repercussions in revolutionizing the Arab political culture and systems, had influenced Hamas's strategies and policies, and that the Palestinian reconciliation and consent to popular resistance were the most important outcomes during the first phase of the Spring, i.e. before the military coup in Egypt and the declaration of Hamas as a terrorist organization. Additionally, the Arab spring presented Hamas with great challenges embodied by the loss of Hamas's strategic host Syria and its ally Iran, which resulted in the loss of financial and military aid and the exit of its political representation from Syria into several Arab countries. Also, the military coup in Egypt tightened the siege on Gaza more than before, which forced Hamas to give up some of its governance in the Gaza strip. The Arab Spring aftershock was problematic for Hamas, with the flow of changes in thought and conduct of the movement, as well as the new external elements it had to endure from being labeled a terrorist organization by Egypt to the tightening of the siege on Gaza. Overall, a study of the effect of the Arab Spring on Hamas cannot be complete as the area is still undergoing rapid changes and far from being settled.