Word of the Day / Hamas: The terror movement that didn't do its Hebrew homework

It's quite the coincidence that 'Hamas' the terror group is spelled differently from 'hamas' the nasty act, but both originate from an Aramaic word for 'hard'

By Shoshana Kordova for Haaretz

It’s pretty safe to assume that the Islamic terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip didn’t conduct market research on the meaning and resonance of the organization’s name in Hebrew before choosing to call itself Hamas.

The Arabic name of the group is widely described as an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (“Islamic Resistance Movement”) as well as an Arabic word meaning “zeal.” But unlike "Islamic Jihad," say, or "Al-Qaida," the name “Hamas” is not just an Arabic term or an English translation of one. It also happens to be a Hebrew word meaning “violence,” among other things.

Hamas – or rather, the lowercased hamas – has been around since antediluvian times. In fact, it was one of the reasons God flooded the earth, according to Genesis: “And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence [hamas]” (6:11).

Continue reading.

Follow our    page.