Hamas: Behind The Mask

Description: Hamas: Behind The Mask: This one-hour journalistic exploration by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Shelley Saywell takes the viewer beyond the headlines and into the daunting, determined minds and hearts of Hamas, a movement formed in 1987 with one declared aim - to destroy the hard-won New State of Israel through Jihad: through applied resistance to Israel's occupation of what Palestinians perceived - and perceive - as their ancestral land. Hamas is one of the world's most secretive and controversial organizations. Its charter calls for the destruction of the state of Israel. 'There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad.' Hamas regards the territory of Israel, the Gaza strip and the West Bank as an inalienable Waqf (Islamic bequest), which can never be surrendered to non-Muslims. Hamas has been listed as a terrorist organization by most western powers. Yet despite this Hamas has grown in strength and popular support amongst Palestinians Saywell and her small, two-person crew spent many months securing unprecedented access to not only the current leaders of Hamas, but also to one-on-one interviews with insightful, knowledgeable Israelis and Palestinians not often heard from. A crucially important resource was consultant Olivia Ward, a veteran Toronto Star journalist whose intimate knowledge of, and credibility within, the region proved invaluable.