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.

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Documentary