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National Post

Hamas recruits teenagers by stealing food and controlling supply, some experts say

Article content Shiri continued to outline how Hamas use media manipulation to wildly exaggerate claims of starvation, which eventually trickles down into them controlling food supplies: 'It's a narrative that they're starving.' Article content 'If they really cared (about providing for their people and building a country), they would build schools and factories, but they put thousands of billions into constructing tunnels and we have to think why? For 20 years, all they thought about was October 7. Article content 'We got pictures from inside, you can see the food. So they are not starving, but its good to say you are and show pictures of children in the hospital, because that gives them power.' Article content Article content Another expert, Dr. Nesya Rubinstein- Shemer, who wrote a book on Hamas's ideology and is a professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Bar Ilan University, told TPS-IL that the control of food has been a tactic of terror groups even before Hamas was founded. Article content She explained: 'The history of Hamas goes back further than it's establishment in 1987; their roots began as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 in Egypt. Article content 'The Muslim Brotherhood was founded on the (Islamic ideological) basis of 'dawah' – the concept of conquering the hearts of the people and reaching for a firm basis in the population, before trying to achieve a role in the state. Article content 'Muslim Brotherhood belongs to political Islam. The end goal is to gain political power, but they believe that to do that, they first have to gain control over the population. Article content 'Muslim Brotherhood did this first, because the population had it very hard from a social point of view, so they established social structure to help society and provide places to eat, food for the poor, medical treatment, summer camps for youth – a whole kind of social engagement with the population to gain control and support. Article content 'The main aim was to achieve ideological support, to achieve help from the population in whatever they need. Article content 'After eight years, they established 150 branches all over Egypt, because this is what the population needed, so this is how they gained influence.' Article content This, she said, is where Hamas garnered it's food-control tactics: 'Hamas did the same in Gaza, before it was established. Article content 'Ahmed Yassin was the establisher of Hamas, but before they were established in 1987, in 1973, Yassin established another organization El Mujjma El Islami – this organization gained control of the population through the establishment of institutions like mosques, kindergartens, schools, and he offered aid in clothes, and food. Article content Article content 'Then came the Hamas movement. Hamas now has perfect control over the population because they control food and humanitarian aid. Many people from Hamas worked in UNWRA. Article content 'The message put out by Hamas to the people, over time was that 'if you are loyal to Hamas, you can get what you need like fuel, medical supplies, food' – basically everything Israel gave them over the years.' Article content She went on to detail how Hamas continue to use food to maintain control: 'Hamas are acting as a gatekeeper to the food supply. Additionally, if you (regular Palestinians) resist Hamas, you will be the last in line (for food).'