GAZA CITY — Mahmoud Zahar doesn’t believe in evolution. And he has not evolved.
Zahar: “a donkey can eat shrubbery and survive, but a human cannot”
“So, a donkey is more evolved than a human? No,” scoffs Zahar, seemingly satisfied that he has demonstrated the absurdity of Charles Darwin’s theory. Allah, not evolution, made man, he says, and Allah has made Gaza Islamic.

Mahmoud Zahar, co-founder of Hamas, speaks to the CBC’s Terry Milewski in Gaza City. (Stephanie Jenzer/CBC)
For Gaza, this could be a problem.
The fierce co-founder of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, a surgeon by training, spent 20 minutes after a recent interview with CBC News insisting that evolution is false.
After all, said Zahar, a donkey can eat shrubbery and survive, but a human cannot.
“So, a donkey is more evolved than a human? No,” scoffs Zahar, seemingly satisfied that he has demonstrated the absurdity of Charles Darwin’s theory. Allah, not evolution, made man, he says, and Allah has made Gaza Islamic.
“We are already an Islamic society,” Zahar declares. “We are controlled by Islam in every quarter, every inch of our life.”
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