The Palestinian Hamas

by Mishal, Shaul

• ISBN13: 9780231116756
• ISBN10: 0231116756
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-05-01
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

Since it emerged as a challenger to the PLO during the Palestinian Intifada, Hamas (the Islamic Resistance Movement) has been associated in the public mind with terror and violence. Now two Israeli experts show that, contrary to its image, Hamas is essentially a social and political movement, providing extensive community services and responding constantly to political realities through bargaining and power brokering. The authors lift the veil on Hamas's strategic decision-making methods at each of the crucial crossroads it has confronted: the Intifada and the struggle with the PLO, the Oslo accords and the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority, and the dilemmas surrounding the choice between absolute Jihad against Israel versus the option of controlled violence.

Author Biography

Avraham Sela is professor of Middle Eastern Studies in the Department of International Relations and Research Fellow at the Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace, both at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Introduction	1	(12)
Social Roots and Institutional Development	13	(14)
Dogmas and Dilemmas	27	(22)
Controlled Violence	49	(34)
Coexistence Within Conflict	83	(30)
Calculated Participation	113	(34)
Patterns of Adjustment: Opportunities and Constraints	147	(26)
Appendix 1: Hamas's Internal Structure	173	(2)
Appendix 2: The Charter of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)	175	(26)
Notes	201	(26)
Bibliography	227	(10)
Index	237