Hamas: A History from Within Paperback – 30 August 2007
by Azzam Tamimi (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 8 ratings
Hamas won an overwhelming electoral victory in January 2006, overturning many assumptions regionally and globally. Branded as terrorist by Israel and the West, it is the largest Palestinian militant Islamist organization, formed at the beginning of the first intifada. Its short-term objective is to drive Israeli forces from the West Bank and Gaza, which it hopes to realize through attacks on Israeli troops and settlers in the Occupied Territories and-more controversially-on civilians. It also has the long-term aim of establishing an Islamic state throughout historic Palestine. In the post-Oslo world, Hamas gained power and influence as Israel steadily destroyed the power structure of the avowedly secular Yassir Arafat and his Palestinian Authority.
A grass-roots organization that commands wide respect among Palestinians for its incorruptibility, Hamas is divided into two main sections: one is responsible for establishing schools, hospitals and religious institutions; the other for military action and terror attacks carried out by its armed underground wing the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
This book charts the origins of Hamas among the Muslim Brotherhood, details the influence of its exiled leadership in Syria and elsewhere, and sets out its internal structure and political objectives.
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From other countries
Tarek Hamoud
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 February 2015
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The best account of Hamas history so far
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M. Powell
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 8 July 2018
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nice
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Pen Name
3.0 out of 5 stars Hamas-A History on Its "Without"
Reviewed in the United States on 26 June 2014
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You won't get much on Hamas's internal structure, but this book gives you everything you could ask for in Hamas's external politics. The book presents Hamas in a different light. The group is no longer a mere terrorist organization, but also a political movement with a stake in elections and a care for its people. Those close to Israeli political leaning will not find it satisfying; for those close to Palestinian politics: you'll find it to be a much needed and timely book.
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Matthew Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars An important perspective.
Reviewed in the United States on 5 May 2008
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Mr. Tamimi has given readers an excellent perspective from within Hamas. The author used his access to this group and its leadership to create a work that gives the reader the Hamas story as seen by Hamas. There is no filter, but instead the reader hears the Hamas perspective from their own mouths as they see themselves. This is a very important distinction because too often we get the Hamas story as told from the Western perspective. Hamas as viewed by the West is a limited and skewed perspective, and the only way to really get a whole picture is to see this group from their own vantage point as well. Any good student of history knows that the more angles one views a particular subject the more clearer the image becomes.
Mr. Tamimi's work is a chronological history of Hamas from its ideological inception from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood organization all the way to its electoral victories in the Palestinian elections. This book really gives the reader a sense of the evolution of this group from its humble beginnings trying to revitalize Palestinian society that was largely secular to its beginnings as a resistance organization to its eventual ascension to political power. The reader will be able to see how many different factors worked for and against this group and how these factors influenced the evolution of this group.
What I most liked about this book is that it focuses in on leaders and on their philosophy. The author uses their own statements and writings to give the reader a sense of what they believe and what they are fighting for. Too often we hear that this group is simply a violent, racist group that cannot be reasoned with or expected to be reliable brokers at the negotiating table, but what we see in this book is that the leadership is filled with intelligent and articulate people. The author does a good job dispelling some of the myths and clearing up points of contention when it comes to Hamas' positions on things like peace with Israel, its vision of a Palestinian state and its willingness to dialogue with the West.
The author does an excellent job detailing the Hamas position on peace with Israel, and the author describes the impediments as well. Like Hamas's inability to recognize Israel officially, although many would say they have de facto recognized Israel in many statements they have made. The author goes into this problem in detail and also describes how Hamas has suggested ways to overcome these problems through things like hudna which is system of truce. Once a hudna has been reached it is a sin to breach the truce. There are problems and risks inherent in any type of deal for both Israel and the Palestinians, but any possibility for peace no matter how imperfect should be explored, and the one thing that can be said for Hamas they are dedicated to Islam which requires them to respect the terms of the hudna.
Some of my criticism of this book are the same things I praise it for such as its tendancy to focus solely on the leadership. I have been looking for a work that details the grassroots level activism that goes on in this organization. A book that goes into detail describing what Hamas offers the ordinary Palestinian and describes in depth the reason for this groups popularity. On a certain level I understand that they are not corrupt like the PLO and they offer much needed services, but I want to know more about the street level activism and this book's focus is more on the leadership.
Next the author doesn't go much into the al-Qassam brigades. The author makes some statements that seem contradictory to me. He asserts that the military wing is separate from the political wing, but in the book he describes how the military side respects and follows decisions made by the political branch. This leads the reader to question just what the relationship really is. Whether the military branch is really distinguishable in any real way from the political leaders if they have that type of authority.
All in all I would say this is a very good book despite the very real problems I had with certain aspects of the work. The author has a very nice style that makes the book an easy read, and he is obviously very knowledgeable about the issues surrounding this group. Whether the reader accepts the perspective the author offers or not the perspective itself is extremely important to know and understand. Hamas has a large following and millions of sympathizers the world over. All of these people are not racists who want to see Israel destroyed so this group must have something that appeals to people in the East and West. This book will give the reader the insight needed to understand that appeal.
25 people found this helpful
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Martin Moran
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 23 October 2015
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Well researched, but over emphasis on names insteadof their influence.
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Hamas: A History from Within
Azzam S. Tamimi
3.88
66 ratings10 reviews
Hamas won an overwhelming electoral victory in January 2006, overturning many assumptions regionally and globally. Branded as terrorist by Israel and the West, it is the largest Palestinian militant Islamist organization, formed at the beginning of the first intifada. Its short-term objective is to drive Israeli forces from the West Bank and Gaza, which it hopes to realize through attacks on Israeli troops and settlers in the Occupied Territories and-more controversially-on civilians. It also has the long-term aim of establishing an Islamic state throughout historic Palestine. In the post-Oslo world, Hamas gained power and influence as Israel steadily destroyed the power structure of the avowedly secular Yassir Arafat and his Palestinian Authority. A grass-roots organization that commands wide respect among Palestinians for its incorruptibility, Hamas is divided into two main one is responsible for establishing schools, hospitals and religious institutions; the other for military action and terror attacks carried out by its armed underground wing the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades. This book charts the origins of Hamas among the Muslim Brotherhood, details the influence of its exiled leadership in Syria and elsewhere, and sets out its internal structure and political objectives.
Genres
History
Nonfiction
Islam
Politics
Terrorism
372 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2009
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Nick
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October 15, 2021
I wrote my Master's thesis on Hamas years ago, so I have read quite a bit of books, scholarly articles, interviews and material produced by the movement itself. I would say that for anyone truly interested in trying to understand Hamas, Dr. Tamimi's book is absolutely indispensable. Pro-Israelis to this day love to bring up the Hamas charter, and Tamimi spends a chapter describing how it was written and why it doesn't represent the movement.
That Tamimi holds a positive view of Hamas is no secret, but at least he's upfront with his bias. This book can be viewed as a corrective to books highly critical of Hamas, like Jonathan Schanzer's Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle For Palestine or Matthew Levitt's Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad, Jewish American writers tied to the US government with strong anti-Palestinian bias. Both authors are highly dependent on second hand sources and reports from intelligence agencies. It's unclear if either of them have ever even met anyone from Hamas.
Tamimi on the other hand offers an inside perspective. Other books which do the same are for example Jeroen Gunning's Hamas in Politics: Democracy, Religion, Violence and Khaled Hroub's Hamas: A Beginner's Guide and Hamas: Political Thought and Practice, all three of them excellent books.
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Nithin
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August 14, 2014
Just like IRA,INA,Vietcong guerrillas, mukti bahini and French resistance,which where termed as "Terrorist organizations" during their times,Hamas is a group of people fighting for their rights,their land and honour.
Final victory is for Hamas because it represents the truth,whether you believe it or not,truth is out there.
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Sergio Altuna
3 reviews
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May 13, 2015
One of the best books regarding the Palestinian organization
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Danielle DeLano
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December 13, 2023
A re-read from college. A little dense but a worthwhile read.
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Claire Binkley
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October 5, 2014
I learned a bit about the group identified here from my studies in International Relations, perhaps more Comparative Politics (the semester after the next one), but this book solidified my foundation (since as it was, my notes are impossible to read so I just have in my mind a giant skull-and-crossbones sign over Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Authority).
If I were going to more seriously study Arabic, I'd take more note from this, but as it is, there are so many cultures clamoring for my attention, and Persian has a similar essence without the similar dangerous feel.
I decided this book was stressing me out too much when I'm already trying to read Solzhenitsyn and the twenty-some others BESIDES watching the several international movies I got from the Library this week, so this book is getting the axe, even though I highly treasure the valid information Tamimi presents, hence the three-star rating.
My personal discomfort shrunk my opinion, though it's what is out there in the world and my colleagues adore discussing it.
Once again, I will stress this book seems valid and the bias is not anti-Semitic, which is better than the other American cheatsheet book about terrorism I recently reviewed, but HAMAS makes me panic, um, as is their job.
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Kristina
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September 4, 2014
I can't say I completely agree with everything that he says. However this book is a really good book on an aspect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a Palestinian perspective. This book is really carefully analyzed. He even goes in to detail about the ideology of the Hamas. What is interesting about the book is that it's focus is on Hamas and Palestinian-Israeli relationships and less on the international context of the conflict.
I recommend this book for anyone that wants to know why Hamas is the way it is and why Israel refuses to negotiate with the group.
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Gordon Goodwin
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January 20, 2024
A very valuable book for understanding the motivations and history of Hamas from its own perspective--and to this Tamimi does a good job. This book should absolutely not be used as trustworthy source for the history of the conflict or the Middle East in general though, and his claims on the recency of antisemitism in the Middle East are not grounded in history.
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Juan
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July 29, 2008
Lots of detail, and footnotes. Helpful appendix.
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Alex
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September 20, 2009
Extremely sympathetic, almost an autobiography of the movement -- but very valuable as an insight into how Hamas views its own development.
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Yas
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October 17, 2013
informative and detailed. Also sympathetic and biased given the background of the author.
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