Bjorn Brenner

Gaza Under Hamas (eBook, ePUB)

From Islamic Democracy to Islamist Governance

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by Israel, the EU, the USA and the UN. It has made itself notorious for its violent radicalism and uncompromising rejection of the Jewish state. So after its victory in the 2006 elections the world was watching. How would Hamas govern? Could an Islamist group without any experience of power - and with an unwavering ideology - manage to deal with day-to-day realities on the ground? Bjorn Brenner investigates what happened after the elections and puts the spotlight on the people over whom Hamas rules, rather than on its ideas. Lodging with Palestinian families and experiencing their daily encounters with Hamas, he offers an intimate perspective of the group as seen through local eyes. The book is based on hard-to-secure interviews with a wide range of key political and security figures in the Hamas administration, as well as with military commanders and members of the feared Qassam Brigades. Brenner has also sought out those that Hamas identifies as local trouble makers: the extreme Salafi-Jihadis and members of the now more quiescent mainstream Fatah party led by Mahmoud Abbas.
The book provides a new interpretation of one of the most powerful forces in the Israel-Palestine arena, arguing that the Gazan Islamists carry a potential to be much more flexible and pragmatic than anticipated - if they would think they stand to gain from it. Gaza under Hamas investigates the key challenges to Hamas's authority and reveals why and in what ways ideology comes second to power consolidation.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury UK eBooks
• Seitenzahl: 272
• Erscheinungstermin: 18. Dezember 2016
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781786721426
• Artikelnr.: 55354433

Autorenporträt

Bjorn Brenner serves as the Military Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria. Prior to joining the United Nations, Björn was Lecturer at the Swedish Defence University in Stockholm and Research Fellow at Institut francais du Proche-Orient in Amman, Jordan. He holds a doctorate in Peace and Development Studies from the University of Gothenburg and an MA in Political Science from Uppsala University. He is the author of numerous articles on Palestinian and Israeli politics and is a frequently appearing commentator in the media on Middle Eastern affairs.

Inhaltsangabe

PrefaceForeword by Magnus RanstorpGlossary of terms1. Islamists in power by democratic means 92. Rising to power and relating to the opposition 243. A change in the political order: Taking over Gaza 384. Violent radicalisation and the emergence of splinter groups 545. De-radicalisation of Islamists by Islamists 646. Social order in the midst of political chaos 817. The new political order and the judicial system 938. Islamist governance Hamas style 109NotesSelect bibliographyIndex

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List of Illustrations
Foreword by Shaul Mishal
Preface to the second edition
Glossary of terms
Introduction by Magnus Ranstorp
1. Islamists in power by democratic means
2. Gaining power and relating to the opposition
3. Radicalisation and the emergence of splinter groups
4. The de-radicalisation of Islamists by Islamists
5. Social order in the midst of political chaos
6. The new political order and the judicial system
7. Islamist governance Hamas-style
8. Hamas beyond elections and governance
Epilogue by Benedetta Berti
Notes
Select bibliography
Index

Rezensionen

Against heaps of reductionist literature and media portrayals that render Hamas as an extremist terrorist group, Bjorn Brenner provides in this book an authoritative and empirical study that debunks such Western, and mainly official, depictions of the movements. Disintersted in either vilifying or glorifying Hamas, this finely structured book is based on four years of direct field research, firsthand observations, and data collection. Journal of Palestine Studies