Linkbox med fakta-artikler, baggrundsmateriale og debat på dansk og engelsk om den islamistiske organisation Hamas, som har haft ’regeringsmagten’ i Gaza siden 2006.
Bjarne A. Frandsen, januar 2009. Revideret oktober 2023- .
Se også:
- Linkboxen Israels angreb på de indespærrede i Gaza
- Linkboxen Israels blodige krig mod Gazas folk
- Tidslinjen 8. december 1987 om den første Intifada
- Linkboxen Den anden intifada: al-Aqsa opstanden i Palæstina
- Linkboxen Zionisme – Antizionisme: Historien om racisme og etnisk fordrivelse
- Linkboxen Politisk Islam – et reaktionært oprør
- Israel-Hamaskrigen 2023 (Wikipedia.dk)
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2023 Hamas attack on Israel (Wikipedia.org)
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Timeline of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war (Wikipedia.org)
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2023 Israel–Hamas war (Wikipedia.org)
- October 2023 war (+972 Magazine)
- Israel og Palæstina (TjekDet, 2023- )
- Gaza i billeder (TjekDet, 29. februar 2024)
Hamas’ modoffensiv og den palæstinensiske befrielseskamp. Af Gilbert Achcar (Socialistisk Information, 11. oktober 2023). From his Blog (14 October 2023). “… mod en undertrykker, der er langt militært overlegen, må kampen for det palæstinensiske folk primært bygge på politisk masseaktion mod Israels undertrykkelse, besættelse og bosætterkoloniale ekspansion.”
See also: Gaza: The impending catastrophe and the urgency of stopping it (Gilbert-achcar.net, 14 October 2023) + Whither Israel’s War on Gaza? (Ibid., 20 December 2023).
A surprise attack–but nothing surprising about it. By Dan La Botz (Foreign Policy in Focus, October 10, 2023). “Although the left’s sympathies have been and will quite rightly remain with the Palestinian people, one can have no sympathy with Hamas. Hamas is a right-wing, religious fundamentalist, nationalist organization, in fact not so different in those respects from the current government of Israel.”
Gaza: From colony, to open air prison, to killing field. Part 1-2. By Jean Shaoul (World Socialist Web Site, 2-4 November 2023). “This genocidal war against civilians in Gaza is an escalation of policies pursued by the Israeli bourgeoisie for decades, aimed at dispossessing the Palestinian people of their lands, property and homes, about which the ruling elite assumes a collective historical amnesia.”
‘From the river to the sea’: What does the Palestinian slogan really mean? By Frederica Marsi (Aljazeera.com, 2 November 2023). “Critics have called its use anti-Semitic amid Israel’s war on Gaza. But the slogan has more complex roots, say analysts.”
From the river to the sea (Wikipedia.org) + From the River to the Sea (Verso, November 2023) + “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” råber demonstranter. Men er det antisemitisk? (TjekDet, 7./13. november 2023).
The political and legal underpinnings of the Palestine-Israel conflict. By Robini Hensman (New Politics, The Israeli state has responded by bombing the Gaza Strip, in which Hamas has its headquarters and over 2.3 million civilians have their homes, starving inhabitants of food, water, medicines and fuel. But why did this happen? And what can be done about it?”
Katastrofe i Palæstina og Israel: Apartheid på vej mod folkedrab. Af David Finkel (Socialistisk Information, 21. november 2023). From Gilbert Achcar’s blog (29 November 2023). “Tilhængere af palæstinensisk frihed må se i øjnene, hvad det siger om Hamas, ligesom den måde, som de har regeret på i Gaza. At anerkende undertrykte folks ubetingede ret til at gå til modstand, også med våben, fritager os ikke fra ansvaret for at analysere de metoder og den politik, der kendetegner de styrker, der handler i disse folks navn.”
Israel knew Hamas’s attack plan more than a year ago. By Ronen Bergman and Adam Goldman (The New York Times, December 2, 2023; online at Internet Archive). “A blueprint reviewed by The Times laid out the attack in detail. Israeli officials dismissed it as aspirational and ignored specific warnings.”
Gaza – efter syndfloden. Af Jamie Stern-Weiner (Eftertryk, 31. december 2023). “Israels voldsudbrud i Gaza har forvandlet store dele af det tætbefolkede landområde til et øde landskab. Men selvom det ser sort ud for freden og fremtiden, har krisen udløst en global solidaritetsbevægelse af historisk omfang.”
Theme: Palestine: Before and after October 7 (Middle East Report, Issue 309, Winter 2023). “Israel’s war on Gaza and surging violence across all of Palestine; an unprecedented global solidarity movement and a reactionary clamp down on protest in the west; and the war’s regional reverberations and escalation …”
There was an Iron Wall in Gaza. By Seth Ackerman (Jacobin, January 4, 2024). “Addicted to territorial aggrandizement and encircled by enemies of its own making, Israel has freed itself of all moral constraints.”
Once more on Hamas (Tempest, January 12, 2024). “As part of a continuing exchange on October 7, the Palestinian resistance, and the posture of the Left towards Hamas, Dan La Botz and Stephen R. Shalom reply here.”
After October 7 (Weekly Worker, Issue 1473, January 11, 2024). “The war in Gaza has to be put in regional, global and historic context. Moshé Machover talked to Yassamine Mather.”
A second Nakba? By Joseph Choonara (International Socialism, Issue 181, Winter 2024, p.3-26). “The carnage wrought by Israeli forces on the Gaza Strip is a moment of unimaginable brutality. It is also a moment of intensification of the exclusion of and violence against Palestinians stretching back over three-quarters of a century.”
Kendelsen fra Haag kræver, at Danmark tager afstand fra Israels krig. Af Trine Pertou Mach (Solidaritet.dk, 6. februar 2024). “Den danske regering skal presse på, så Israel tvinges til at efterleve FN’s øverste domstol og standse et muligt folkedrab.”
Palestinian resistance and the war in Gaza (New Politics, Issue 76, Winter 2024). Phil Gasper interviews Toufic Haddad, a Palestinian author and academic living in Jerusalem: “What are the implications of the current war in Gaza for the future of Palestinian resistance?”
The political context of the crisis in Gaza (New Politics, Issue 76, Winter 2024). “Joel Beinin, Emeritus Professor at Stanford, discusses the politics of the Palestinian left and Hamas, and the US policies in Israel/Palestine.”
For the right to self-determination of Palestinians, for the withdrawal of imperialist forces from the Middle East (International Viewpoint, 3 March 2024). “Gilbert Achcar addresses the situation and the avenues for building resistance against Israel and its accomplices, the far right and imperialism.”
Through fog of war (Weekly Worker, Issue 1485, 4 April 2024). “First casualty is the truth. Paul Demarty says Al Jazeera should be congratulated for presenting what is probably a fair and accurate account of the October 7 events.”
‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza. By Yuval Abraham (+972 Magazine, April 3, 2024). “The Israeli army has marked tens of thousands of Gazans as suspects for assassination, using an AI targeting system with little human oversight and a permissive policy for casualties, +972 and Local Call reveal.”
Leksikale mv.
DR
- Overblik: Hvem er Hamas? (9. oktober 2023)
- Explainer: Hvem er Hamas? (TV, 12. oktober 2023, 10 min. Udløber 28. oktober 2025)
Leksikon for det 21. århundrede
Religion.dk
TjekDet
- Hvor stor er opbakningen til Hamas egentlig i Gaza og på Vestbredden?
(18. oktober 2023)
Videnskab.dk
- Hvorfor angreb Hamas, og hvorfor netop nu?
(10. oktober 2023) - Hamas var upopulær i store dele af Gazas befolkning før angrebet på Israel
(27. oktober 2023)
Middle East Eye
- Hamas in 2017: The document in full (2 May 2017)
“Hamas explains general principles and objectives in 42-article document.”
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
På dansk
Altinget.dk
- 2 A’er: Ny bog om Hamas overser fuldstændig Israels rolle i bevægelsens tilblivelse (Altinget.dk, 9. oktober 2024)
Anmeldelse af Magnus Ranstorp, Hamas – Terror indefra (Gyldendal, 2024, 232 sider). “Som læser af ‘Hamas – Terror indefra’ får du en overflyvning af Hamas’ terroraktioner gennem årene. Men oprigtigt klogere på Hamas, det bliver man ikke, skriver terrorekspert Tore Refslund Hamming.”
Se også anmeldelse af Hans Henrik Fafner: Det kompromisløse Hamas set indefra (POV International, 14. oktober 2024).
Autonominfoservice.net
- Palæstinas venstrefløj, 1-5. Af Inge Kongsgård Hansen og Alfred Lang (2002 – revideret 2009)
Artiklen har mindre omtaler af Hamas, især i 3. del om Palæstinas kvinder.
Eftertryk
- Israel, palæstinenserne, og truslen om fred. Af Poya Pakzad (3. november 2023) “Uanset hvad man ellers kan sige om Hamas – reaktionære, fundamentalistiske, terroristiske – bringer dets implicitte de facto-anerkendelse af Israel og eksplicitte tilslutning til en tostatsløsning bevægelsen tættere.”
- Leila Stockmar om Hamas (7. oktober 2023)
“En del har i løbet af dagen skrevet og spurgt om Hamas, så her er lidt baggrund. Beklager, det er lidt tørt, men vigtigt at have kontekst den næste tid. Hamas er jo ikke blot en islamistisk terrorgruppe, som er opstået i et vakuum eller ud af en eller anden islamistisk læreskole.” + opslag 8. oktober: “I går skrev jeg lidt om Hamas, i dag lidt om Gaza for at give kontekst. Jeg har både skrevet speciale og Ph.d. om emnet.”
Information.dk
- ’Hamas kæmper en kamp for frihed’. Af Anne Hertzum Alling (16. april 2015)
“Når Hamas dræber civile israelere, er der ikke tale om terror, fordi alle israelere er soldater og dermed medskyldige i besættelsen af de palæstinensiske områder … forklarer højtstående medlem af Hamas og professor ved Gazas Islamiske Universitet, Salam Salameh.” - Israels eget uhyre. Af Kenan Malik (24. juli 2014)
“Efter at have brugt tre årtier på at skabe Hamas har Israels brugt de følgende to på at forsøge at ødelægge organisationen gennem kollektiv afstraffelse af palæstinenserne.” - Hamas – en terrororganisation og et socialt sikkerhedsnet. Af Lasse Skou Andersen (16. juli 2014)
“Hamas er andet end en terrororganisation, som sender missiler ind over Israel og sprænger selvmordsbomber. Hamas er også en politisk og social organisation, som står bag udbygningen af et velfærdssystem på Gazastriben. Vi tegner et portræt af Hamas.”
Modkraft.dk
- Hamas militærkup i Gaza skal fordømmes. Af Hanna Amireh (Kontradoxa, 28. juni 2007)
“USAs og EUs isolationspolitik af Hamas har spillet fallit, mener Hanna Amireh, der er medlem af Palestinian Peoples Party og PLOs ledelse.”
Palæstina-Info
- Hvad vil Hamas? (2011)
“Den islamiske bevægelse Hamas blev dannet i december 1987 under den første intifada – den brede folkelige palæstinensiske opstand. Marianne Risbjergs artikel gennemgår Hamas historie og understreger, at organisationen har mange sociale aktiviteter og er langt mere pragmatisk end det billede, der tegnes i medierne. Hamas kræver israelsk tilbagetrækning fra Vestbredden og Gaza og er i praksis parat til at acceptere en palæstinensisk stat inden for de grænser, der var gældende indtil 1967.” - De islamiske modstandsbevægelser i Palæstina – Hamas og islamisk Jihad. Af Michael Irving Jensen (2002)
“I denne artikel beskriver Michael Irving Jensen de islamiske organisationer Hamas og Islamisk Jihad. Han gennemgår Hamas’ ideologi, dens mål og midler. Han skitserer endvidere organisationens forhold til de øvrige palæstinensiske organisationer, dens rivalisering med PLO og dens betydning efter den 2. Intifada.”
Se også Michael Irving Jensens bog fra 2002: Hamas i Gazastriben (se FagBogInfo), som fornylig er kommet i rev. engelsk udgave: The political ideology of Hamas: A grassroots perspective (I.B. Tauris, 2008).
Socialistisk Information
- Palæstina: Hvad er Hamas? Af Joseph Daher (1. januar 2024)
“Hamas er blevet dæmoniseret siden sit angreb den 7. oktober 2023, som førte til 1200 israeleres død. Hvor kommer partiet fra, og hvordan har det udviklet sig?” - Brug for et alternativ til Hamas og Fatah. Af Gilbert Achcar (4. februar 2009)
“Det er simpelthen ikke muligt at besejre Israel militært udefra. Derfor må enhver fornuftig strategi for at besejre den zionistiske stat tage højde for behovet for en større omvæltning inden for selve det israelske samfund.”
Solidaritet
- Palæstina: Et kup mod demokrati og selvbestemmelse. Af Lars Ploug (nr.4, oktober 2008). Artiklen er p.t. ikke online.
“Den officielle fortælling går på, at det var Hamas der med kuppet i juni sidste år viste deres sande, antidemokratiske og terroristiske ansigt, og at det netop var fraværet af respekt for demokratiske spilleregler, der har gjort sanktions- og boycotregimet nødvendigt … [men] kuppet var et mod-kup. Fatah-millitserne var blevet bevæbnet med moderne, udenlandske våben, og de forberedte sig på deres eget kup mod Hamas.”
Se også på Socialistisk Bibliotek:
På engelsk
Against the Current
- Was Hamas contained? By Samuel Farber (Issue 230, Maj-June 2024). Review of Tareq Baconi, Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance (Stanford University Press, 2018, 368 p.)
“This well-written detailed history of Hamas, the Islamic movement ruling Gaza, takes a basically sympathetic but objective and often critical stance. The book’s relevance, paradoxically, is outdated yet dramatically heightened in view of the explosive current events.”
- Hamas under the spotlight. By Hisham H. Ahmed (No.132, January/February 2008). Review article of four books about Hamas:
“The books discussed here provide insights into the evolution of Hamas as well as the ideologically charged debate about its so-called ‘terrorist’ character.”
AlterNet
- America’s hidden role in Hamas’s rise to power. By Stephen Zunes (January 3, 2009; online at Internet Archive)
“No one in the mainstream media or government is willing to acknowledge America’s sordid role interfering in Palestinian politics.”
The Commune
- Gender, nation, class and the first intifada. By Aitemad Muhannah (22 April 2010; online at Internet Archive)
“Since Hamas was first established as an Islamic political movement within Palestinian society in December 1987 the leftist movement in Palestine has gradually come to be fragmented, and seems to be losing its popular constituency.”
The Communist
- Why Marxists cannot support Islamic fundamentalism – the case of Hamas. By Communist League of Action (2 October 2007)
“The vote for Hamas was not a vote for its reactionary, anti-Semitic project, nor for its attitude towards women, etc., but revenge against Fatah and a vote for a change in living conditions.”
Council on Foreign Relations
- What is Hamas? By Kali Robinson (31 October 2023)
“The Palestinian militant group has struggled to govern Gaza and remains committed to violently resisting Israel. Its surprise attack against Israel in 2023 threatens a wider conflagration in the Middle East.”
Counterfire
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Gaza: An Inquest into its Martyrdom. By Oliver Eagleton (22 November 2018)
Review of Norman Finkelstein’s book (University of California Press, 419 p.). “[The book] is a passionate and painstaking attempt to counter Israeli deception over the Palestinian struggle.” -
Can Hamas Liberate Palestine? (August 9, 2014)
“Sean Ledwith looks at the origins of Hamas and its role as an expression of popular Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation.”
CounterPunch
- Hamas without the hatred. By Ron Jacobs (CounterPunch, January 5, 2024). Review of Paolo Caridi, Hamas: From Resistance to Regime (Seven Stories Press, 2023, 480 p.)
“One exception to this lack of objective information is the book from Paolo Caridi. Originally published in Italian in 2009, the text was updated in 2013 (when it first appeared in English) and 2023.”
See also excerpt from the book: Inside Hamas (The Markaz Review, 25 December 2023) + interview with Paolo Caridi: The evolution of Hamas from movement to regime
(Il Manifesto, October 13, 2023). - What is Hamas, really? By Ron Jacobs (December 31, 2008). Review of Khaled Hroub, Hamas: A beginner’s guide (Pluto Press, 2006, 170 p.)
“The author utilizes a question and answer format to explain the politics and tactics of Hamas, their relationship to and with other Palestinian organizations, Israel and the rest of the world Hroub, a Palestinian supporter of a secular and independent Palestinian state, also examines the role of religion in Hamas’ internal and external politics, as well as the group’s opinion of democracy and theocracy.”
Covert Action Quarterly
- Israel and HAMAS. By Rezeq Faraj (No.71, Winter 2001; online at Thehandstand.org)
“Rezeq Faraj looks for the roots of suicide bomb attacks on Israel – and finds that Israel helped Hamas early and often.”
The Electronic Intifada
- Hamas’ choice: Recognition or resistance in the age of Obama. By Ali Abunimah (6 July 2009)
“In a major policy speech on 25 June 2009, Khaled Meshal, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, tried to do what may be impossible: present the Islamist Palestinian resistance organization as a willing partner in a US-led peace process, while holding on to his movement’s political principles and base.”
Europe Solidaire Sans Frontiérs
- Palestine: What is Hamas? By Joseph Daher (8 December 2023)
“Hamas has been demonised since its attacks on October 7th 2023, leading to the death of 1,200 Israelis. Where did this party come from and how did it develop?”
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!
- Communism, fundamentalism and the question of Palestine. By Eddie Abrahams (Issue 111, February-March 1993)
“The growth and evolution of Hamas reveals precisely the general conditions which have enabled fundamentalism to so displace communism and socialism as the ideology of the poor and exploited.”
Foreign Policy in Focus
- Revisiting an interview with a leader of Hamas. By Walden Bello (October 16, 2023)
“Nearly two decades ago, the ‘most wanted man’ in Lebanon discussed Israel, intra-Palestinian relations, and the prospects for liberation.” - The Hamas victor: Another side to the story. By Stephen Zunes (February 6, 2006; online at Internet Archive)
“Lost amidst the predictably negative reaction to the victory by Hamas in the Palestinian parliamentary elections is the crucial role that the U.S. government had in bringing the radical Islamist group to power.”
Green Left Weekly
- A dispassionate look at Hamas. By Kim Bullimore (Green Left Weekly, Issue 712, 1 June 2007). Review of Khaled Hroub, Hamas: A beginner’s guide (Pluto Press, 2006, 170 p.)
“While Hroub clearly departs from and challenges the simplistic Zionist narrative propagated about Hamas, he provides a well researched and nuanced understanding of the evolving nature of the organisation.”
In Defence of Marxism
- Hamas wins Palestinian elections: the early stages of the class struggle and the hypocrisy of imperialist democrats. By Alon Lessel and Yossi Schwartz (1 February 2006)
“Hamas is not a revolutionary party, but a reactionary bourgeois party with radical rhetoric. In reality, it can no more help the Palestinians than Fatah or for that matter, the imperialist bourgeoisie of Israel or the USA.” - The origins of Hamas and its role today. By Yossi Schwartz (In Defence of Marxism, August 21, 2003)
“This article looks at the origins of this movement. It recalls how in the past, when it suited them, the Israeli authorities tried to use Hamas as a counterbalance to the influence of the PLO.”
International Socialism
- Hamas, Gaza and the blockade. By Jamie Allinson (Issue 128, Autumn 2010)
“In what follows I … [would] trace Hamas’s origins as a national liberation movement with Islamist characteristics, emerging from the failure of the previous generation of secular and leftist Palestinian organisations.”
International Viewpoint
- First reflections on the electoral victory of Hamas. By Gilbert Achcar (Issue 374, January 2006)
“The sweeping electoral victory of Hamas is but one of the products of the intensive use made by the United States in the Muslim world, since the 1950’s, of Islamic fundamentalism as an ideological weapon against both progressive nationalism and communism.” - Stop using Hamas as a bogeyman to silence Palestinians. By Julian Sayarer (July 19, 2022)
“Enthusiasts for Israeli militarism often claim that Gaza needs ‘freeing from Hamas’. Such a claim is steeped in the logic of collective guilt, refusing Palestinians the right to both armed struggle and the ballot box.”
Jacobin
- Burning olive branches. By Niko Block (Jacobin, August 21, 2024). “The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh was part of a long pattern of Israel killing Hamas leaders when they offer cease-fires.”
Journal of Palestine Studies
- Baconi, Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance. By José S. Vericat (Vol.48, No.3, Spring 2019). Review of Tareq Baconi’s book (Stanford University Press, 2018, 368 p.)
“The author dares to treat Hamas as worthy of in-depth analysis and gives it the sort of treatment that a serious academic would any faction within the Palestinian nationalist movement or other major political actor, thus addressing attempts to exceptionalize Hamas and political Islam.”
See more reviews:
Was Hamas contained? By Samuel Farber (Against the Current, Issue 230, Maj-June 2024)
+ interviews with Tareq Baconi:
How Hamas became the violent face of Palestinian resistance (Jacobin, November 5, 2023)
Toward decolonization: the Struggle for Palestine today (Spectre, February 9, 2024)
- Creating covic communities (pdf). By Nubar Hovsepian (Vol.41, No.4, Summer 2012)
Review of Sara Roy: Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza: Engaging the Islamist Social Sector (Princeton University Press, 2011, 236 p.)
“Suffice it to say that Roy has written the most nuanced and compelling work on Hamas and the informal sector in Gaza.” - “The origins of Hamas: Militant legacy or Israeli tool?” (pdf). By Jean-Pierre Filiu (Vol.41, No.3, Spring 2012, p.54-70)
“This article, in assessing these opposing narratives and offering its own interpretation, delves into the historical foundations of Hamas starting with the establishment in 1946 of the Gaza branch of the Muslim Brotherhood (the mother organization) and ending with its emergence as a distinct entity at the outbreak of the first intifada.” - The making of a Palestinian Islamic leader. Part 1. Khalid Mishal interviewed by Mouin Rabbani (Vol.37, No.3, Spring 2008) + Part 2 (No.4, Summer 2008; online at Researchgate.net)
“What is striking about Mishal is that while he is as close as one gets to the heart and soul of the Hamas movement, it’s easy to imagine in his presence that one is speaking not with an Islamist leader of the 21st century, but with a leader of Fatah in the 1970s or of the PFLP in the 1980s. As a colleague who spent some time with him once noted, his exegesis in discussion is Palestinian nationalist rather than Quranic.” - A ‘New Hamas’ through its new documents. By Khaled Hroub (Vol.35, No.4, Summer 2006; online at Researchgate.net)
“Analysis of the documents reveals not only a strong programmatic and, indeed, state building emphasis, but also considerable nuance in its positions with regard to resistance and a two-state solution. The article pays particular attention to the sectarian content of the documents, finding a progressive de-emphasis on religion in the three.” -
Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad. By Khaled Hroub (Vol.35, No.4, Summer 2006; online Researchgate.net). Review of Matthew Levitt’s book (Yale University Press, 2006, 324 p.)
“Fallacies, misinformation, bizarre anecdotes, and sweeping accusations abound throughout the book chapters.”
LabourNet
- On suicide bombings. By Rema Hammami and Musa Budeiri (12 December 2001)
“The fortitude and determination exhibited by the militants, who are ready to sacrifice their lives on behalf of the rest, risk transforming Palestinian society into one in which the only people with a political role are those willing to die or to kill while they die. The rest are confined to the role of spectators.”
See also:
Selvmordsbomber i Israel 1993-2006 (Leksikon.org)
Links: International Journal of Socialist Renewal
- Palestine: Hamas is leading a legitimate struggle for self-determination. By Rupen Savoulian (September 4, 2014)
“In fact, let us clear up another misconception: No, Hamas is not ISIS and ISIS is not Hamas.”
Marxist Left Review
- Hamas: A Marxist appraisal (Issue 27, Autumn 2024)
“Omar Hassan critically assesses the Palestinian organisation Hamas, arguing that its politics and strategy offer no possibility of achieving Palestinian liberation.”
Middle East Report
- Topic: Hamas
- Hamas back out of its box. By Nicolas Pelham (Middle East Report Online, September 2, 2010)
“If the goal of Western policy is to keep the Islamists out of sight, out of mind, then Hamas is like a jack-in-the-box, periodically jumping out of its confines to general surprise and consternation.” - Hamas risen. By Graham Usher (Issue 238, Spring 2006)
“On January 25, Hamas candidates won 74 seats in the PA’s 132-member parliament, where they will be joined by four Hamas-backed ‘independents’. It was a win that exceeded their fantasies.” - The New Hamas: Between resistance and participation. By Graham Usher (August 21, 2005)
“In March 2005, Hamas, the largest Islamist party in Palestine, joined its main secular rival Fatah and 11 other Palestinian organizations in endorsing a document that seemed to embody the greatest harmony achieved within the Palestinian national movement in almost two decades.”
The New York Review of Books
- Which way for Hamas? By Nicolas Pelham and Max Rodenbeck (Vol.56, No.17, November 5, 2009). Review article of Zaki Chehab’s Inside Hamas: The Untold Story of the Militant Islamic Movement, Jeroen Gunning’s Hamas in Politics: Democracy, Religion, Violence and Paul McGeough’s Kill Khalid: The Failed Mossad Assassination of Khalid Mishal and the Rise of Hamas.
The Revolutionary Socialists
- Towards a revolutionary perspective on Hamas (July 31, 2014)
“How should revolutionaries view Hamas? Mostafa Omar, a member of Egypt’s Revolutionary Socialists, considers how the left should analyze Islamist groups like Hamas.”
Socialist Review
- Fatah, Hamas, Israel and the West. By John Rose (Issue 313, January 2007)
“In the last weeks of 2006 Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah faction finally launched their much anticipated attempted coup against the democratically elected Palestinian cabinet headed by the Islamic organisation Hamas and prime minister Ismail Haniyeh.”
Socialist View
- Can Hamas ‘liberate’ the Palestinians? By Susan Fitzgerald (Spring 2006)
“The Hamas landslide in January’s long awaited Palestinian Authority (PA) elections has ousted Fatah as the dominant political force of Palestinians in the region for the first time in 40 years.”
SocialistWorker.org
- What is Hamas’ alternative? (July 8, 2009)
“Haidar Eid looks at the political leadership of Hamas and its approach to the question of a ‘two-state’ solution.” - Behind the myths about Hamas (January 21, 2009)
“Deepa Kumar looks at the real history and politics of the organization the mainstream media smears as a band of fanatics and terrorists.”
Tempest
- On the origins and development of Hamas (December 27, 2023)
“Joseph Daher explores how internationalists who support the self-determination of Palestinians should understand Hamas as historically a conservative force while maintaining solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.”
Weekly Worker
- Hamas and its backers. By Yassamine Mather (Issue 1467, 16 November 2023)
“Plenty of talk, but precious little action. Gaza offers the opportunity for the Arab masses to rise up and overthrow their own governments.” - What you need to know about Hamas (Issue 1463, October 19, 2023)
“Eddie Ford looks at the history and politics of what is a deeply reactionary organisation and how we could win the battle of ideas.” - Thin end of the wedge. By Eddie Ford (Issue 1374, December 2, 2021)
“We should oppose both the banning of Hamas and its leftwing apologists.”
See also letter by Talad Hangar: Misleading (Ibid., Issue 1375, November 9, 2021). - History of Hamas. By Eddie Ford (Issue 610, February 2, 2006)
“An examination of Hamas’s roots, both historical and political-theological, reveals beyond doubt that its anti-Zionism and anti-imperialism is programmatically counterrevolutionary. Or, to put it more starkly, in Hamas we encounter a reactionary ideology of the oppressed.” - No to reactionary anti-Zionism (Issue 522, March 31, 2004)
“Eddie Ford examines the origins and world view of Hamas.” - Around the web: Israel’s Frankenstein (Issue 522, April 1, 2004)
“Phil Hamilton looks at the website of Hamas.”
Workers Liberty
- Hamas’s record in power in Gaza. By Dan Katz (Solidarity, Issue 695, 10 January 2024) “Hamas then proceeded to build a theocratic police state, integrating their militias into new police and security forces, replacing the judiciary with their own people, merging sharia law into the legal system, and purging secular teachers from the education system.”
- Why isn’t Hamas the same as the Algerian FLN? By Clive Bradley (Vol.2, No.3, December 2002)
“Islamism represents despair. It is not an alternative economic and political programme, but a retreat from having one, trusting instead in God.”
World Socialist Web Site
- British government declares Hamas political wing a terrorist organisation. By Jean Shaoul (23 November 2021)
“Under the UK’s Terrorism Act 2000, such a ban means Hamas’ assets can be seized and its members jailed.” - The political failure of the PLO and the origins of Hamas, Part 1-3. By Jean Shaoul (5- 8 July 2002)
“To date Hamas has been the main political beneficiary of the failure of Arafat’s efforts to secure a political accommodation with Israeli and US imperialism. But Hamas’ reactionary ideology, combining as it does religious obscurantism with crude anti-Semitism, offers no way out of the present impasse.”