Abstract
Hamas, Jihad and Popular Legitimacy presents detailed research on the multiple activities and roles of the Palestinian armed movement Hamas in the context of contemporary Palestinian society. The book analyses the development of the movement since its foundation in the 1980s until the present time. It uses an original prospective which contextualises Hamas’ existence and resilience in the framework of the Palestinian society under Israeli occupation. From the first chapters on, the book intends to oppose the picture of Hamas provided in the Western mainstream media and terrorism studies which describe Hamas as an irrational terrorist entity completely devoted to an eschatological violent version of Islam similar to that of Al-Qa’eda and Islamic State.
Tristan Dunning takes into consideration Hamas’ numerous activities within Palestinian society, from armed resistance to charity and social development. To provide a satisfying account of Hamas as a social and political actor, he focuses on the polysemic meaning of ‘resistance’ and ‘Jihad’ within the rhetoric of Hamas. Hamas uses these concepts and the political violence that they imply in a flexible way, as tactical tools for strategic goals. In particular, political violence is used as a propagandistic means aimed to obtain political power in an environment lacking other means for empowerment. In fact, Hamas has demonstrated its readiness to switch to other kinds of non-violent tactics when the political environment provides the chance to utilise them, as that which occurred during the 2006 legislative elections. In this book, academics, analysts and journalists specialising in terrorism and Middle East studies can find a more balanced, unbiased and therefore realistic picture of Hamas, in which the movement emerges as a rational and incentive-sensitive political actor.
The book is an insightful analysis of Hamas’ interactions with Palestinian society. However, it lacks an equally detailed analysis of the dynamics present within Hamas itself as a complex organisation. The relationship between the different currents in which the movement is divided are only lightly sketched and a more detailed analysis would have provided a better understanding of the behaviour of Hamas as a political actor in several key situations. Furthermore, while the author carries out an accurate and acute critique of large sections of the Western contemporary media and academic narrative, he tends to describe this as the only narrative present within the Western public and academic debate, neglecting the important role played by many critical voices which are also part of the same debate – and include among them numerous scholars quoted in the volume and the author himself.