Inside Hamas: The Untold Story of Militants, Martyrs and Spies - Hardcover

Chehab, Zaki

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1845113896 ISBN 13: 9781845113896

Publisher: I.B. Tauris, 2007

Synopsis

What is the real nature of Hamas? Since its astonishing victory in the 2006 Palestinian elections, this has become the most hotly contested question in the Middle East. How does Hamas really operate? What personalities lie beneath the black-and-green uniforms? Inside Hamas is an acclaimed account of Hamas by a world-renowned journalist with unprecedented sources within the secretive militant organization.

About this title

About the Author

Zaki Chehab is political editor of the Arab broadsheet, Al Hayat. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post, The Guardian, the New Statesman; and he has made guest appearances on NPR, CNN, and Democracy Now! Chehab lives in London.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In this compelling and sober portrayal, Chebab, an intrepid Palestinian journalist (who was nearly blown up in 2002), explains how the highly organized and notoriously militant Islamic group Hamas was elected to head the Palestinian government in January 2006, to the surprise of much of the world. Having tracked Palestinian resistance for decades, Chebab gained extraordinary access to key players in Hamas, like Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the group's spiritual leader until his 2004 assassination, and political leader Dr. Abdul Aziz Al Rantisi, also assassinated that year. Along the way, he details the group's history, from the dawn of the first intifada in 1987 to the present day, and looks to the political and economic dilemmas that hang over the group's future. Most fascinating are hidden figures Chebab brings to light: like Yehia Ayyash, "the Engineer," who introduced the suicide bomb into Hamas's deadly repertoire; suicide-bomb hopefuls who claim that "martyrdom is like a dream"; and proud mothers like Umm Nidal, who has three (of six) sons who have died as suicide bombers. The book is likely to be recognized as among the most definitive and important accounts of this divisive organization, whose goal remains to "reclaim the whole of Palestine as it had been before 1948... and to dismantle the [Israeli] settlements." (May)
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Edition details

• Publisher: I.B. Tauris
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1845113896
• ISBN 13: 9781845113896
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 240