Understanding Hamas: And Why That Matters

Both accessible and authoritative, Understanding Hamas provides much-needed insight into a widely misunderstood movement whose involvement in a just resolution of the Israel/Palestine conflict will be critical.

Across Western mainstream discourse, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has been subjected to intense vilification. Branding it as “terrorist” or worse, this demonization intensified after the events in Southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

This book does not advocate for or against Hamas. Rather, in a series of rich and probing conversations with leading experts, it aims to deepen understanding of a movement that is a key player in the current crisis. It looks at, among other things, Hamas’s critical shift from social and religious activism to national political engagement; the delicate balance between Hamas's political and military wings; and its transformation from early anti-Jewish tendencies to a stance that differentiates between Judaism and Zionism.

Helena Cobban is a former columnist for The Christian Science Monitor.
Rami G. Khouri is a former Managing Editor of The Jordan Times.
Dr. Paola Caridi teaches at the University of Palermo and is a former journalist who reported from Jerusalem from 2003-12. She is the author of Hamas: From Resistance to Government.
Dr. Jeroen Gunning, a Professor of Middle Eastern Politics and Conflict Studies at King's College London, is the author of a 2010 book on Hamas and a founder of the field of critical terrorism studies.
Dr. Khaled Hroub, a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge, is professor of Middle Eastern studies at Northwestern University in Qatar and author of Hamas: A Beginner’s Guide.
Mouin Rabbani, co-editor of Jadaliyya, is managing editor of the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development and a former senior analyst on Israel-Palestine for the International Crisis Group.
Dr. Azzam Tamimi, a British-Palestinian-Jordanian political thinker, was previously head of the Institute of Islamic Political Thought and is the author of several books including Hamas: A History from Within.