Beschrijving The aim of this book is to provide an essential overview of Hamas’s complex history and inherent contradictions, offering an objective analysis of its activities. The book intends to move beyond mere moralisation and condemnation, enabling a deeper understanding that is vital for pursuing non-violent, political solutions and fostering an anti-war perspective on the conflict in Palestine. REVIEWS “An accessible and thorough primer grounded in genuine expertise on the history of Palestinian resistance.” — Max Blumenthal “I couldn’t put it down and highly recommend it to anyone concerned about the plight of the Palestinian people.” —Medea Benjamin “In a world of information warfare, in which little is true and every slur is plausible, reliable access to facts is invaluable … Understanding Hamas tells it like it is.” —Amb. Chas W. Freeman, Jr. “Vital and timely … No one can deal with the Palestinian Question, or with Gaza, without understanding, and coming to terms with Hamas.” —Jonathan Kuttab OVER DE AUTEURS Helena Cobban is a writer and researcher on international affairs who lives in Washington DC. In 1984, Cambridge U.P. published her seminal study The Palestinian Liberation Organisation. Three of her six other sole-authored books dealt with political and strategic developments in the Arab-Israeli theater, the rest with more global matters. For 17 years she contributed a regular column on global issues to The Christian Science Monitor and Al-Hayat (London).In 2010 she founded Just World Books, which has published ground-breaking titles by Palestinian, Zionism-questioning Jewish, and other authors; and in 2016 she was a co-founder of Just World Educational, which she now serves as president. Her current main writing platform is Globalities.org. Rami G. Khouri is a Palestinian-American academic and journalist whose family resides in Beirut, Amman, and Nazareth. During his 50-year career in journalism he was Managing Editor of the Jordan Times and the Daily Star (Beirut) newspapers, and contributed reporting and opinion pieces from the Middle East to the Financial Times, NPR, BBC radio, and other outlets. He founded and managed the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI), at the American University of Beirut. He has been a Harvard Nieman Journalism Fellow and a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Fellow of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs in Arab East Jerusalem. He is currently a distinguished fellow at IFI, a senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington, DC, a regular contributor to Aljazeera online, and a member of the Just World Ed board. His texts and interviews are available on X @ramikhouri.
