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Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle For Palestine

Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle For Palestine
By Jonathan Schanzer

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Jonathan Schanzer to MESH:

During the violent Hamas conquest of Gaza in the summer of 2007, I was struck by the weak and fleeting media attention, particularly compared to flare-ups of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict over the years. I also noted that Middle Eastern studies professors avoided the subject. It seemed as if observers of the Middle East were only interested in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which is tired and well-worn ground. I quickly realized that there was an important book to be written.

Product Description

In June 2007 civil war broke out in the Gaza Strip between two rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah. Western peace efforts in the region always focused on reconciling two opposing fronts: Israel and Palestine. Now, this careful exploration of Middle East history over the last two decades reveals that the Palestinians have long been a house divided. What began as a political rivalry between Fatah’s Yasir Arafat and Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin during the first intifada of 1987 evolved into a full-blown battle on the streets of Gaza between the forces of Arafat’s successor, Mahmoud Abbas, and Ismael Haniyeh, one of Yassin’s early protégés. Today, the battle continues between these two diametrically opposing forces over the role of Palestinian nationalism and Islamism in the West Bank and Gaza.
 
In this thought-provoking book, Jonathan Schanzer questions the notion of Palestinian political unity, explaining how internal rivalries and violence have ultimately stymied American efforts to promote Middle East peace, and even the Palestinian quest for a homeland.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #404846 in Books
  • Published on: 2008-11-11
  • Released on: 2008-11-11
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 256 pages

Features

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Schanzer, director of policy at the Jewish Policy Center and counterterrorism analyst for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the U.S. Department of Treasury, investigates the conflict between rival Palestinian factions with nuance and detail as he exposes the long-broiling tensions and violent eruptions between Fatah and Hamas—even as the two sides attempted to pretend that the Palestinians were still united under one flag. The author posits that only by rejecting the platforms of both parties will the Palestinian people begin to break the self-destructive cycle and provides a concise historical survey from the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood—the template for many Islamist groups—in 1928 to the recent conflict in Lebanon and a thorough comparison of Fatah's and Hamas's leadership. Neophytes to the tangled world of Palestine's internal conflict will be treated to a serious, no-frills account; those readers more familiar with the issues will enjoy how Schanzer weaves a web of connectivity between the Palestinian conflict with Israel, the conflicts involving Lebanon, the rise of al-Qaeda and American complicity. (Nov.)
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Review

"Jonathan Schanzer has performed a very useful task in explaining [the] rifts in the uniform Palestinian identity. It stands to help us, as Americans, have a firmer understanding of the reality of the situation..." - Washington Times
 
"Jonathan Schanzer's account of the latent and then open civil war between the Palestinian Authority and the Fatah faction and Hamas is a long-overdue account of the importance of Palestinian politics on the politics of making peace." --Jerusalem Post


“To understand that these two drastically different Palestinian territories have little prospect of uniting in the future, there is no better book than that of Jonathan Schanzer, a recognized specialist on Islamic terrorism and Hamas.” -Libertad (Spain)

“[One] of the most important books published about the Hamas terrorist organization...” -David Frum, National Post (Canada)

“Hamas vs. Fatah... seems tailor-made to address the big questions behind the headlines from Gaza.” -Mark Hemingway, National Review

"It's hard to think of a more important book at this very moment." -Dennis Prager 
"This well-argued account helps sort out the two groups' tangeld history of nationalism and terrorism, the latter of which Hamas refuses to give up." -- Kirkus Reviews
 
"Schanzer investigates the conflict between rival Palestinian factions with nuance and detail as he exposes the long-broiling tensions and violent eruptions between Fatah and Hamas… Neophytes to the tangled world of Palestine's internal conflict will be treated to a serious, no-frills account; those readers more familiar with the issues will enjoy how Schanzer weaves a web of connectivity between the Palestinian conflict with Israel, the conflicts involving Lebanon, the rise of al-Qaeda and American complicity." -- Publishers Weekly
 
"Invaluable. Jonathan Schanzer's book is dispassionate and rigorous, and offers a devastating portrait of a self-destructive political spiral." - John Podhoretz
 
"Jonathan Schanzer takes us beyond the glib media classifications of 'moderate' vs. 'radical' Palestinians and provides important new perspective on the complex forces that continue to menace Israel - and America."  --Michael Medved, Nationally syndicated radio talk show host, author of Right Turns
 
"Schanzer's incisive scholarship unfolds the story of contemporary Palestinian political fragmentation, between Hamas and Fatah, between Yassin and Arafat, and their successors. Can this house divided stand? Schanzer is to be commended for sharpening our awareness of the internal Palestinian schisms and their critical political implications." -- Kenneth W. Stein, Professsor of  Contemporary Middle Eastern History and Political Science at Emory University, and author of The Land Question in Palestine,1917-1939
 
"The best scholars look at what everyone else looks at but see what others don't see. In "Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine," Jonathan Schanzer joins the ranks of the most insightful observers the dynamics of the Arab-Israeli conflict by focusing his attention at "the struggle" that may have the greatest impact on the future disposition of the Palestinian independence movement * the intra-Palestinian contest between rival factions Hamas and Fatah, not the clash between Palestinians and Israelis. His fresh, timely and accessible account of the internal battle to control Palestinian identity over the past two decades is a signal contribution. This is must reading for our current and would-be secretaries of state." -- Robert Satloff, executive director, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
 
"Hamas vs. Fatah explains in great detail the Arabic concept of Fitna, which means
internal Muslim conflict" and "is highly recommended for anyone who wants to try to understand the Middle East and especially the Palestinians." -- Jewish Book Council
 
"The Palestinian world is not united. Jonathan Schanzer’s new book, Hamas vs. Fatah, proves this beyond any reasonable doubt...[It] is highly recommended for anyone who wants to try to understand the Middle East and especially the Palestinians."--Jewish Book World

About the Author

Jonathan Schanzer is the director of policy at the Jewish Policy Center.  He has served as counterterrorism analyst for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the U.S. Department of Treasury and as a research fellow at Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he authored the book Al Qaeda’s Armies: Middle East Affiliate Groups and the Next Generation of Terror. He has appeared on Fox News, CNN, and Al-Jazeera. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Customer Reviews

Opens a new field of research5
Schanzer's new book signals a new field of research namely the internicine fighting between Palestinians. It also sheds fresh light on the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.

The book is written in a style that reflects scholarly research and ample end notes although it is easily read by those with a basic interest in the violence in the region.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that is concerned about attacks on Israel, the prospects of peace between Palestinians and Israelis or those who want to learn more about recent history of this region.

The truth of the Palestinian political reality5
Barack Obama should read this book. Also , Hillary Clinton. I would also recommend that Daniel Kurtzer, Dennis Ross, Richard Haas, Martin Indyk read it. In fact I would recommend that all those who have anything to do with the 'peace- process' between Israel and Palestinians read it. And this because it exposes the lie of a moderate Palestinian Fatah, truly ready for peace. And it makes clear just how filled with deceit and hatred Palestinian politics are.
In tracing the historical development of the rivalry and occasionally open physical conflict between the Fatah of Arafat and the Hamas of Sheik Yassin and Haniyeh Jonathan Schanzer gives a close- up look of where the mind and hearts of Palestianian leaders truly have been and are. He shows the process by which 'Hamas' has gradually gained power, replacing Fatah not only in Gaza but in the minds and hearts of the intellectuals of Palestinian society.
He too traces the connections of the Palestinians with other actors in both the Arabic and Islamic worlds. And he indicates the increasing role Iran is playing in the Palestinian story.
This is first- rate research, clearly written.
It also brings us pretty much up to date, and gives a strong sense of the internal Palestinian struggles at this moment.
A must read for anyone who would understand the Middle East today.

Hamas vs. US backed Fatah4
Based on public sources the author explains in certain detail how and why there was a Hamas - Fatah clash. One of the more important aspects that said is that contrary to what it's argued in other writings such as Ross and Makovsky book, theirs was not a Hamas coup in Gaza. The author doesn't argue that otherwise he outline the process an escalation first with US backed Fatah policy under Clinton (and Ross in charge) of kidnappings and torture at the hands of Fatah against the Hamas members including the incarceration of its founder at the hands of Fatah in the nineties. Hamas then won and urged by the Bush administration Fatah refuse to handle control to the party that won. Until the vengeance cycle ended by those Hamas forces that has been arrested revolted against the Fatah security forces that they chase by name that has torture them in Gaza.