Hamas: Political Thought and Practice [Paperback]

Khaled Hroub (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0887282768 | ISBN-13: 978-0887282768 | Publication Date: October 1, 2000

This book, unique in its thorough documentation and use of primary sources, traces the rise of Hamas and the development of its political ideology with respect to the Palestinian national struggle.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Arabic --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Back Cover

"Must reading — the most comprehensive and critically documented study of HAMAS published to date."
John L. Esposito, University Professor and Director, Center for Christian-Muslim Understanding, Georgetown University

"Khaled Hroub’s book on Hamas is excellent, providing a detailed and carefully constructed analysis of the movement that goes well beyond and far beneath the sensationalist and often distorted reporting of this organization and its role in Palestinian politics. As such, Hroub’s study, which is not an apology, provides a much needed corrective that should be required reading for policymakers, scholars, politicians and students of the Middle East."
Sara Roy, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University

"This is the only book I have read that examines the ideology of Hamas as presented in the movement’s own documents, statements, and press releases. The author’s interviews with several leaders of Hamas supplement the written sources and also demonstrate the little-known pragmatic dimensions of Hamas’s political practices. Anyone who reads this book will appreciate why Hamas can not be dismissed simply as a marginal, extremist group."
Eric Hooglund, Visiting Fellow, Middle East Centre, St. Antony’s College, Oxford and Editor, Critique: Journal for Critical Studies of the Middle East

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 329 pages
• Publisher: Inst for Palestine Studies (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887282768
• ISBN-13: 978-0887282768
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,223,513 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended for students of international studies, February 17, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hamas: Political Thought and Practice (Paperback)

In Hamas: Political Thought And Practice, Khaled Hroub, visiting fellow at the Center of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge, surveys and analyzes the history and political perspectives of the Palestinian emancipation movement known as Hamas. Hroub shows how the movement came into being with the rise and evolution of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Intifada. Hroub also examines and explains the political and combative aspects of the struggle, including the strategy of Hamas, the parties to the struggle, the nature of the struggle, and the international context in which the struggle is carried out. Other sections are devoted to the political relationships of Hamas with other Palestinian groups; Hamas' political relations to the Arab states and regimes; the United Nations and various international organizations; and the theory and practice of Hamas and political pluralism, democratic elections, social action, and military action. Hroub's informative and comprehensive text is enhanced with an appendices of five historical Hamas documents and a select bibliography for further study. Hamas is highly recommended for students of international studies in general, and the Arab/Palestinian/Israeli conflict in particular.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for ideologues, October 11, 2005

By 

A. Winder "book punk" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hamas: Political Thought and Practice (Hardcover)

This book gives an excellent background on the politics of Hamas, its origins and the forces pulling it in different directions (both from within and outside). Sober analysis based primarily on the statements issued by Hamas itself and interviews with its political leaders. Unfortunately, because of when the book was written and published, it does not cover the impact of the 2nd intifada on Hamas (especially the assassinations of Ahmad Yasin and `Abd al-`Aziz al-Rantisi). Furthermore, one of my complaints is that at several times footnotes indicate that we can find the full text of certain statements of communiques in the Arabic version of the book -- however, one can imagine that these documents would be more useful in the English-language version of the book, since once can presumably find them more easily in Arabic (the source language) than translated into English. This is just a small gripe, though, and in general the book was thorough and compelling and, though sober and analytical, not overly academic in tone (i.e., it was pretty easy to read).

If you want to read sensationalized stories about suicide bombings and the like, this isn't the book for you. If you want to try to understand why Hamas is an ascendent force in Palestinian social and political life, then this is a great resource.

12 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but don't be deceived, January 26, 2004

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hamas: Political Thought and Practice (Hardcover)

If you are looking for a book that will give you a better understanding of how the dark and confused underworld of anti-Israeli, anti-American and anti-West thinks and acts, this is a good book. It will give you a solid basic outline of the origins of Hamas, how it grew, how it's leaders think, and where Hamas fits in the spectrum of "anti-Zionist" organizations.

The author has a plodding writing style, not unlike that found in political science textbooks, but for the truly interested, there is enough grist to keep the mill of reading going steadily.

As an American, and as a person who believes that targeting civilians is murder in any armed conflict, this book is hard to read at times. Mr. Hroub declares at the outset of this book that he wrote it to be an impartial analysis of the Hamas movement, but that is a red herring. Mr. Hroub is clearly sypathetic to Hamas and, incredibly, to it's methods. However, if one wants to discover what really goes in inside an organization like Hamas I don't think one can be content with the analysis from people at a distance. To a certain extent, to know a criminal well, one has to become like him. Mr. Hroub knows what he is talking about, sadly.