Field: Politics, Palestine
Title: Hamas: Unwritten Chapters
Authors: Azzam Tamimi
Publication: Hurst & Company, London 2007
ISBN: 1-85065-834-X
Rating: 3/5
Level: Intermediate
Reviewed by: Safwan

After more than twenty years of accumulating public support and influence, Hamas was born in the middle of what the Palestinians believe to be an endless iniquitous aggression from the Israeli side. The 7 Ikhwan leaders who founded this organization include Syeikh Ahmad Yassin and Dr Abd al-Aziz al-Rantisi, whom, as the future reveals, were later to be martyrs. As a comprehensive Islamic resistance group, Hamas utilizes both political and military means to attain its objective; restoring Palestinian rights.

It was not until after long being suppressed by the Nasiri regime that the Ikhwan, the predecessor of Hamas, could breathe again. Many Arabs were convinced that nationalism is their only train to glory, a state they have lost for many centuries. However the atmosphere changes at the symbolic defeat of nationalism in the 1967 6-day-war between Israel and the Arabs. This already-pared confidence is further inflicted by the Black September of 1970 and Anwar Sadat’s friendly visit to the Knesset (Israeli parliament) 7 years later. The Islamists saw these and grabbed their chance.

With nationalist PLO at war with Israel, the Zionists didn’t in any way see the Islamists as a threat when they started their work at grassroots level. The Ikhwan continued to provide sports facilities, recreational trips, scout events, mosques, kindergartens, schools and clinics- trying to ignore the insolent assaults to their country. However, after the Sabra & Shatila massacre in 1982 the pressure mounted, and they came out with a Jihad plan; a prelude to Sheikh Yassin’s arrest two years later.

Two years after Hamas’ inception, it suffered a near-fatal blow. The leadership began to consider transferring its centre of operation outside Palestine, a task soon taken and headed by Abu Marzuq. For a few years, Jordan warmly welcomed their presence there and for the country to be used as a political base. Things changed when the Jordanian authorities was inundated with too much pressure from the US and Israel, especially after the demise of King Hussein. Hamas was later welcomed by Qatar and then Syria.

Many parties with personal motives are dying to incapacitate Hamas. This includes the Palestinian Authority whose members are mostly American-backed Fatah members. The right to governance Hamas won from the Palestinians in 2006 was undermined by these people, which culminated and made worse by the Israeli who in 29 June 2006 kidnapped 64 Hamas officials, rendering its government handicapped. In spite of it all, Hamas continues to attract more and more support from lovers of freedom and justice all around the world.

[More...]

Field : Palestine
Title : Palestine; peace not apartheid
Author : Jimmy Carter
Publication : Pocket Books
ISBN : 978-1-84739-154-4
Rating : aaaa
Level : Intermediate
Reviewed by: A.S Abd Mokti

Informative, argumentative, and provocative, the book offers to readers of different background; i.e. friends of Palestine, Israel or both the perspective of an American statesman who was heavily involved in the issue of Israel-Palestine in the Middle East. Carter has chosen to write the book in a simple but clear language as to suit the readers of different level. This is surely a must-read book for readers of interest in the issue concerning Palestine-Israel and the struggle for peace in the Middle East. It is also completed with Maps of the region based on the events that happened, historical chronology and appendices of the various peace agreement proposed by the US, UN and other parties.

Carter starts with his view on the prospect of peace in the troubled region and examined the root of the conflict, history of main key players and the hurdle for peace in Israel and the occupied land of Palestine. Carter shares his intimate experience with various prominent individuals of Arab leaders of Syria, Saudi, Jordan, and Lebanon, generations of Israeli leaders, the Palestinians and US officials and managed to address the sensitive political issues many western officials shied away according his experience working directly inside the White House as presidents and outside as the founder of The Carter Centre.

The book also elaborates on the various measures taken by him and other US presidents, especially Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush in tackling the complex problem in the middle east, and how usually Israel has always been reluctant to dismantle the illegal settlements and continue to occupy the Palestinian land. Readers are also given a brief account of the episodes of both the Palestine’s and Israel’s election and the aftermath.

The end chapter entitled ‘the wall as a prison’ describes the situation of apartheid-like treatments that the Palestinians experienced combined with constant building of illegal settlements in their territory. He finally concludes the book by prescribing the long-abandoned role of the USA as the mediator of peace between the two disputing sides combined with the two-state solution which shares the Holy Land based on UN approved border 1967 without a system of apartheid or the constant fear of terrorism from both sides.

[More...]

Field: Palestine and Zionism

Title: A History of Palestinian Resistance

Author: Dr Daud Abdullah

Publication: Al-Aqsa Publishers 2005

ISBN: 0-9536530-3-x

Rating: aaa

Level: Intermediate

Reviewed by: Safwan

The author has successfully presented the whole complicated history in a simple and understandable manner. The book is however, he stressed, mainly written for students studying history. It recounts the incident from as early as 1880's, when the World Zionist Organisation was founded to the Hebron Protocol in 1990's.

An example of how Zionists struggled to attain the support of World Powers was clearly depicted through the first part of the book. How years after years, and pressures upon pressures, their pursuit of a new 'homeland' in Palestine culminated in British's willingness to help.

The book gives an overview of how the Palestinians didn't just sit and watch while their lands and homes were being taken by the newcomers. As early as March 1886, even before the establishment of World Zionist Organisation, the Farmers of Mullabis stood against the occupation. The resistance got a new wave especially after the Buraq Uprising in 1929 and the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe).

Among the political actions are efforts made by Higher Arab Council, Fateh, and Palestinian Liberation Organisation. The book also highlights events that seem to have been increasingly forgotten by many- Phony War, Battle of Karamah, and Sabra Shatila massacres.

Another effort to make known to the world not only the Palestinians' sufferings, but the Palestine Question in a comprehensive overview.

[More...]