Hizbullah, Hamas, and the Arab Uprisings: Structures, Threats, and Opportunities (original) (raw)

Hamas and Israel: Conflicting Strategies of Group-Based Politics

This monograph considers the changing fortunes of the Palestinian movement, HAMAS, and the recent outcomes of Israeli strategies aimed against this group and Palestinian nationalism external to the Fatah faction of the Palestinian Authority. The example of HAMAS challenges much of the current wisdom on "insurgencies" and their containment.

DEMYSTIFYING THE NATURE AND DYNAMICS OF HAMAS AS AN ISLAMIC POLITICAL MOVEMENT

ANNUR Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Yobe State University, 2012

This paper analyses and consider the changing fortunes of Palestinian movement, HAMAS, through the proper understanding of its evolution, methods and strategies and impact and role it is playing in the liberation of the Palestinian state. The example of HAMAS challenges demonstrates in the paper have also show how efforts have been made by internal and external forces to separate HAMAS from its popular support and network of social, charitable and political activities but to no avail. The paper equally considers this Islamist political movement in the context of local, national and international goals, which can be persuaded to achieve a political and religious goal. HAMAS offers a fascinating instance of the dynamics of political and strategic action and reactions, and the modification of its modus operandi away from aggressive deterrence, as well as its evolution in the Islamist movement planning and operations in the political arena. Therefore, this work in its descriptive approach is offered to those who wish to consider this particular aspect of the Palestinian-Israeli-Arab conflict which has attracted much attention to the world.

Like two peas in a pod or two roads diverging? Comparing Hamas and Hizballah

Mediterranean Politics, 2020

Following this Forum's call to examine more systematically whether and how Shia/Sunni Islamists differ, this paper explores how (Sunni) Hamas and (Shia) Hizballah differ and what role differences in religious beliefs, institutions and practices play in producing these variances. One Palestinian, the other Lebanese, both movements have been part of the 'resistance axis' against Israel since the 1980s, have social welfare arms and have participated in elections. Hamas is predominantly Sunni, Hizballah primarily Shiayet comparisons typically overlook this difference (e.g.

What Went Wrong? The Impact of Western Policies towards Hamas and Hizbollah

CEPS Policy Briefs, No. 135 (July 2007), 2007

International policies and in particular EU and US policies towards Hamas and Hizbollah have had multiple and interrelated effects over the last two years. Most visibly, Western policies have had an impact on the two movements themselves, on the domestic governance systems in Palestine and Lebanon, and on the relations between Hamas and Hizbollah and their respective domestic political rivals. In turn, they have also had ramifications on the conflicts between Israel and Palestine/Lebanon, and on the mediating roles of the international community. The balance sheet is far from positive. This Policy Brief gives a comparative analysis of the influence of Western policies on key domestic and international dimensions of the Middle Eastern conundrum. It argues that despite their declared aims, Western policies have often hampered the quest for international peace, democracy and good governance, as well as inter- and intra-state reconciliation.

The Hamas Tightrope: Between Political Institutionalization and Armed Struggle

Strategic Assessment - The Institute for National Security Studies, 2018

Hamas, which was established as a social-religious movement, has evolved from a terror organization and violent non-state actor into a semi-state actor in control of the Gaza Strip and its population, endowed with the political and national responsibility of a national actor. This development has handed Hamas the obligation to maneuver between realizing its identity as an ideological resistance movement and implementing its responsibilities as a governing entity. In particular, it must balance elements that encourage violence against others that seek to restrain violence, while managing the tension between the need to institutionalize itself as a national actor and what it sees as its duty to maintain the ethos of resistance. The relatively restrained manner in which it faces these tensions gives external players, particularly Israel and Egypt, opportunities to limit the movement’s level of violence and focus on its institutionalization processes.

THE IMPACT OF ARMED GROUPS IN THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE: A CASE STUDY OF HAMAS 2000 - 2015

The study sought to examine the impact of Hamas on the quest for the independence of Palestine. The work essentially covers the period from 2000 – 2015, however events before the year 2000 was examined in order to help the work grasp the context of the issues at the fore of discussion, so as to put the work in proper perspectives. The study covered the period 2000 – 2014. It sought to find answers to the following questions; 1. What are the causes of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict? 2. What led to the entry of Hamas into the conflict? 3. What are the objectives and tactics of Hamas in the conflict? 4. How has Hamas shaped the conflict? And 5. What are the gains or losses which the Palestinian people have encountered since the entry of Hamas to crisis?

"Hamas, Islam, and Israel," Journal of Conflict Studies, Volume 26, No. 1, Summer 2006, pp. 3-15

The electoral triumph of Hamas in the Palestinian elections of January 2006 has made it imperative for policy makers around the world to understand this group and its ideology. Is Hamas likely to soften its hostility to Israel? Is Hamas likely to receive significant support from the Muslim world? What are the odds that Hamas can be either placated or isolated? If Hamas can make a strong claim to be authentically Islamic in its ideological underpinnings, then it is more likely to receive support from portions of the Muslim world and less likely to be conciliatory vis-à-vis Israel. Unfortunately, a careful study of the ideology of Hamas and its parent, the Muslim Brotherhood, shows that that ideology is firmly rooted in traditional Islamic principles. Far from distorting or perverting classical Islamic law, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood can claim very plausibly that shari'a requires implacable and violent resistance to Israel, including terrorism, and denial of Israel's right to exist as a non-Muslim state located on Islamic territory. Efforts to placate or isolate Hamas are therefore unlikely to succeed.

From Revolution to Political Participation: Institutionalization of Militant Islamic Movements

Social movements often undergo substantial changes as they grow more politically popular and influential, foremost of which is the shift from a single founding/charismatic leader to a hierarchic structure of representative institutions and rational political decision-making. Such changes are said to enable transformation from revolutionary to reformist strategies based on pragmatic calculations. Despite the wealth of studies on the political development of Islamic movements, this theoretical assumption is yet to be tested, especially in cases of popular Islamic movements identified with jihad as a core element in their ideology of resistance to an alien power. This article takes on to scrutinize the political trajectories of two jihadist-resistant movements, namely, Hamas and Hezbollah. Both Hamas and Hezbollah emerged as contentious, counter-elite movements adopting extreme Islamic agendas, yet along the years, they came to adopt national-Islamic attributes. Moreover, both movements moved from the fringes of opposition to the political center and government, each one establishing itself as ‘a state within a state’. Despite their different sectarian identities (Sunni and Shi`i, respectively) and domestic political arenas, these two movements share major attributes, especially their dedicated involvement in social and community concerns on the one hand, and ideological and practical commitment to jihad against Israel, on the other. At the same time, despite their involvement in violence (in the case of Hezbollah, also international terrorism), both movements made discernible efforts to win international recognition, especially by propagating their broad political constituency and civic activities. Whereas Hezbollah attained representation in the Lebanese governments since 1992, Hamas’s unexpectedly decisive victory in the 2006 elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council forced it to take responsibility as a government. Following its violent takeover of full control over the Gaza Strip in June 20 07, Hamas has exercised full internal sovereignty over this territory and won a substantial international recognition, mainly from Islamic countries. Against this backdrop, what changes can be discerned in the thought and practice of these movements? Especially, what effect had the shift from ‘resistance’ to government—or rather, the mixture of both—had on these movements. The article’s working assumption is that notwithstanding processes of popular growth, institutionalization, and generational changes of leadership, neither Hezbollah nor Hamas deviated from their strategic goals and core principles. Nonetheless, on the tactical level, they proved to be innovative in legitimizing temporary deviations from stated ideologies and policies.

Fighting to Stay in Politics – Hamas and Its Dual Resistance Strategy

The Inclusion Moderation (IM) analytical framework views to use of violence by non-state actors seeking entry in to the political system as the antithesis of politically moderate behaviour. The corpus generally assumes that these actors are using violence to achieve anti-systemic and/or anti-democratic objectives. It is for this reason that governments demand that non-state actors renounce the use of violence and disband any militarised wings as an essential precondition for entry into the political system. However, this was not the case with Hamas. It was permitted to retain its military wing and participate in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council elections. Hamas's subsequent election victory made it a politically legitimate actor in Palestinian politics. To account for this apparent theoretical anomaly, this paper argues that Hamas employed a Dual Resistance Strategy consisting of Political and Armed Resistance to maintain and defend its position as a legitimate political actor. Analysing the 2008, 2012 and 2014 Israeli invasions of Gaza, the paper seeks to demonstrate how Hamas is able to transmute the increase in its resistance legitimacy into increased political authority in Gaza, thereby remaining a viable political actor in Palestinian politics.

Analysing the Efforts of Hamas for the Palestinian Cause

Pakistan Journal of International Affairs, 2021

Here, we examine Hamas' involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and make recommendations for future action. Public sources and interviews with five contemporary Hamas officials living abroad are used to examine the group's triumphs and failures since its active involvement in the military battle against Israel and Palestinian politics against the other key actor, Fatah, since the beginning of its involvement. Because it was driven into Gaza by the Palestinian Authority and because international players have blocked humanitarian help from reaching Hamas-controlled Gaza, Hamas has fallen short of Palestinians' expectations in terms of military triumph against Israel. Since the people of Gaza have become disgruntled with Hamas' administration due to rising unemployment and the Israeli blockade and attacks, it is expected that Hamas would continue to fight, but that it may largely withdraw from politics because of thi