When the radical Islamist group Hamas was elected to lead
Palestine in 2006, the Western world was shocked. How had the majority
of Palestinians come to support an extremist organization and how would
the group’s new political power affect the larger Israel/Palestine
conflict?
Italian journalist and historian Paola Caridi offers a
clear-eyed account of how the conditions in this war-torn region led to
the rise of Hamas and an unbiased look at the complex feelings that
Palestinians have toward getting behind a government that supports
violent resistance. By breaking from the sensationalist journalism
surrounding the elections, Caridi is able to tell the story of a
movement caught between the desire to resist its oppressor and the need
to provide support for a refugee people. Caridi, informed by years of
on-the-ground research and interviews with residents of Gaza and leaders
of Hamas, covers the history of Gaza from its golden age as a port city
to the formal birth and slow militarization of Hamas. This
English-language translation brings the reader to present-day Palestine
by offering a never-before-seen chapter on Operation Cast Lead, the
shocking WikiLeaks disclosures, and the Cairo Revolution.
Hamas
paints a picture, with intelligence, dexterity, and heart, of a people
trapped in the most historic of political battles and reveals the
strange complexities behind the controversy by explaining one of the key
players in the search for peace and justice that runs through the
central crisis of the Middle East today.
