This SIIS faculty syllabus explores the history and features of political Islam with an emphasis on Hamas. The history and nature of Hamas is examined in relation to Islamic fundamentalism and its conflict with Israel.
Presentation Powerpoint
Essential Reading
Recommended Reading
Ziad Abu-Amr
Islamic Fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza: Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Jihad
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994)
ISBN/ISSN: 0253208661
Jeroen Gunning
Hamas in Politics: Democracy, Religion, Violence
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2008)
ISBN/ISSN: 023170044X
Meir Hatina, “The ‘Ulama’ and the Cult of Death in Palestine,” Israel Affairs, Vol. 12:1, (January 2006), pp. 29-51
Khaled Hroub
Hamas, Political Thought and Practice
(Washington: Institute for Palestine Studies, 2000)
ISBN/ISSN:088728275X
Interview with Eyad El Sarraj: “Suicide Bombers: Dignity, Despair, and the Need for Hope,” Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 31:4, (Summer 2002), pp. 71-76
Interview with Hamas activist, Mahmud Zahhar: “Waiting for Secular Nationalism to Self-Destruct.” Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 24:3, (Spring 1995), pp. 81-87
Matthew Levitt and Dennis Ross
Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad
(New York: Yale University Publishers, 2006)
ISBN/ISSN: 0300122586
[Link to full e-book for those with Brandeis account]
Bernard Lewis, “The Roots of Muslim Rage”, The Monthly Atlanta, (September 1990), pp. 47-60
Shaul Mishal and Avraham Sela
The Palestinian Hamas: Vision, Violence, and Coexistence
(New York: Columbia University Publishers, 2006)
ISBN/ISSN: 023114007X
Andrea Nusse
Muslim Palestine: The Ideology of Hamas
(Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1998)
ISBN/ISSN:9057023342
Elie Rekhess, “The Iranian Impact on the Islamic Jihad Movement in the Gaza Strip,”
The Iranian Revolution and the Muslim World, David Menashri ed. (Westview Press, 1990), pp. 189-206.