‘Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters’

The West’s dominant media tells us little about Hamas’ history or ideology, relying instead on “terrorist” clichés. This new book cuts through them to explain.What do we know about Palestine’s Islamic Resistance Movement, commonly known as Hamas? I read independent media every day, but even so, a year after Al-Aqsa Flood and the onset of the Gaza genocide, I found I knew very little. Only that: They are a Palestinian nationalist movement; The Palestinian people shocked the West by electing them in 2006; Their political wing is the government in Gaza, but not the West Bank; On Oct. 7, 2023, their military wing and its allies launched Al-Aqsa Flood, one battle in the 76-year war that began with the Nakba, the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians after Israel declared itself a state; Israel assassinated their lead negotiator in Tehran; They are part of what’s called “the Axis of Resistance,” which includes Iran, Hizbullah in Lebanon, the Ansar Allah (Houthis) in Yemen, and others in Syria and Iraq; and Their military wing, the Qassam Brigades, has not succumbed to Israel after more than a year’s fighting. In short, I knew very little before reading “Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters,”...