Hamas Vs. Fatah: The Struggle For Palestine

Jonathan Schanzer

St. Martin's Press, Nov 11, 2008 - History - 239 pages

In June 2007 civil war broke out in the Gaza Strip between two rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah. Western peace efforts in the region always focused on reconciling two opposing fronts: Israel and Palestine. Now, this careful exploration of Middle East history over the last two decades reveals that the Palestinians have long been a house divided. What began as a political rivalry between Fatah's Yasir Arafat and Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin during the first intifada of 1987 evolved into a full-blown battle on the streets of Gaza between the forces of Arafat's successor, Mahmoud Abbas, and Ismael Haniyeh, one of Yassin's early protégés. Today, the battle continues between these two diametrically opposing forces over the role of Palestinian nationalism and Islamism in the West Bank and Gaza.

In this thought-provoking book, Jonathan Schanzer questions the notion of Palestinian political unity, explaining how internal rivalries and violence have ultimately stymied American efforts to promote Middle East peace, and even the Palestinian quest for a homeland.

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HAMAS VS. FATAH: The Struggle for Palestine

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As much as any opposition from what is supposed to be a shared enemy, a gang war strangles Palestinian aspirations for an independent state.So writes former U.S. Treasury Department counterterrorism ...

Contents

• The Roots of Hamas and Fatah: 13
• Hamas Fatah and the First Intifada: 23
• Hamas under Fire: 31
• Hamas Fatah and the Oslo Years: 37
• History Repeats The 2000 Intifada: 49
• Fitna: 65
• Hamas Digs In: 79
• Prelude to War: 95
• Hamas Conquers Gaza: 107
• Fatahs West Bank: 121
• The Threat of alQaeda in Gaza: 131
• The GazaWest Bank Split: 143
• Annapolis and the Hope for Peace: 155
• The Effect of Sanctions: 163
• The Winds of War: 173
• The Prospects for Change from Within: 181
• Between Fitna and Fulfillment: 191
• About the Author: 197
• Index: 237

About the author

Jonathan Schanzer is the director of policy at the Jewish Policy Center. He has served as counterterrorism analyst for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the U.S. Department of Treasury and as a research fellow at Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he authored the book Al Qaeda's Armies: Middle East Affiliate Groups and the Next Generation of Terror. He has appeared on Fox News, CNN, and Al-Jazeera. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Hamas Vs. Fatah: The Struggle For Palestine
• Author: Jonathan Schanzer
• Contributors: Daniel Pipes, Ebooks Corporation
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2008
• Original from: the University of California
• Digitized: Jul 13, 2009
• ISBN: 0230609058, 9780230609051
• Length: 239 pages
• Subjects: History / Middle East / General; History / Middle East / Israel & Palestine; Political Science / General; Political Science / International Relations / General; Political Science / World / Middle Eastern; Social Science / Islamic Studies