cover image Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine

Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine

Jonathan Schanzer, . . Palgrave Macmillan, $26.95 (239pp) ISBN 978-0-230-60905-1

Schanzer, director of policy at the Jewish Policy Center and counterterrorism analyst for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the U.S. Department of Treasury, investigates the conflict between rival Palestinian factions with nuance and detail as he exposes the long-broiling tensions and violent eruptions between Fatah and Hamas—even as “the two sides attempted to pretend that the Palestinians were still united under one flag.” The author posits that “only by rejecting the platforms of both parties will the Palestinian people begin to break the self-destructive cycle” and provides a concise historical survey from the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood—the template for many Islamist groups—in 1928 to the recent conflict in Lebanon and a thorough comparison of Fatah's and Hamas's leadership. Neophytes to the tangled world of Palestine's internal conflict will be treated to a serious, no-frills account; those readers more familiar with the issues will enjoy how Schanzer weaves a web of connectivity between the Palestinian conflict with Israel, the conflicts involving Lebanon, the rise of al-Qaeda and American complicity. (Nov.)