Hamas and civil society in Gaza : engaging the Islamist social sector / Sara Roy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Roy, Sara M.

Series:

Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics

Princeton studies in Muslim politics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Arab-Israeli conflict.

Islamic fundamentalism--Gaza Strip.

Islamic fundamentalism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (383 p.)

Edition:

With a New afterword by the author

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2014]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Many in the United States and Israel believe that Hamas is nothing but a terrorist organization, and that its social sector serves merely to recruit new supporters for its violent agenda. Based on Sara Roy's extensive fieldwork in the Gaza Strip and West Bank during the critical period of the Oslo peace process, Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza shows how the social service activities sponsored by the Islamist group emphasized not political violence but rather community development and civic restoration. Roy demonstrates how Islamic social institutions in Gaza and the West Bank advocated a moderate approach to change that valued order and stability, not disorder and instability; were less dogmatically Islamic than is often assumed; and served people who had a range of political outlooks and no history of acting collectively in support of radical Islam. These institutions attempted to create civic communities, not religious congregations. They reflected a deep commitment to stimulate a social, cultural, and moral renewal of the Muslim community, one couched not only--or even primarily--in religious terms. Vividly illustrating Hamas's unrecognized potential for moderation, accommodation, and change, Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza also traces critical developments in Hamas's social and political sectors through the Second Intifada to today, and offers an assessment of the current, more adverse situation in the occupied territories. The Oslo period held great promise that has since been squandered. This book argues for more enlightened policies by the United States and Israel, ones that reflect Hamas's proven record of nonviolent community building. In a new afterword, Roy discusses how Hamas has been affected by changing regional dynamics and by recent economic and political events in Gaza, including failed attempts at reconciliation with Fatah.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

A Note on Language and Transliteration

Prologue

Chapter 1. Introduction: Structure, Arguments, and Conceptual Framework

Chapter 2. A Brief History of Hamas and the Islamic Movement in Palestine

Chapter 3. Islamist Conceptions of Civil Society

Chapter 4. The Evolution of Islamist Social Institutions in the Gaza Strip

Chapter 5. Islamist Social Institutions: Creating a Descriptive Context

Chapter 6. Islamist Social Institutions: Key Analytical Findings

Chapter 7. A Changing Islamist Order? From Civic Empowerment to Civic Regression-the Second Intifada and Beyond

Postscript. The Devastation of Gaza-Some Additional Reflections on Where We Are Now

Appendix. Islamist (and Non-Islamist) Social Institutions

Afterword to the Paperback Edition

Epilogue

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed November 26, 2013).

ISBN:

9781400848942

1400848946

OCLC:

979579757