In The Palestinian Hamas, Shaul Mishal and Avraham Sela show
that, contrary to its violent image, Hamas (the Islamic Resistance
Movement) is essentially a social and political organization,
providing extensive community services and responding to political
realities through bargaining and power brokering. The authors lift
the veil on Hamas's strategic decision-making methods at each of the
crucial crossroads it has confronted: the Intifada and the struggle
with the PLO, the Oslo accords and the establishment of the
Palestinian National Authority, and the choice between absolute jihad
against Israel and controlled violence. Now with a new introduction,
this book does much to contextualize the current ascendancy of this
controversial movement.