Inside Hamas: The Untold Story of the Militant Islamic Movement [Kindle Edition]

I think this book is worth reading and it DOES provide some interesting accounts and observations. However I definitely expected more. The author is a Palestinian who grew up in refugee camp in Lebanon and now lives in UK. The book is not based on long experience with Hamas. Rather it seems to be primarily based on interviews plus short experience in Gaza. I also felt there was some bias or misinformation in the book. For example the descriptions of Dahlan are quite favorable. When the book was written I believe it was already confirmed that the US and Israel had financed the Dahlan group which invaded Gaza in May-June 2007. This book does nothing to clarify that important history. See April Vanity Fair for the "Gaza Bombshell". I was also disappointed that the book gave little description to the long standing social services implemented by Hamas. Amira Hass' book on Gaza (written over ten years ago!) gives more thorough picture of why Hamas has achieved considerable support and popularity.

"Inside Hamas" did not provide nearly the degree of insight regarding their motivations and goals that I had been hoping for; in addition, the material was more often confusing than not. Nonetheless, the book is worth reading for the information that it does provide - especially as to Israel's sometimes methods.

Chehab begins by explaining that one of Israel's strategies has focused on removing the influential and charismatic leaders needed to hold Hamas together. Assassinations, based on information from Palestinian collaborators (estimated to total over 20,000 over the years), are a frequent occurrence - both within and outside Palestine (eg. Jordan, Syria).

How does Israel obtain so many collaborators? Examples include mocked up photos to create sexual blackmail, blackmail regarding small initial acts of real of apparent cooperation, and arresting those suspected of having knowledge and then offering a choice between cooperation or torture. Another trick is to entice Palestinians into supposed al Qaeda cells, and then threaten to (or actually) tip the Palestinian Authority off regarding their identity.

Also included are stories of martyrs and their families (grieving, yet proud), along with Israeli retaliation by bulldozing the martyrs' former homes without allowing time to even remove personal treasures, and sometimes shooting relatives or celebrants within the area.

"Inside Hamas" reports that Hamas carried out suicide attacks after Israel agreed to stop financing and building settlements in Palestinian territory. "Why?" was not explained, and remains a mystery.

Palestinian martyr families received payouts from Saddam Hussein (Iraq), and from rich donors in Saudi Arabia. Monies have also been donated by Iranian and Jewish Arabs to families whose breadwinner had been killed or disabled, or whose homes had been destroyed by Israel.

The U.S. is seen as strongly pro-Israel. Weapons smuggling from Iran and other sources is a sometimes important activity, involving small ships and trucks. Tunnels are also used - Israelis bulldoze them as well as houses possibly hiding tunnel entrances.

The U.S. (and others) were totally surprised when Hamas won elections in the Palestinian Authority. The U.S. and Israel have tried to force Hamas to withdraw (eg. holding back funds for the Palestinian Authority); however, Chehab suspects this effort has hurt Fatah more than Hamas as Hamas has its own sources of funding.

Bottom Line: Despite "Inside Hamas'" limitations, it is clear that an enormous amount of money and talent are wasted by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority in jockeying back and forth, and that little, if any progress is being made.

I thought this was a good, unbiased overview of Hamas. It provides an overall look at the different players, the history of Hamas, motivations of Hamas leaders and martyrs, and also an interesting discussion of Hamas' relationship to Al Qaeda (while Hamas is often lumped together with Al Qaeda in the western media, the fact is that they are 2 separate organizations that differ in their purpose. Chekab concludes that Al Qaeda is actually a threat to the Palestinian cause of statehood).