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Hamas in the West Bank a Study of the Political

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Hamas in the West Bank a Study of the Political Hamas in the West Bank A study of the political position of the West Bank branch between 1987 and 2007 Jarle Opedal Sunsehaugen Master`s thesis in history University of Bergen Spring 2011 Summary in Norwegian Denne avhandlingen har som mål å diskutere og analysere den politiske posisjonen til den Islamistiske motstandsbevegelsen Hamas på Vestbredden, i perioden 1987 til 2007. Utgangspunktet for analysen er den politiske situasjonen som har utviklet seg i de palestinske områdene etter sommeren 2007. Uenigheter mellom Fatah og Hamas brøt ut i regulære kamper mellom de to bevegelsenes sikkerhetsstyrker i juni 2007, der Hamas festet et grep om Gaza stripen. Den militære styrken til Hamas i Gaza var den utløsende årsaken til seieren, men overtakelsen var også basert på solid støtte i befolkningen, som følge av et bredt nettverk av sosiale velferdsorganisasjoner, og et solid politisk fundament. Hamas har også vært politisk aktive på Vestbredden. Vestbredden er kjerneområdet i Israel- Palestina konflikten, og utgjør det største landområdet av de okkuperte områdene som Hamas ønsker å frigjøre. I etterkant av 2007 har det internasjonale samfunnet støttet den palestinske presidenten Mahmoud Abbas i å skape en bærekraftig sekulær stat basert på Vestbredden. Et av de viktigste målene i denne prosessen har vært å marginalisere Hamas, inkludert nedstengning av institusjoner og arrestasjoner, for å unngå en liknende situasjon som da Hamas overtok Gaza. I denne sammenheng reiser det seg interessante spørsmål. Det er tydelig at Israel og PA anser Hamas på Vestbredden som en politisk og militær trussel. Men hadde Hamas samme politiske styrke på Vestbredden som i Gaza i 2007? Hvorfor tok ikke Hamas også over Vestbredden samtidig? Eller var det motsatt: Hamas var en marginal bevegelse på Vestbredden, noe Israel/PA ønsket skulle vedvare? Denne studien baserer seg på en tredeling av de viktigste aktivitetene til Hamas på Vestbredden; sosialt arbeid for fattige palestinere, militante aksjoner mot den israelske okkupasjonsmakten i tråd med ideologiske mål, og politisk arbeid for å oppnå økt innflytelse. Denne tredelingen viste seg som en suksess i overtakelsen av Gaza stripen, men det er mangel på akademisk litteratur rundt den tilsvarende aktiviteten på Vestbredden. For å besvare problemstillingen vil avhandlingen også undersøke en rekke andre nøkkelfaktorer. Ved å undersøke de historiske røttene til Hamas i det Muslimske Brorskapet vil avhandlingen vise hvordan Hamas utviklet organisasjonen på Vestbredden. Den politiske konteksten på Vestbredden vil også bli analysert, for å gi svar på hvilke eksterne faktorer som har påvirket Hamas i den aktuelle perioden. Avhandlingen vil også analysere den indre strukturen i Hamas på Vestbredden for å avdekke faktorer som har betydning for politisk innflytelse. Oppgaven er basert på den akademiske litteraturen om Hamas, og et feltarbeid på Vestbredden i oktober 2010 der det ble foretatt intervjuer med Hamas ledere. i Acknowledgements First of all I would like to thank the people closest to me for their support throughout my studies. Thank you Mamma, Marita and Ellen Marie! Without your support I would never have finished this project. I would also like to thank my supervisor at the University of Bergen/Christian Michelsens Institute, Anne Katrine Bang, for constructive and helpful feedback, and for all the times you have guided this thesis into the right track. Furthermore, I am very grateful for all the valuable comments, discussions and corrections from Are Knudsen here at the Chr. Michelsens Institute. This goes also to Frode Løvlie and Hilde Kjøstvedt at CMI, for extremely helpful comments and reviews during my work. I am also grateful for the opportunity given to me by the Chr. Michelsens Insitute to write this thesis. The scholarship and contacts provided to me in Ramallah was invaluable for my fieldwork. Thanks also to all the staff at Muwatin for providing me with crucial help and assistance during my fieldwork. I will also give praise to the working environment at the CMI, especially down in the basement among the students! Last, but not least, I have to thank the “gutta” here in Bergen, and your never ending internal e-mails. Good work. Jarle Opedal Sunsehaugen, Bergen, 01.02.2011. ii Table of contents SUMMARY IN NORWEGIAN ............................................................................................................................ I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................. II TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................... III MAP ..................................................................................................................................................................... VI ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................................................... VII FIGURES ........................................................................................................................................................... VII CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH QUESTION ................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................... 1 DEFINING HAMAS ................................................................................................................................................ 3 RESEARCH QUESTION .......................................................................................................................................... 4 KEY ISSUES .......................................................................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY .................................................... 7 HOW TO APPROACH A STUDY OF HAMAS ON THE WEST BANK ............................................................................ 7 Terms and concepts ........................................................................................................................................ 7 The structure of the thesis .............................................................................................................................. 8 LIMITATIONS ON THE STUDY ............................................................................................................................... 9 Time period .................................................................................................................................................... 9 Sources and field work ................................................................................................................................... 9 STATE OF THE CURRENT RESEARCH ON HAMAS ................................................................................................. 11 Lacuna of literature on Hamas in the West Bank ......................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 3 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD IN PALESTINE ..... 14 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................. 14 THE ORIGINS OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD MOVEMENT IN EGYPT AND PALESTINE ..................................... 14 Organization................................................................................................................................................. 14 Ideology ........................................................................................................................................................ 15 PALESTINE AND THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, THE PRE - 1948 PERIOD ............................................................. 16 THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD IN PALESTINE, 1948 – 1967 ................................................................................ 17 The Muslim Brotherhood in the West Bank .................................................................................................. 18 Organization, membership and activity of the West Bank branch................................................................ 19 The Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza ................................................................................................................ 20 Organization, membership and activity of the Gaza branch ........................................................................ 21 THE PALESTINIAN BROTHERHOOD, 1967-77 ..................................................................................................... 22 Occupation and reorganization, 1967-1977................................................................................................. 23 The Islamic Center in Gaza (al-Mujamma` al-Islami) ................................................................................. 24 THE RE-EMERGENCE OF THE BROTHERHOOD, 1977 - 1987 ................................................................................ 25 The West Bank Brotherhood ......................................................................................................................... 26 Educational and religious institutions in the West Bank .............................................................................
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