Author: Jonathan Schanzer
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (November 11, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0230609058
ISBN-13: 978-0230609051
Formerly a Counter-terrorism Analyst for the U.S. Department of Treasury, Jonathan Schanzer leverages his background to produce a detailed account of the “struggle” for Palestine, between its two most prominent factions. This is a picture of the history and current interactions of the Palestinian movement and how Palestinian citizens are as much a victim of Hamas and Fatah as are the citizens of Israel.
While the mainstream media tells us that these two political entities exist within overall Palestine, Schanzer takes us behind the scenes of the background and origins of both Fatah and Hamas. He sharply illustrates that there is anything but unity between these two political factions in their common effort to produce an independent Palestinian state. The book is extremely well researched, using a large number of publicly available information sources, to weave a comprehensive tapestry of the story of the Palestinian “resistance”.
What becomes abundantly clear is that the violence between the Palestinians and Israel is a mirror to the violence between Hamas and Fatah, as each faction continues to vie for control over the Palestinian people, the hearts and minds (and money) of the world’s governments, and the spotlight in the international press. Schanzer also shines a light into the shadows and at the involvement of Al Queda, Hezbollah, and Iran in the affairs of Hamas in particular, and how or if they are able to influence Palestinian terrorism against Israel.
On the surface, Fatah seems the more “user friendly” representative of Palestine for Israel and the West, since they at least publicly acknowledge that Israel has a right to exist as a nation, and that they are willing to work towards a “two-state” solution. By contrast, Hamas has repeatedly gone on record stating its ultimate goal is the total destruction of Israel, down to the last man, woman, and child. Yet, the book records that Fatah has its terrorist history and there are no guarantees that, if it achieved complete control over the Palestinian people and territories, it would remain peaceful towards Israel or limit its desired territory to Gaza and the West Bank.
The book reads somewhat dispassionately, as if it were a series of in-depth news articles on Palestinian history and current events (up to the summer of 2008, that is). Either Schanzer did not have any personal history in these events via his format position with the Department of the Treasury, or he is carefully keeping his professional and personal involvement and opinions out of his work, to provide the reader with an objective narrative. The narrative isn’t quite objective of course, since it paints Iran and a variety of other forces in the Middle East as having an agenda to undermine, if not outright destroy Israel, but in each instance, Schanzer provides the documentation to back up his assertions. This is in contrast to the current U.S. administration’s approach to Iran as a potential ally.
The book does come off as a bit “dry”, so if you like first person storytelling, you’ll be disappointed on that point. While the research involved in producing this work is extensive, the level of detail is uneven at some parts. I would have liked to see more information on the history of the modern Palestinian organizations as well as more on how the rest of the Arab world has been involved. The latter third of the book approaches the material in the detail I was looking for and I finally was able to glimpse the dynamics between Fatah, Hamas, Egypt, Iran, and other players in the game.
This includes the relationships between Sunni and Shiite Islam, as well as the family and clan conflicts that form the background for the kidnappings, attacks, and murders that occur just among Palestinians. At several times during the past few decades, Palestine has come within inches of outright civil war, and continues to teeter on the edge of disaster, even as it visits violence and destruction to Israel from Gaza in a rain of Quassem rockets.
The book’s story ends where current events begin: the most recent and full scale invasion of Gaza by Israel. Schanzer provides all of the necessary evidence leading up to this invasion, and establishes why it was absolutely required and a proportionate response to Hamas rocket attacks against Southern Israeli cities. He also alludes to why the IDF ultimately had to pull out, in response to the world’s perception that Israel was “victimizing” Gaza. Sadly, as this book testifies, without destroying the Hamas ability to continue terrorism, the violence will continue.
Schanzer doesn’t provide any suggestions as to a solution, although he may have his own private opinions on what needs to happen to resolve the “Palestinian question”. What the reader does see, is that there will be no resolution that provides for the safety of Israel as long as the Palestinians are at each other’s throats and at Israel’s. Continued U.S. efforts for a two-state solution will be fruitless, especially as long as Hamas maintains political control of the Palestinian movement and physical control of Gaza. Even if Fatah should ultimately defeat Hamas, it is still an organization with its roots buried deeply in a terrorist history.
This book should be required reading for anyone interested in the dynamics of the Middle East and the fate of the Holy Land. Ultimately though, all the reader can do is “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” and long for the days of Messiah, when the long, bloody conflict will finally come to an end.