Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices

Son of Hamas ends in 2007, when Yousef left Palestine to take up residence in the United States. As he briefly describes, Hamas took part in a round of 2006 parliamentary elections across all of Palestine after the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza opened up the possibility for autonomous governance in that part of Palestine and the West Bank. The George W. Bush administration championed these elections as a chance to democratize the region after years of violence and terrorism during the Second Intifada (see below). However, the Intifada had downgraded the already frail reputation of Fatah. Yasser Arafat alienated his Western supporters before his death in 2004 by failing to control terrorism; he largely spent the conflict in hiding in his Ramallah bunker surrounded by Israeli forces that he could do nothing to dislodge. Although Hamas had conducted many violent attacks against Israeli civilians, which often resulted in brutal reprisals in Palestinian neighborhoods, Hamas cultivated a reputation as being willing to stand up to Israel, and the elections presented them with an opportunity to challenge Fatah’s grip on the institutions of Palestinian governance. Hamas technically ran under the banner of “Change and Reform” since the organization itself was pledged to the destruction of Israel and formally regarded any Israeli-sanctioned elections as illegitimate.