States of Liberation: Hamas between Resistance and Government

When Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council elections it was a critical juncture in the life of a Palestinian faction that had, over the years, garnered the status of an iconic armed resistance. Was it viable, scholars asked, for the organization to maintain its position of resistance to established authority while simultaneously fulfilling its electorally-mandated responsibilities as the established government? The past years have shown that Hamas has, indeed, maintained this dual role. States of Liberation focuses on the manner in which resistance as well as governance have found meaning in the context of the Palestinian quest for liberation. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Israel and Egypt, this dissertation argues that resistance and governance serve as means of emboldening the signature of Palestinian existence – as a cause and as a people. Hamas’ resistance, while materially incapable of undoing the occupation, is symbolic of the collective Palestinian urge to resist colonization. Similarly, though Hamas’ governance might seem materially deficient and politically inconsequential, it too contributes to the colonized’s aspirations as it naturalizes the existence of a Palestinian governing authority. This despite being cast in the image of the post-colonial state, with its attendant bureaucratic and state-like coercive practices experienced by Palestinians in their everyday lives. In this way, while many have struggled to explain Hamas’ dual status, and not least the duality of the Palestinian political landscape, States of Liberation provides the intellectual basis for exploring the two seemingly incongruent images of resistance and government together as viewed in the context of the aspirations of the Palestinian struggle for freedom.