Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T17:50:07.119Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Questioning the Secular-Religious Cleavage in Palestinian Politics: Comparing Fatah and Hamas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2013

Frode Løvlie
Frode Løvlie*
Affiliation:
University of Bergen, Chr. Michelsen Institute
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Frode Løvlie, Chr. Michelsen Institute and the Department of Comparative Politics, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Following the 2007 war between Fatah and Hamas, Palestinian politics appears to have followed the regional trend where the competition between secularism and Islamism is developing into a major political cleavage. Through comparisons of the two movements' ideologies, however, the article questions the relevance of this religious-secular cleavage to explaining Palestinian factional politics. Fatah — the traditional hegemon in Palestinian politics and previously staunchly secularist — has turned increasingly religious in response to the spread of Islamism. Hamas for its part has shed its overly religious rhetoric, absolutist territorial claims, and insistence on a violent solution to the Palestinian problem, in tandem with the deradicalization of the Palestinian population. In finding that both movements have moved toward the center of the political spectrum to maximize support, the article concludes that their rivalry is best understood as a competition for the median voter rather than as an indication of political polarization.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , March 2014 , pp. 100 - 121
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aburaiya, Issam. 2009. “Islamism, Nationalism, and Western Modernity: The Case of Iran and Palestine.” International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 22: 57–68.Google Scholar
Akram, Fares. 2013. “Gaza Marathon Canceled After Women Are Barred From Participating.” The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/world/middleeast/gaza-marathon-canceled-after-women-are-barred-from-participating.html (Accessed on March 27, 2013).Google Scholar
Abu-Amr, Ziad. 1993. “Hamas: A Historical and Political Background.” Journal of Palestine Studies 22(4): 5–19.Google Scholar
Abu-Amr, Ziad. 1994. Islamic Fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza: Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Jihad. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Baggini, Julian. 2006. “The Rise, Fall and Rise Again of Secularism.” Public Policy Research 12: 204–12.Google Scholar
Bahlul, Raja. 2004. “Democracy without Secularism? Reflections on the Idea of Islamic Democracy.” In Islam, Judaism, and the Political Role of Religions in the Middle East, ed. John, Bunzl. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 99–117.Google Scholar
Baumgarten, Helga. 2005. “The Three Faces/Phases of Palestinian Nationalism, 1948–2005.” Journal of Palestine Studies 34: 25–48.Google Scholar
BBC. 2013. “Gaza Marathon: UN Cancels Race over Hamas Ban on Women.” BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21667883 (Accessed on March 27, 2013).Google Scholar
Brown, Nathan J. 2012. Gaza Five Years On: Hamas Settles In. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment. The Carnegie Papers. http://carnegieendowment.org/2012/06/11/gaza-five-years-on-hamas-settles-in/birb (Accessed on June 12, 2012).Google Scholar
Brubaker, Rogers. 2012. “Religion and Nationalism: Four Approaches.” Nations and Nationalism 18: 2–20.Google Scholar
Budge, Professor Ian, Klingemann, Hans-Dieter, Volkens, Andrea, Bara, Judith, and Tanenbaum, Eric. 2001. Mapping Policy Preferences: Estimates for Parties, Electors, and Governments 1945–1998. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burgat, Francois. 2003. Face to Face With Political Islam. London: I. B. Tauris.Google Scholar
CEC. 1996. “Results 1996 General Election.” http://www.elections.ps/tabid/813/language/en-US/Default.aspx (Accessed on October 4, 2011).Google Scholar
Challand, Benoit. 2009. “Fatah-Hamas Rivalries after Gaza: Is Unity Impossible?” The International Spectator 44: 11–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cobban, Helena. 1984. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation: People, Power, and Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Center for Palestine Research and Studies. 2000. Polls, #1 - #48. Ramallah: Center for Palestine Research and Studies. http://www.pcpsr.org/survey/cprspolls/ (Accessed on July 9, 2011).Google Scholar
Cubert, Harold M. 1997. The PFLP's Changing Role in the Middle East. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.Google Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Eldar, Shlomi. 2013. “Straight Talk Needed From Hamas About Israel.” Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/02/the-two-faces-of-the-hamas-between-dream-and-reality.html (Accessed on April 11, 2013).Google Scholar
Fateh. 2005. “Fateh Constitution.” http://web.archive.org/web/20050205175455/http://www.fateh.net/e_public/constitution.htm (Accessed on October 9 2013).Google Scholar
Frisch, Hillel. 2005. “Nationalizing a Universal Text: The Quran in Arafat's Rhetoric.” Middle Eastern Studies 41: 321–336.Google Scholar
Golan, Galia. 1980. Soviet Union and the Palestine Liberation Organization: Uneasy Alliance. New York, NY: Praeger Publishers Inc.Google Scholar
Greenwood, Phoebe. 2013. “Gaza Marathon Cancelled by UN after Hamas Bans Women from Participating.” The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/05/gaza-marathon-cancelled-hamas-bans-women (Accessed on March 27, 2013).Google Scholar
Gunning, Jeroen. 2008. Hamas in Politics: Democracy, Religion, Violence. London: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd.Google Scholar
Haaretz. 2012. “Listen to Marwan Barghouti.” Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/listen-to-marwan-barghouti-1.421600 (Accessed on April 2, 2013).Google Scholar
Hamid, Rashid. 1975. “What Is the PLO?” Journal of Palestine Studies 4: 90–109.Google Scholar
Hilal, Jamil. 1993. “PLO Institutions: The Challenge Ahead.” Journal of Palestine Studies 23: 46–60.Google Scholar
Hilal, Jamil. 2010. “The Polarization of the Palestinian Political Field.” Journal of Palestine Studies 39: 24–39.Google Scholar
Hroub, Khaled. 2000. Hamas: Political Thought and Practice. Washington DC: Institute for Palestine Studies.Google Scholar
Hroub, Khaled. 2006. “A ‘New Hamas’ through Its New Documents.” Journal of Palestine Studies 35: 6–27.Google Scholar
Hroub, Khaled. 2010. “Hamas: Conflating National Liberation and Socio-Political Change.” In Political Islam: Context Versus Ideology, ed. Khaled, Hroub. London: Saqi, 161–81.Google Scholar
International Crisis Group. 2004. Dealing with Hamas. Amman/Brussels: International Crisis Group. Middle East/North Africa Report. http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/israel-palestine/021-dealing-with-hamas.aspx (Accessed on April 17, 2009).Google Scholar
International Crisis Group. 2008. Ruling Palestine I: Gaza Under Hamas. Gaza, Jerusalem, Brussels: International Crisis Group. Middle East/North Africa Report. http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5525&l=1 (Accessed on March 11, 2010).Google Scholar
Jamal, Amal. 2005. The Palestinian National Movement: Politics of Contention, 1967–2003. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Khalidi, Rashid. 2010. Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Knudsen, Are. 2005. “Crescent and Sword: The Hamas Enigma.” Third World Quarterly 26: 1373–1388.Google Scholar
Levitt, Matthew. 2006. Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Long, Baudouin. 2010. “The Hamas Agenda: How Has It Changed?” Middle East Policy 17: 131–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lybarger, Loren D. 2007. Identity and Religion in Palestine: The Struggle Between Islamism and Secularism in the Occupied Territories. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Løvlie, Frode. 2013. “Explaining Hamas's Changing Electoral Strategy, 1996–2006.” Government and Opposition 48(4): 570–93.Google Scholar
Malki, Riad. 2006. “Beyond Hamas and Fatah.” Journal of Democracy 17: 131–137.Google Scholar
Maqdsi, Muhammad. 1993. “Charter of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) of Palestine.” Journal of Palestine Studies 22: 122–134.Google Scholar
Milton-Edwards, Beverley. 1996. Islamic Politics in Palestine. London: Tauris Academic Studies.Google Scholar
Mishaal, Khalid. 2012. “Hamas' Political Thought and Stances in Light of the Arab Uprisings.” http://www.alzaytouna.net/en/conferences-and-seminars/151556-an-important-document-by-khalid-mish%E2%80%98al%3A-hamas-political-thought-and-stances-in-light-of-the-arab-uprisings.html#.UUl4byAWkcs (Accessed on October 9 2013).Google Scholar
Mishal, Shaul, and Sela, Avraham. 2000. The Palestinian Hamas: Vision, Violence, and Coexistence. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Morris, Benny. 2004. The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Muslih, Muhammad Y. 1989. The Origins of Palestinian Nationalism. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Muslih, Muhammad Y. 1990. “Towards Coexistence: An Analysis of the Resolutions of the Palestine National Council.” Journal of Palestine Studies 19: 3–29.Google Scholar
East Consulting, Near. 2010. A Survey on Public Perceptions towards Liberal Values in Palestine. Jerusalem-Palestine: Friedrich Naumann Stiftung Für Die Freiheit.Google Scholar
Nusse, Andrea. 1998. Muslim Palestine: The Ideology of Hamas. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Panebianco, Angelo. 1988. Political Parties: Organization and Power. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Palestinian Legislative Council. 2003. “2003 Amended Basic Law.” http://www.palestinianbasiclaw.org/2003-amended-basic-law (Accessed on December 4, 2011).Google Scholar
Palestinian National Council. 1974. “Political Programme of the 12th Palestine National Council.” http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/ba7a9909f792340f8525704d006bdaf1?OpenDocument (Accessed on February 2, 2012).Google Scholar
Palestinian National Council. 1988. “Palestinian Declaration of Independence.” http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Palestinian_Declaration_of_Independence (Accessed on February 12, 2012).Google Scholar
Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. 2011. Public Opinion Polls, #1 - #39. Ramallah: Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. http://www.pcpsr.org/survey/index.html (Accessed on July 9, 2011).Google Scholar
Putz, Ulrike. 2010. “Hamas' Tightening Grip on Power: Targeting Fun in the Gaza Strip.” Spiegel Online. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/hamas-tightening-grip-on-power-targeting-fun-in-the-gaza-strip-a-728138.html (Accessed on March 27, 2013).Google Scholar
Quigley, John. 1989. “Palestine's Declaration of Independence: Self-Determination and the Right of the Palestinians to Statehood.” Boston University International Law Journal 7: 1–33.Google Scholar
Robinson, Glenn E. 1997. Building a Palestinian State: The Incomplete Revolution. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Rubin, Barry. 1994. Revolution until Victory? Politics and History of the PLO. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Rubinstein, Alvin Z. 1990. Moscow's Third World Strategy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Sartori, Giovanni. 1976. Parties and Party Systems: A Framework for Analysis. Colchester: ECPR Press.Google Scholar
Sayigh, Yezid. 1997. Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949–1993. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sayigh, Yezid. 2011. “We Serve the People”: Hamas Policing in Gaza. Waltham, MA: Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University.Google Scholar
Schanzer, Jonathan. 2009. Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Shadid, Mohammed. 1988. “The Muslim Brotherhood Movement in the West Bank and Gaza.” Third World Quarterly 10: 658–682.Google Scholar
Shadid, Mohammed, and Seltzer, Rick. 1988a. “Political Attitudes of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.” Middle East Journal 42: 16–32.Google Scholar
Shadid, Mohammed, and Seltzer, Rick. 1988b. “Trends in Palestinian Nationalism: Moderate, Radical, and Religious Alternatives.” Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies XI: 54–69.Google Scholar
Shadid, Mohammed, and Seltzer, Rick. 1989. “Growth in Islamic Fundamentalism: The Case of Palestine.” Sociological Analysis 50: 291–298.Google Scholar
Shamir, Jacob, and Shikaki, Khalil. 2010. Palestinian and Israeli Public Opinion: The Public Imperative in the Second Intifada. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Sherwood, Harriet. 2010. “Gaza Hardliners Launch Arson Attack on Family Leisure Park.” The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/24/gaza-theme-park-attack-arson (Accessed on March 27, 2013).Google Scholar
Smith, William. 1982. “Radical, Resentful, but Ambiguous: An Unprecedented TIME Poll Gauges Feelings in the West Bank.” Time International 24: 15.Google Scholar
Tamimi, Azzam. 2002. “The Origins of Arab Secularism.” In Islam and Secularism in the Middle East, eds. Azzam, Tamimi, and Esposito, John L.. London: Hurst & Company, 13–28.Google Scholar
Tamimi, Azzam. 2007. Hamas: A History from Within. Northampton, MA: Olive Branch Press.Google Scholar
United Nations General Assembly. 1974. Observer Status for the Palestine Liberation Organization. New York, NY: United Nations.Google Scholar
Usher, Graham. 1995. Palestine in Crisis: The Struggle for Peace and Political Independence After Oslo. London: Pluto Press.Google Scholar