Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
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Understanding Hamas
RON JACOBS welcomes the reissue of a rare history of Hamas that offers insights into the organisation’s structure and strength
25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas celebrated in Gaza, December 8, 2012
[Hadi Mohammad/CC]
SIMON DUFF relishes the cross contamination of Damien Hirst’s greatest hits by street artists from France and the US
In view of the grooming gangs inquiry, SIMON PARSONS feels the relevance of this powerful examination of trauma suffered at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre
JOHN GREEN doubts the motivations of a US war photographer who never questions why, or for whom, she is producing images of imperialist conflict
MARIA DUARTE reviews Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Hedda, The Mastermind, and Regretting You
TONY CONWAY welcomes a thrilling and concise history of Hope not Hate, that is also a manual full of tactical advice
PAUL DONOVAN welcomes an inspiring account of living with deafness that has important lessons for the treatment of deaf people in today’s UK
Hamas: From Resistance to Regime
Paolo Caridi, Seven Stories Press, £15.99
HAMAS has been the bogeyman in establishment circles of the global North for more than two decades. Hamas has also been one of the more successful manifestations of the movement against Israel’s occupation and siege of Palestine in the history of that resistance.
Each of these sentences explains the other. It doesn’t matter whether one supports Hamas or its actions; their truth lies in the history of Hamas and its ongoing importance in the history of the Palestinians and the world. Given the vitriolic hatred of Hamas (and, arguably, the Palestinian resistance) in many of the governments in the global North — and the repetition of that vitriol in the media that props up those governments — it has never been easy to get an honest picture of the organisation.
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RON JACOBS welcomes a Palestinian account of being subject to a brutal occupation supported by the most powerful governments in the world
RON JACOBS recommends a timely pamphlet that provides both explanation and historical context for the fall of Assad
ALEX HALL exposes the moral double standards peddled by Western media in name of political expediency when dealing with Hamas