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This book is not merely the autobiography of Mr. Ibrahim Ghusheh, it is also a living testimony of the Palestinian and Jordanian Muslim Brothers’ experience over a fifty years span. Ghusheh’s memoirs are characterized by their clarity and candor. They bring to light many of Hamas’ stands and viewpoints regarding a number of issues, which could be considered points of controversy among researchers, in particular during the period leading to al-Aqsa Intifadah. Please, contact us or our agents to get the full printed edition. *** Presented by Dr. Mohsen Moh’d Saleh, General Manager of al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations. For the first time, one of Hamas prominent leaders in Diaspora publishes his autobiography. Indeed, it is a testament to the era, and to the experience of the Muslim Brothers Movement (MB) and Hamas described by an insider. When Ibrahim Ghusheh himself talks about the experience of the Muslim Brothers in Jordan and Palestine and about Hamas’s experience, doubtless he will attract all specialists and researchers, whether in the Palestinian issue or the Islamic Movement. These memoirs are rich with information published for the first time by a man who has lived in the Jordanian and Palestinian MB environment for over 50 years, and acted as Hamas’s official spokesperson in 1991–1999. They also reflect the life and vision of one of the most prominent political decision makers, especially in the first 12 years of the movement’s inception. In fact, the life and experience of the author make the book an indispensable source of information for researchers and scholars of the Palestinian issue, especially the Islamic Palestinian trend. The choice of the title is meant to take the reader to the atmosphere of Jerusalem where the author grew up to see the red minaret of a mosque near his house. The language Ghusheh uses in this 13-chapter book is simple and explicit, where the social, familial, and humanitarian side intermingles with the ideological, political and resistance side, away from artificiality, and from the ego, which is heavily found in memoirs. Ultimately, the reader is presented with a person who firmly believes in his ideology, loyal to and ready to sacrifice for it. Birth, Upbringing and al-Nakbah (Catastrophe) Ibrahim Ghusheh was born in 1936, a month following the first stage of the Palestinian Revolt. In the first chapter, Ghusheh talks about his family and childhood memories, while describing Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque before 1948. In the second chapter, he describes his memories of al-Nakbah of 1948, al-Qastal Battle, the killing of ‘Abdul Qadir al-Husseini, and his family’s need to move to Jericho before going back to Jerusalem once again. Ghusheh also talks about the growing political interest among the youths, and the attempts to identify the best way for liberating Palestine. He mentions his attraction in Grade Six to the lessons presented by Sheikh Taqiyuddin al-Nabahani in the Muslim Brothers Division, and then his enrollment in the MB in Grade Seven, following the footsteps of his elder brother Musa, and his maternal cousin, Mahmud al-‘Arian. He then talks about the beginnings of Hizb ut-Tahrir (Liberation Party) in Jerusalem, and how al-Nabahani could attract most MB scholars and intellectuals, while only a limited number were left out, like Zakariyya Qneibi and Ibrahim Abu ‘Arafah. He also describes how the Muslim Brothers regained the lead, benefiting from the growing strength of the MB in Egypt and east Jordan, and from the return of students who were studying in Egypt. He also mentions how the likes of Shehadeh al-Ansari, Salem ‘Ali Salem and Muhammad Nimr Wehbeh participated in the re-organization and enhancement of MB work in Jerusalem. Ghusheh sheds light as well on the activities of the Muslim Brothers in Jerusalem until 1954. In the third chapter, Ghusheh talks about the rest of the 50s, especially his study of engineering in Egypt, and about underground work of the Palestinian and Jordanian Muslim Brothers due to the difficult security conditions during Nasser’s rule. He mentions the coordination between the Brothers coming from Jordan and those hailing from the Gaza Strip (GS). Ghusheh casts light on the Palestinian League where he assures that the student list supported by the MB would always win the elections. The Union was first headed by Yasir ‘Arafat who was close to the Muslim Brothers, then Salah Khalaf (Abu Iyad) who was a member of the MB. Yet, the MB student activity declined in the late 50s because of the security pressure they had to face. As for the Brothers and their relation with the emergence of Fatah movement, Ghusheh draws the reader’s attention to the fact that Fatah’s early pioneers were MB members such as Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad). He points out to other names including ‘Abdul Fattah al-Hammoud, Riyad al-Za‘nun and Muhammad Yusuf al-Najjar, who became Fatah leaders. Ghusheh illustrates the separation and differentiation between those who established Fatah and the Muslim Brothers, while presenting an assessment of Nasser’s experience. Kuwait and Jordan Ghusheh then talks about his work experience in the Kuwait Municipality in 1962–1966 and the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the position of Fatah and the Brothers towards it. He talks about the first the General Supervisor of the Palestinian Muslim Brothers, Hani Bsiso, who used to work as a teacher in Iraq, and who was summoned by the Brothers to lead the Palestinian organization in 1963, where he settled in Egypt. Bsiso was then detained, along with Sayyid Qutb, in the blow dealt to the Muslim Brothers in 1965, and he died in prison. Ghusheh returned to Jordan and worked in the construction of Khalid Ibn al-Walid Dam. He describes the reaction of the Muslim Brothers there to June 1967 war, the Palestinian resistance work, and the Brothers’ participation in “al-Shuyukh camps,” and the Brothers’ vision of the Jordan Army battles against the resistance organizations in 1970–1971. Ghusheh talks about his participation in building the Kuwait Towers in early 1971, then in the construction of King Talal Dam in the late 1972. He also talks about the work of the MB movement with the Jordan Engineers Association where Ghusheh headed the MB trend in the Association in 1973. He points out to the Brothers’ active participation since the ninth Association council in 1974–1975, until they were able to attract Laith Shubeilat and supported him to become the head of the syndicate in 1982–1983. The Islamic Work for Palestine in Diaspora Ghusheh unveils some sides of the Islamic work for Palestine in Diaspora, the most important of which was the formation of Palestine section affiliated with the Muslim Brothers leadership in Jordan, after the Palestinian section in the GS merged with the Jordan Brothers in 1978. He talks about the internal conference, which was held by this section in 1983, in the presence of a number of the Muslim Brothers leaders from the West Bank (WB) and GS, such as ‘Abdul Fattah Dukhan, and from Kuwait, such as Khalid Mish‘al, and others. The meeting was important in the sense that it redefined the track and priorities of the Brothers’ work towards Palestine, and confirmed that there is a new orientation that balances the drive towards an Islamic state in Arab and Islamic countries with popular resistance in Palestine, and a third stage had begun for the Brotherhood to address the Palestinian issue. Ghusheh also points out to the formation of the Palestine Apparatus, and that it was a decision by the MB International Organization—the apparatus that followed from behind the curtain Hamas’s launching, and its aftermath. Ghusheh talks about his enrollment with Hamas in 1989, at the request of the then General-Guide of the Muslim Brothers Muhammad ‘Abdul Rahman Khalifah. Ghusheh, who was in Kuwait, was entrusted with the mission of forming Hamas’s first political committee. Hamas’s Relation with Fatah and Jordan In chapter eight, Ghusheh sheds light on Hamas’s relation with Fatah and the PLO, and displays the dialogue meetings with Fatah where the first one was in Yemen on 10-12/8/1990 and the second in August 1991. He also talks about the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait and his participation as a Hamas representative with the delegations in attempts to bridge the gap and convince the Iraqi leadership of withdrawal. He also talks about the development of the Brothers’ political role in Jordan after their huge victory in the parliamentary elections in 1989. He sheds light on the arrival of a number of Hamas leaders from Kuwait to Jordan and their relations with the Jordanian government. He points out to his appointment in late 1991 as an official spokesperson for Hamas, the dialogue with the Popular and the Democratic Fronts for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP and DFLP), and the meeting of the 10 factions, which led to the formation of a front to oppose the Oslo Accords. In chapter nine, Ghusheh talks about the development of the relation between Hamas and Jordan during 1992–1993, the development of the relation with Fatah and the stance towards Oslo Accords. He reveals the beginnings of Hamas’s external relations in the early 1993 especially concerning returning those displaced to Marj al-Zuhur, where meetings were held in Amman with officials from the embassies of the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Italy and Norway. However, at the end of March 1993, the US State Department issued a decision banning any contact with Hamas. In chapter 10, Ghusheh focuses on the period 1994–1996, and he mentions a number of Hamas activities and positions such as opposing the Oslo Accords, the self-immolation operations, the killing of Yahya ‘Ayyash. He also talks about Hamas’s relation with Fatah, the renewed tension in the relation with Jordan and the conditions that forced Musa Abu Marzuq and ‘Imad al-‘Alami to leave the country in 1995, in addition to electing Mish‘al as the head of the Political Bureau to succeed Abu Marzuq in late 1995. In chapter 11, Ghusheh displays the development of relations with Jordan, and he casts light on the assassination attempt that targeted Khalid Mish‘al, and its implications, besides the liberation of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and his foreign tour. In the following chapter, he exposes the tension in the relations with the Jordan government and Intelligence in 1999. He also talks about the detention of Hamas leaders in Jordan, their life in prison, their political stances, and the expulsion to Qatar of four leaders namely Khalid Mish‘al, Ibrahim Ghusheh, Sami Khatir and ‘Izzat al-Rishq, and the complications that followed. In chapter 13, Ghusheh talks about the 2000–2001 period, and the development of the relations with Jordan, Damascus, and the Palestinian Authority, in addition to al-Aqsa Intifadah (uprising). He details the story of his return to Jordan in mid June 2000, and his detention in the airport for around two weeks, until the issue was settled according to a new agreement that had him travel to Bangkok then return to Jordan. Ghusheh never lost his vitality and he continued to follow up on different issues in the following years, while participating in miscellaneous events whenever he could. Yet, his situation in Jordan restricted his movement. “The Red Minaret” is a book rich with information and stances that any researcher of modern and contemporary history might need in relation to the Palestinian issue. Also, of importance is the index of names, places and institutions at the end of the book, which makes research work easier.
Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations in Beirut has launched the English version of the book “The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas: Studies of Thought and Experience,” which was co-written by a group of professors specializing in the Palestinian issue and five senior Hamas leaders. The 704-page book is edited by Dr. Mohsen Saleh. The book examines Hamas’s vision and experience in all its aspects. The work sticks to two main commitments: First, adherence to academic research methods, and the accuracy, objectivity and extensive documentation necessary to them. The second is the attempt to present Hamas as it really is, whether by the contributions of specialized researches, who are well informed of Hamas and its experience; or by the contributions of Hamas leaders, who have addressed a number of issues and presented a more comprehensive picture of the Movement. Particularly so when the available literature is insufficient to clarify all the issues being researched, especially for Western audiences interested in understanding the Palestinian issue, of which Hamas has become a key component in the past decade. The book falls in two parts. The first is a collection of eleven studies on Hamas and its experience, in which chapter one presents an overview of the movement experience and history. It discusses the background and inception, and considers Hamas a continuation of the work of the Muslim Brothers (MB) movement that began in the form of popular advocacy through a network of branches and offices beginning in 1945. Interestingly, this chapter examines events that reflect the extent of the MB movement’s participation in armed resistance as well as preaching activities, in addition to their links to the establishment of the Fatah movement, which was co-founded by MB figures. This chapter digs deeper in to the stages that Hamas underwent, especially between 1987 and 2005. The second chapter gives the reader the chance to examine Hamas’s political vision, addressing the wellsprings of Hamas’s political ideology, its approach to religion and state, law, and constitution, and its views on nationalism, secularism, and democracy. Finally, it addresses the rights of minorities in Hamas’s political thought. The chapter contains a plethora of answers to questions usually raised by those interested to learn about Hamas’s ideas, bearing in mind that it is difficult to find material that expresses Hamas’s intellectual frameworks in such a comprehensive manner, except through some of the interviews, which still are no match for the topics covered by the book. In the third chapter, we delve into Hamas’ conceptualization of the other, meaning Hamas’s view of Israel, Judaism, Jews, Zionism and Zionists, which is the basis for understanding the background and future of the conflict. The book, in the fourth and fifth chapters, continues to analyze the relationship between Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and its factions, and Hamas’s position on Islamic Palestinian movements including the Sufis and Salafis, Hizb ut-Tahrir, and the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (PIJ), explaining the convergences and divergences with these factions. This is based on analyzing both Hamas’s theoretical framework and policies, drawing from primary sources. The sixth chapter highlights an important issue, namely, the peace process. Naturally, readers will wonder how Hamas’s actions and visions approach the peace process. In this chapter, the author examines the stages of evolution of Hamas’s political position on the peace process, whether through the movement’s theoretical and intellectual frameworks, or its practices on the ground. The seventh chapter tackles in detail Hamas’s vision for political and social reform in Palestine, based on the set of principles the group has committed itself to, including its insistence on political freedom for all and the rights of the Palestinian people. Hamas’s political reform project is not confined to internal Palestinian matters, but also cover foreign relations, especially with Arab and Muslim countries. In addition, Hamas’s social reform platform focuses on combatting poverty as the entry point for comprehensive development and reform. The eighth and ninth chapters overview at length Hamas’s Arab and Islamic relations, by analyzing the determinants, objectives, and dimensions of Hamas’s relations, an explaining its position towards the Arab Spring. They also examine Hamas’s relations with Turkey and Iran and their evolution. The tenth chapter deals with Hamas’s experience in government, following the 2006 legislative elections. This chapter explores the defects within the Palestinian political system in order to determine the environment and challenges that Hamas faced. Finally, it assesses Hamas performance in governance in the period 2006–2012. The eleventh chapter concludes the first part of the book by reviewing Western academic literature on Hamas, with a view to answer the following fundamental question: To what extent have these studies succeeded in understanding the true nature of Hamas? The second part of the book includes contributions by five senior Hamas leaders attempting to answer a miscellany of questions regarding different issues appertaining to the Movement. These include a study by Khalid Mish’al, head of Hamas Political Bureau, which is entitled “Hamas: Milestones in Thought and Experience.” A second study entitled “Hamas: A Reading in the Vision and Governance Experience” is contributed by Isma‘il Haniyyah, the new Hamas politburo chief and prime minister of Hamas’s caretaker government. It also includes a contribution by Musa Abu Marzuq, senior Hamas leader and former politburo chief titled Hamas Assessment of the Experience; and a contribution by Usamah Hamdan on Hamas International Relations. The section also includes a paper prepared by Sami Khater, Hamas politburo member, regarding Hamas’s Vision for Managing the Conflict with the “Zionist Enemy.” The book includes an appendix of major documents related to Hamas and its experience since the issuance of its charter in 1987 until the memorandum of enforcement of the Palestinian reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas (Al-Shati’ Agreement) in 2014 besides key political documents issued in the intervening period.
Abdallah Azzam, the Palestinian cleric who led the mobilization of Arab fighters to Afghanistan in the 1980s, played a crucial role in the internationalization of the jihadi movement. Killed in mysterious circumstances in 1989 in Peshawar, Pakistan, he remains one of the most influential jihadi ideologues of all time. Here, in the first in-depth biography of Azzam, Thomas Hegghammer explains how Azzam came to play this role and why jihadism went global at this particular time. It traces Azzam's extraordinary life journey from a West Bank village to the battlefields of Afghanistan, telling the story of a man who knew all the leading Islamists of his time and frequented presidents, CIA agents, and Cat Stevens the pop star. It is, however, also a story of displacement, exclusion, and repression that suggests that jihadism went global for fundamentally local reasons.
Almost twenty years after the Oslo Accords and the formation of the Palestinian National Authority (PA), there is a need to examine this experience in all its aspects, especially since it has not achieved its main goal: the transition from an autonomous authority to an independent state with full sovereignty over the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories (West Bank and Gaza Strip). This book is a comprehensive study of the PA and its experience. The 15 chapters analyze the aspects of the PA establishment and its legislative, judicial and presidential institutions, as well as the performance of successive governments. The book deals with the internal Palestinian situation, the security forces, the PA position towards the resistance forces, and economic, demographic, educational and health conditions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It also tackles the corruption in the PA, the relationship between the PA and the media, as well as its foreign policy. This book is a systematic, scientific study that forensically documents the PA experience. It has undergone the usual procedures of scientific editing, including the reviewing of texts and references.
This annual referential report, has become an essential classic in the academic realm of Palestinian Studies. It includes the latest and most recent statistical and analytic data on the various developments related to the Palestinian issue. ** Al-Zaytouna Center for Studies and Consultations in Beirut has published the Palestinian Strategic Report 2012-2013 (PSR). The Palestinian Strategic Report (PSR) is one of al-Zaytouna’s most important academic studies, published periodically in both English and Arabic. Today, it can be surely asserted that PSR is a must reference for every researcher and academic who are interested in the contemporary developments of the Palestinian issue and the Arab-Israeli conflict. The PSR reviews biennially the various developments concerning the Palestinian question in a comprehensive, objective and academic manner. It offers a wealth of data, up-to-date statistics, and analyzes and offers an outlook of future events. The PSR 2012–2013 falls in 400 pages and seven chapters. Edited by Dr. Mohsen Mohammad Saleh, PSR 2012–2013 was written by 13 specialized researchers, and reviewed by three consultants. The seven chapters cover the internal Palestinian scene, the Israeli-Palestinian scene, the Palestinian issue and the Arab world, the Palestinian issue and the Muslim world, the Palestinian issue and the international situation, the land and the holy sites, and the demographic, economic and educational Indicators.
This book is the tenth among the series of “Am I not a Human?” which is a rich interactive documentation of the Palestinian suffering under the Israeli occupation. The 110 pages book deals with the suffering of the Palestinian worker, the history of the Palestinian labor movement and its struggle to restore its rights. It also talks about the direct targeting of the Palestinian workers, the infrastructure and the agriculture sector. In addition to the Israeli restrictions on the Palestinian economy. For example, since al-Aqsa Intifadah on 28/9/2000 and till the end of October 2010, the press in the West Bank (WB) and Gaza strip (GS) was attacked 1251 times. The workers living in GS and WB are 24.4% of the Palestinian people i.e., one quarter of the population there. Israel has always worked to strangle the Palestinian economy in order to make the Palestinians economically dependent on Israel. This book also discusses the “open door policy” which was advocated by Moshe Dayan in 1968, that aims to increase the individual standards of living while dismantling the Palestinian economic capacity. Statistics reveal that more than 35% of the labor force is in GS, and 25-30% of the labor force in the WB had been working in very bad conditions from 1970 till 1993. The Palestinian workers salaries do not exceed 30-50% of the salaries of their Israeli counterparts. The book asserts that stopping the suffering of the workers is neither by increasing the international financial aid, nor through the employment support programs, rather it is by ending the Israeli occupation. The statistics and documents in this book are rich and updated. Moreover, it contains testimonies, and photos that are very persuasive and convincing.
Al-Zaytouna Centre has published the second edition of The Process of Israeli Decision Making by Karim El-Gendy. The 272-page book is an attempt to understand the Israeli decision-making process, and to bridge the literature gap by relating domestic factors with decision-making and foreign policy. El-Gendy aims to discuss the Israeli decision making process from three different viewpoints. The decision makers and the formal relationship between them, the structural forces and influences inherent in the decision making mechanism, and the external factors that influence the decision making process. The author explains how elements and forces within the labyrinth of the Israeli society exert influence on the decision-making mechanism and on how foreign policy and national security decisions are made. He expands on a number of external forces, or forces external to the decision-making process that are powerful enough to influence it. El-Gendy discusses the influence of five forces; the military, the advisors, two religious groups, the relationship with the United States, and the relationship with the Jewish Diaspora. This book attempts to take holistic approach to the decision-making process and avoid focusing its attention solely on decision-making in crisis situations.
This annual referential report, has become an essential classic in the academic realm of Palestinian Studies. It includes the latest and most recent statistical and analytic data on the various developments related to the Palestinian issue. **
Al-Zaytouna Centre is pleased to present to its readers the Palestine Strategic Report (PSR) 2020–2021, the 12th PSR to be published. With an academic methodology and comprehensive objective approach, the report details the developments concerning the Palestine issue and provides the latest information and data available at the endof 2021, along with analyses and forecasts. This report is the result of collaborative work of 15 experts and researchers. In eight chapters, it addresses the internal Palestinian scene; Palestinian demographic and economic indicators; the situation in Jerusalem and the holy sites; the specifics of Israeli aggression, Palestinian resistance and the peace process; the internal situation in Israel, politically, economically and militarily; and Palestine’s Arab, Islamic, and international relations. The PSR now occupies a prominent position as an indispensable reference, integral to Palestine studies and research. Al-Zaytouna Centre hopes the PSR will continue to make valuable contributions in this field.
The Road to Jerusalem