From jihad to resistance: the evolution of Hamas’s discourse in the framework of mobilization

Abstract

This article is the first attempt to examine the dynamics of Hamas’s political discourse since the movement’s birth with relations to mobilization. Based on extensive primary sources and interviews with Hamas leaders in Gaza, the article identifies three key framing processes. First, at its inception, Hamas’s words and actions centered around the movement’s interpretation of Islam from 1987 to 1993. Second, during the Oslo period from 1993-2000, Hamas attempted to de-frame its religious discourse. Third, from 2000 to the present, Hamas has reframed its discourses around the more inclusive concept of muqawama or resistance. While Hamas was in office after 2006, Hamas’s notions of resistance, however, eschew a sole meaning and instead function as a floating signifier. Each of these framings are investigated by relation to changing socio-political realities. The article argues that Hamas is not necessarily becoming either less Islamic or more secular-nationalist. Rather, the employment of the discourses of muqawama–that is, as a non-religious and more inclusive term–is better suited to Hamas’s current mobilization needs, and the rearticulation of its evolving worldview, without jeopardizing its religious identity.