Hamas and the Arab Spring: Introduction

Abstract

The Arab Spring is a critical juncture for examining Hamas, a movement created in the context of a popular revolt (against Israeli occupation) similar to those that have reverberated throughout the Middle East. Since the outbreak of the Arab revolts in December 2010, the political landscape of the Middle East has been recast, forcing Hamas to respond to a host of fundamental challenges. And as Hamas is challenged, so is our received wisdom about the movement. The contributions in this special section is dedicated to complementing the extant knowledge on Hamas through analyses of the movement and its responses to the Arab Spring on the regional, domestic and internal levels.