ARTICLE BY BJÖRN BRENNER
Hamas has often been described as the Palestinian chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood. This picture fits quite well with what the relationship between these two groups looked like in the 1980s, some thirty years ago. However, since then, their relationship has changed fundamentally. Today, almost nothing remains of these originally tight bonds. In this article, Björn Brenner illustrates these fading bonds by taking a closer look into how the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas related to each other before and during the Mursi presidency.
“Sprickan mellan Hamas och det Muslimska Brödraskapet”, Tidskriften Respons (september) 2017.
“The farthest Hamas came to realising its grand plans of a free trade zone in Rafah was an invitation to have tea with Mursi in the presidential palace in Cairo. The seemingly lukewarm interest on the part of the Egyptian Brotherhood and Mursi vis-à-vis Hamas came as a complete surprise – and great disappointment – to the Islamist leadership in Gaza.”
Top picture: The old road to Sebastia, northern West Bank (Photo: Björn Brenner).