Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices

After Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, many Palestinians hoped that he would attack Israel with poison gas missiles. However, after a single desultory attack, Saddam retreated and “nothing had changed” (45). Yousef’s family was able to buy a house in the relatively peaceful city of Betunia, but Hassan continued to cycle in and out of prison as Hamas grew more radical and violent. For many, their grievance was political, but for others, “fighting became its own goal—not a means to an end, but an end in itself” (47). The situation was especially combustible in Gaza, where the descendants of refugees carried physical reminders such as real estate documents or keys of the homes they had lost in 1948. In that year, the invasion of Gaza and the occupation of homes there led to Israel’s creation, a conflict viewed with contempt by many Palestinians. Following Hussein’s failed attack, a young refugee named Imad Akel formed an armed group that attacked Israelis in the West Bank, and Hamas appointed him as the leader of a new armed wing, the Ezzedeen Al-Qassem Brigades.