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Hamastan

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Hamastan (Hebrew: חמאסטן) is a pejorative neologism, blending Hamas, a Palestinian political party with a military wing, and -stan, a suffix of Persian origin meaning "home of/place of".[1][2][3][4] The term Hamastan generally relates to the Hamas administration of Gaza.

The term emerged during the days of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, and is suggestive of either Bantustans (the nominally self-governing black homelands created in apartheid-era South Africa; see Palestinian enclaves),[5][6] or Hamas' religious policies (rhetorically likened to the Taliban's rule of Afghanistan) or, alternatively, political ties with Iran.

Linguistic history

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Since 2007, the term has been used to refer to Hamas' 2007 victory in Gaza over Fatah in the inter-Palestinian conflict.[7]

After Hamas' victory in the Palestinian legislative election of 2006 further heightened Western fears of an emerging Islamic fundamentalist state in the Palestinian territories, and various Israeli politicians, including Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu (on January 26, 2006, at a live IBA broadcast) increasingly employed the term disparagingly in the run up to the Israeli elections to berate Ehud Olmert.[8]

The nickname was also mentioned in an interview with Mahmoud Zahar, one of Hamas' leaders, in an interview with Newsweek shortly after the implementation of the disengagement plan. Zahar was asked by reporter Kevin Peraino: "Official Israeli officials warn that after the withdrawal, Gaza will become 'Hamastan'. To this he replied: 'It should be Hamastan. Why not? We are not corrupt. We serve the lower classes. We protect our land. It should be Hamastan!'"[9]

With the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, the creation of an Islamic mini-state in Gaza has been described by many commentators as "Hamastan" or "Hamas-stan".[10]

Originally, the suffix -stan (land) is from the Persian language, not Arabic, and in general, it is not used in the names of Arab countries. The Arabic-alphabet spelling حماستان is used, though Hamastan was not created according to usual patterns of Arabic-language word formation, and is not really Arabic as such.

In this context the Fatah-controlled West Bank has sometimes analogously been called "Fatahland",[11][12][13][14] a revival of a term originally used in the 1970s to refer to Southern Lebanon.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Safire, William (2006-12-31). "Year of the Stans". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
  2. ^ ""Hamastan" - A Palestinian radical Islamist state, ruled by Hamas". Terrorism-info.org.il. 2005-08-30. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
  3. ^ Fishman, Alex (2015-06-27). "How IDF Intelligence failed to predict 'Hamastan' in Gaza following Israeli pullot". Ynetnews.com. Retrieved 2015-07-31.
  4. ^ Okbi, Yasser (2015-08-24). "Palestinian official warns of ISIS takeover if peace process not advanced". Ynetnews.com. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  5. ^ Eldar, Akiva (18 June 2007). "Sharon's Dream". Haaretz. If Ariel Sharon were able to hear the news from the Gaza Strip and West Bank, he would call his loyal aide, Dov Weissglas, and say with a big laugh: 'We did it, Dubi.' Sharon is in a coma, but his plan is alive and kicking. Everyone is now talking about the state of Hamastan. In his house, they called it a bantustan, after the South African protectorates designed to perpetuate apartheid.
  6. ^ Looney, R. (2014). Handbook of US-Middle East Relations. Taylor & Francis. p. 497. ISBN 978-1-135-16591-8. Retrieved 2022-01-04. In a way, these policies have not led to the creation of a Palestinian Bantustan but of Palestinian Hamastan
  7. ^ Claire, Sheera (2006-01-26). "Netanyahu warns of birth of Hamastan". Fr.jpost.com. Retrieved 2011-07-12.[permanent dead link‍]
  8. ^ "Zionist Organization of America - Press Releases - Israeli Elections: Divided Message On Withdrawal - Economic Issues Highlight". Zoa.org. 2006-03-29. Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
  9. ^ Peraino, Kevin (2005-09-04). "Mahmoud Zahar". Newsweek. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  10. ^ Fundamentalists threaten Israel from all sides[dead link‍], The Daily Telegraph, 15 June 2007
  11. ^ Eldar, Akiva (2011-07-08). "Border Control / From bad to worse". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
  12. ^ Jonathan Freedland (2007-06-19). "Jonathan Freedland: The scene of Fatahland flowering as Hamastan wilts is sheer fantasy". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
  13. ^ Honig, Sarah. "Another Tack". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
  14. ^ Asseburg, Muriel. "SWP: Hamastan vs. Fatahland: A Chance for Progress in the Middle East?" (PDF). Cfr.org. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
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