Join Dr. Jonathan Schanzer as he sits down with AIPAC to discuss the 11-day conflict in May between Israel and Hamas and his new book Gaza Conflict 2021.
Dr. Jonathan Schanzer is senior vice president for research at Foundation for Defense of Democracy, where he oversees the work of the organization’s experts and scholars. He is also on the leadership team of FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power.
Jonathan previously worked as a terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and has held previous think tank research positions at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Middle East Forum. He has written three books: State of Failure: Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Unmaking of the Palestinian State, Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine and Al-Qaeda’s Armies: Middle East Affiliate Groups and the Next Generation of Terror.
Jonathan testifies often before Congress and publishes widely in the American and international media. He has appeared on American television channels such as Fox News and CNN, and Arabic language television channels such as Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera.
Gaza Conflict 2021 Hamas, Israel, and Eleven Days of War
The May 2021 conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas generated headlines around the world. However, much of the reporting ignored the history, funding, political dynamics, and other key components of the story. Hamas initiates conflict every few years. But the reporting rarely improves. Social media has only further clouded the picture. Hamas is rarely held responsible for its use of "human shields," blindly firing rockets at civilian areas in Israel, or diverting aid that should benefit the people of Gaza.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism, has been the primary patron of Hamas since the group’s inception in the late 1980s. Hamas has received additional assistance over the years from Qatar, Turkey and Malaysia. These countries are fomenting conflict, while others, such as Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, have tried to minimize it. Gaza is therefore ground zero in a struggle for the future stability of the Middle East.
The mission of AIPAC is to encourage and persuade the U.S. government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutually beneficial relationship with our ally Israel.
