The limits of economic rationality: Palestinian quest for significance and Hamas violence

Abstract

Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 reflects the supreme commitment of the organisation to unmitigated violence as a means to mattering (of being valued) and significance (sense of social worth). The Palestinians’ election of Hamas in 2006 to the Palestinian Legislative Council and repeated failures of various initiatives by Israel and others to appease the Palestinian people through economic development attest to the utmost importance of their need for honour and dignity that trumps material considerations, and that gravitates to aggression as a means to significance.