Hizbu'llah: Politics and Religion

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Pluto Press, 2002 - History - 254 pages
Hizbu’llah is the largest and most prominent political party in Lebanon, and one of the most renowned Islamist movements in the world. In this volume, Amal Saad-Ghorayeb examines the organisation’s understanding of jihad and how this, together with its belief in martyrdom, brought about the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Lebanese territory in May 2000. Saad-Ghorayeb explores the nature of the party’s struggle against the West by studying, among other issues, its views on the use of violence against Westerners. Crucially, she also addresses the question of whether Hizbu’llah depicts this struggle in purely political or civilisational terms. The existential nature of the movement’s conflict with Israel is analysed and the Islamic roots of its anti-Judaism is unearthed. The author explores the mechanics and rationale behind the party’s integration into the Lebanese political system, and sheds light on how it has reconciled its national idenitity with its solidarity with the Muslim umma.

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Contents

The Politicisation of the Lebanese Shiites and Subsequent
7
Political Accommodation and Violence
16
113
30
Copyright

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About the author (2002)

Amal Saad-Ghorayeb is Assistant Professor at the Lebanese American University. She is currently involved in a 3 part documentary on Hizbu'llah to be broadcast by US NPR, WYNC and BBC radio, amongst others, as part of a series on Living Islam funded by the Ford Foundation and the US National Endowment for the Humanities.

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