Islamism, Pluralism and the Palestine question: The case of Hizbullah

British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies

Volumn 34, Issue 2, 2007, Pages 123-136

  Høigilt, Jacob ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CIVIL WAR; ISLAMISM; PARTY POLITICS; POLITICAL CONFLICT; RELIGION;

ASIA; EURASIA; LEBANON; MIDDLE EAST;

EID: 34547748549     PISSN: 13530194     EISSN: 14693542     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13530190701427859     Document Type: Article

References (56)

1. This article was written with a grant from 'The Missing Peace' project at The International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO). I wish to thank the project's working group as well as the anonymous reviewers for their valuable criticism and suggestions.
2. United Nations Development Programme and Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, The Arab Human Development Report 2003 (Amman: National Press, 2003), p. 23.
3. Norman Fairclough, Language and Power, 2nd ed. (Harlow: Longman, 2001 [1989]), p. 19.
4. In addition to Fairclough's work, other useful and authoritative introductions to critical linguistics are Roger Fowler, Language in the News (London and New York: Routledge, 1991)
5. and Robert Hodge and Gunther Kress, Language as Ideology, 2nd ed. (London and New York: Routledge, 1993 [1979]), which approach the subject from two different angles. For convenience, I will refer only to Fairclough in the following.
6. The sociological theories of Bernstein and Bourdieu are often acknowledged as important complements to CDA. For a recent example, see Lilie Chouliaraki and Norman Fairclough, Discourse in Late Modernity: Rethinking Critical Discourse Analysis (Cambridge: Edinburgh University Press, 1999), pp. 98-120.
7. Fairclough, Language and Power, p. 96.
8. I will not treat Hizbullah's history, ideology and structure extensively here. There are several books of varying quality that treat these issues. The best ones are Nizar Hamzeh, In the Path of Hizbullah (New York: Syracuse University Press, 2004), which focuses on Hizbullah's political history and strategies
9. Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, Hizbullah: Politics and Religion (London: Pluto Press, 2002), which lends more focus to the party's discourse
10. Waddah Charara, Dawlat Hizb Allah: Lubnan mujtam'an islamiyyan (Hizbullah's state: Lebanon as an Islamic society) (Beirut: Dar al-Nahar, 1997), which is a sociological study
11. and Hala Jaber, Hezbollah: Born With a Vengeance (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997), which is a general account of the party's history and ideology.
12. I rely on the version given in Hasan Fadlallah, al-Khiyar al-'akhar [The Other Choice] (Beirut, 1994), p. 198.
13. Hizbullah continues to fight against the Israeli army over the small piece of land on the Lebanese-Syrian-Israeli border called the Shib'a farms. While Israel claims this land belongs to Syria, a claim that the UN backs, both Lebanon and Syria say that it belongs to Lebanon. Regardless of what might be true, the advantages of claiming it to be Lebanese are obvious for the Syrian government, since Hizbullah's activities in the area would be difficult to justify if the land belongs to Syria and not Lebanon. In this way, Syria can fight against Israel without using its own army.
14. 'Nasrallah calls for real participation in the elections,'al-Safir (7 August 2000). [Note: I have not been able to verify the page numbers for this and other references that I have gathered from the Internet or facsimile archives, and thus some of the references are given without page specification.]
15. Hizbullah, Hizbullah's Program for the General Elections 2000 (Beirut: Hizbullah Central Press Office, 15 August 2000), pp. 6-7.
16. Ibid., p. 2.
17. For an analysis of Lebanon's modern political history, see Kamal S. Salibi, Crossroads to Civil War. Lebanon 1958-1976 (London: Ithaca Press, 1976).
18. Joseph Maila, 'The Document of National Understanding: A Commentary,' Prospects for Lebanon (Oxford: Centre for Lebanese Studies, 1992), pp. 18-27.
19. Speech to the Islamic Assembly of Teachers, 8 March 2002, accessed at http://www.hizbollah.tv/arabic/amin/k2002/k20020308.htm
20. 'Qasim: Harmony Reigns among us,' al-Diyar (4 June 2000).
21. Tawfiq Shuman, 'On the 'Loathsomeness' of Lebanese Politics,' al-Intiqad (7 June 2002).
22. The speech was accessed at http://www.hizbollah.tv/arabic/amin/k2002/ k20020716.htm
23. Hamzeh: In the Path of Hizbullah, p. 108 ff.
24. Ibid., p. 141 and passim.
25. For an excellent account, see Ervand Abrahamian, Khomeinism (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1993).
26. Hizbullah, Hizbullah's Program, pp. 2-3.
27. '6,000 Members of Hizbullah Participated in a Military Parade in the Suburbs,' al-Safir (15 December 2001), p. 4.
28. 'Lebanon's Image: Resistance or Collaboration?' al-Intiqad (24 August 2001).
29. 'Crowded Celebration of the Resistance,' al-Intiqad (24 May 2002).
30. Ibid.
31. Qasim: '[We must] Confront the International Deviation With the Resistance,' al-Intiqad (17 May 2002).
32. During this period, 45 issues of the newspaper were published. One of these, on 21 December, did not have any editorial, while I have been unable to obtain the editorials of two other issues.
33. al-Intiqad (21 September 2001).
34. See, for example, the editorials in al-Intiqad on 28 September 2001 and 21 February 2002.
35. al-Intiqad (29 March 2002).
36. al-Intiqad (7 June 2002).
37. '6,000 Members of Hizbullah...', al-Safir (15 December 2001).
38. Hizbullah, Hizbullah's Program, p. 3.
39. Hasan 'Izz al-Din in al-Safir (12 November 2001).
40. 'Hizbullah: Battle's Trips Incite Civil Strife,' al-Hayat (5 May 2002).
41. Nizar Hamzeh, (1993) 'Lebanon's Hizbullah: From Islamic Revolution to Parliamentary Accommodation', Third World Quarterly, 14(2), p. 327.
42. 'Nasrallah: The intifada is the main line of defence,' al-Intiqad (18 January 2002).
43. Hizbullah, Hizbullah's Program, p. 2.
44. E.g. 'Towards Crystallisation of a Plan,' al-Ahd [the former name of al-Intiqad until May, 2001] (30 January 2000).
45. see al-Safir (15 December 2001).
46. 'Hizbullah's Lebanon and Lebanon the state,' al-Nahar (15 December 2001).
47. 'Nasrallah: Giving up the Resistance Makes us an Easy Prey, and We're Bent on Fighting Jihad Wherever the Threats Are,' al-Nahar (16 January 2002).
48. al-Intiqad (24 August 2001).
49. al-Ahd (7 July 2000).
50. Fairclough, Language and Power, pp. 163-164.
51. Its acceptance of this system is of course bound closely up with the fact that Syria has controlled Lebanese political life for about 15 years now. The ongoing events in Lebanon (April 2005) opens for many speculations about how the party would react to a truly sovereign Lebanese state.
52. See, for example, Nizar Hamzeh (2000) 'Lebanon's Islamists and Local Politics: A New Reality', Third World Quarterly, 21(5), p. 758.
53. Fairclough, Language and Power, p. 30.
54. Hamzeh, In the Path of Hizbullah, p. 109.
55. Current events in Lebanon support this hypothesis. Faced with a strong anti-Syrian opposition and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, Hizbullah signals that it might disband its militia in order to remain a legitimate political actor in the view of other Lebanese political factions. See, for example, 'Nasrallah: Let Dialogue be Comprehensive, not about Weapons Only', al-Nahar (9 April, 2005), accessed at http://www. annaharonline.com
56. As for the terrorist acts in USA on 11 September, 2001 with the subsequent war on terrorism and the invasion of Iraq, Hamzeh has argued convincingly that they have not changed Hizbullah's policies in any substantial way, so I will not dwell on them here.