The 1996 split of the Islamic Movement in Israel: Between the holy text and Israeli-Palestinian context

International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society

Volumn 17, Issue 3, 2004, Pages 439-455

  Aburaiya, Issam ^a  

^a HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM   (Israel)

Author keywords

Electoral politics; Israel; Palestinians; Political Islam; Religiosity

Indexed keywords

EID: 4043067231     PISSN: 08914486     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1023/B:IJPS.0000019612.42870.6d     Document Type: Review

References (33)

1. In 1979-80, under the influence of global "Islamic resurgence" in general and the successful Iranian Revolution in particular, a number of Muslim youth from the "Triangle" area, headed by the future leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, 'Abdallah Nimr Darwish, established "Usrat al-Jihad" (The Family of Holy War). The purpose of this organization was to launch an armed struggle against the Israeli state in order to replace it with an Islamic state. But Israeli security forces uncovered the organization, following sporadic actions of burning fields and bombing several locations in the country. The organization's members, including Shaykh Darwish himself, were arrested and sentenced to prison. After his release in 1983, Shaykh Darwish came to the conclusion that the "military option" against the Israeli state and the establishment of an Islamic state in its place were not realistic aims. He decided instead upon different path, focusing on legal, social, communal, and later political activities as the best method for spreading the principles of Islam. See T. Maier, The Resurgence of the Muslims in Israel (in Hebrew) (Giva'at Haviva, 1988), pp. 20-21.
2. Ibrahim H. Ali, al-Tayyarat al-Islamiyya wa Qadiyyat al-Dimoqratiyya [The Islamic Currents and the Issue of Democracy] (Beirut: The Center for Arab Unity Studies, 1991), p. 22.
3. Nazih Ayubi, Political Islam: Religion and Politics in the Arab World (London and New York: Routledge, 1993), p. 8.
4. For a concise and insightful review of the different attitudes of thinkers identified with political Islam toward democratic ideas and practices, see George Guqman, "al-Dimuqratiyya fi Nihayat al-Qirn al-'Aishrin: Nahwa Kharita Fikriyya," in George Guqman (ed.), Hawl al-Khiyar al-Dimuqrati-Dirasat Naqdiyya [On the Democrtic Option-Critical Studies] (Beirut: The Center for Arab Unity Studies, 1995), pp. 34-40.
5. From Ali Rahnema's introduction to his edited collection, Pioneers of Islamic Revival (London: Zed, 1994), p. 8.
6. Shaul Mishal and Avraham Sela, The Time of Hamas-Violence and Compromise (in Hebrew) (Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1999), p. 22.
7. A. H. Dessouki, "The Islamic Resurgence: Sources, Dynamics, and Implications," in his (ed.), Islamic Resurgence in the Arab World (Praeger, 1982), p. 4.
8. Maier, The Resurgence of the Muslims, pp. 16-18; R. Mayer, "The Development of the Islamic Movement in Israel," Arabs in Israel 3:6 (1993), p. 11.
9. Maier, The Resurgence of the Muslims, pp. 16-18; R. Mayer, "The Development of the Islamic Movement in Israel," Arabs in Israel 3:6 (1993), p. 11.
10. In those days, the Movement mobilized dozens of people who paved roads, built schools, and placed traffic lights. All were volunteers, and all the money and equipment were donated by economically established people from the local communities.
11. A. Ghanem and S. Osatzky-Lazar, The Arab Local Government Elections, November 1993: Results and Analysis (in Hebrew) (Giva'at Haviva, 1994), pp. 6-7; A. Ghanem, "The Municipal Leadership among the Arabs in Israel: Continuity and Change" (in Hebrew), Hamizrah Hehadash 15 (1995), pp. 151-152.
12. A. Ghanem and S. Osatzky-Lazar, The Arab Local Government Elections, November 1993: Results and Analysis (in Hebrew) (Giva'at Haviva, 1994), pp. 6-7; A. Ghanem, "The Municipal Leadership among the Arabs in Israel: Continuity and Change" (in Hebrew), Hamizrah Hehadash 15 (1995), pp. 151-152.
13. A. Ghanem and S. Osatzky-Lazar, The Arab Local Government Elections, November 1993: Results and Analysis (in Hebrew) (Giva'at Haviva, 1994), pp. 6-7; A. Ghanem, "The Municipal Leadership among the Arabs in Israel: Continuity and Change" (in Hebrew), Hamizrah Hehadash 15 (1995), pp. 151-152.
14. I. Aburaiya, "Developmental Leadership: The Case of the Islamic Movement in Um al-Fahim" (master's thesis, Clark University, 1991), p. 2; R. Paz, The Islamic Movement in Israel Following the 1989 Local Elections (in Hebrew) (Tel Aviv: Moshe Dayan Center, May 1989), pp. 20-22.
15. I. Aburaiya, "Developmental Leadership: The Case of the Islamic Movement in Um al-Fahim" (master's thesis, Clark University, 1991), p. 2; R. Paz, The Islamic Movement in Israel Following the 1989 Local Elections (in Hebrew) (Tel Aviv: Moshe Dayan Center, May 1989), pp. 20-22.
16. Danny Rabinowitz, "Umm al-Fahm-Dilemmas of Change (in Hebrew), Hamizrah Hehadash 37 (1995), p. 178.
17. Issam Aburaiya and Efrat Ben Ze'ev, "The Islamic Movement and the Re-Palestinianization of Space: The Case of the Village of Sarafand" (forthcoming).
18. This analysis represents the author's conclusions from personal interviews conducted with Shaykh 'Abdallah Nimr Darwish in Kufur Qasim on April, 24, 1997 and with Shaykh Kamal al-Khatib in Kufur Kanna on January 20, 1997.
19. A. Bishara, "The Arabs in Israel: A Study of a Divided Political Debate," in Pinhas Ginossar and Avi Bareli (eds.), Zionism: A Contemporary Controversy (in Hebrew) (Ben-Gurion Research Center, 1996), p. 320.
20. Personal interview with Shaykh Kamal al-Khatib, Kufur Kanna, January 20,1997.
21. Personal interview with Shaykh 'Abdallah Nimr Darwish, Kufur Qasim, July 24, 1997.
22. Sawt al-Haqq wa al-Hurriyya, 4.4.97, p. 13.
23. Personal interview with Shaykh 'Abdallah Nimr Darwish, Kufur Kasim, July 24, 1997.
24. Personal interview with Shaykh 'Abdallah Nimr Darwish, Kufur Qasim, April 24, 1997.
25. See, for example, the interview with Shaykh Ra'id Salah in Sawt al-Haq wa al-Hurriyya, 4 April 1997, pp. 12-14.
26. Personal interview with Shaykh 'Abdallah Nimr Darwish, Kufur Qasim, April 24, 1997.
27. Personal interview with Shaykh 'Abdallah Nimr Darwish, Kufur Qasim, April 24, 1997.
28. Personal interview with Shaykh Kamal al-Khatib, Kufur Kanna, January 20, 1997.
29. Personal interview with Shaykh Kamal al-Khatib, Kufur Kanna, January 20, 1997.
30. Personal interview with Shaykh Hashim 'Abd al-Rahman, Umm al-Fahm, March 23, 1997, and with Shaykh Kamal al-Khatib, Kufur Kanna, January 20, 1997.
31. Personal interview with Shaykh 'Abdallah Nimr Darwish, Kufur Qasim, July 24, 1997.
32. Armin W. Geertz, "On Reciprocity and Mutual Reflection in the Study of Native American Religions,"Religion 24 (1994), p. 2.
33. See Omar Khalidi, "Muslim Minorities: Theory and Experience of Muslim Integration in Non-Muslim societies," Journal Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs 10:2 (July 1989), p. 429.