Everyday Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam among Palestinians in Lebanon

by Rougier, Pascale Ghazaleh (Translator)

As southern Lebanon becomes the latest battleground for Islamist warriors, Everyday Jihad plunges us into the sprawling, heavily populated Palestinian refugee camp at Ain al-Helweh, which in the early 1990s became a site for militant Sunni Islamists. A place of refuge for Arabs hunted down in their countries of origin and a recruitment ground for young disenfranchised Palestinians, the camp--where sheikhs began actively recruiting for jihad--situated itself in the global geography of radical Islam.

With pioneering fieldwork, Bernard Rougier documents how Sunni fundamentalists, combining a literal interpretation of sacred texts with a militant interpretation of jihad, took root in this Palestinian milieu. By staying very close to the religious actors, their discourse, perceptions, and means of persuasion, Rougier helps us to understand how radical religious allegiances overcome traditional nationalist sentiment and how jihadist networks grab hold in communities marked by unemployment, poverty, and despair.

With the emergence of Hezbollah, the Shiite political party and guerrilla army, at the forefront of Lebanese and regional politics, relations with the Palestinians will be decisive. The Palestinian camps of Lebanon, whose disarmament is called for by the international community, constitute a contentious arena for a multitude of Syria and Iran, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Authority, and Bin Laden and the late Zarqawi. Witnessing everyday jihad in their midst offers readers a rare glimpse into a microcosm of the religious, sectarian, and secular struggles for the political identity of the Middle East today.

356 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Ari Moel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dense. But the parts of the book that were helpful to understanding the Palestinian society/family were extremely helpful.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much as was stated by another reviewer, the book is undoubtedly well researched and I am certain the author knows what he is talking about. However, the book is so disjointed that I often didn't know what he was talking about. This book would have been much better as a journal article and I wouldn't be surprised if that is where it started.
There were parts of the book that had valuable information and from an academic point of view I'm sure this is a good resource since it appears the endnotes are very thorough, but there was no logical or cohesive narrative. Even the conclusion was confusing. The conclusion did end with a call for a two-state solution, which is just fine, but did so in a conclusory manner without providing any justification for how a two-state solution would have prevented the jihadist nature of Palestinians in Lebanon. Unless of course the whole book was supposed to be leading up to this conclusion and I just missed it because the book's organization and narrative were awful.

[Tyler Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rougier provides some incredibly detailed background on the history and growth of the Salafist movement in Palestinian refugee camps. Some of the most interesting parts of the book are the profiles of specific actors that he's written, which clearly required serious research and probable risk on his part.
That said, the organization is absolutely wretched. Rougier will interrupt a chapter to go on five or ten page tangents about the personal history of a certain sheik or jihadist. While these profiles are fascinating as independent studies, within the book the constant interruptions simply make it exceedingly difficult to follow any kind of through argument or cohesive narrative that Rougier is trying to build. While I certainly think that Rougier has several overarching arguments, they're never made explicit - the reader must piece it all together.
As a work of scholarship, excellent. As a coherent narrative of any sort, not so much.

[KATEtheGREATESTBESTONE · Rating 5 out of 5]

very detailed study of palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.