Picard , Elizabeth2019-09-252019-09-252011-06-241993-041012-6511http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12424/179475"In the Middle East, indeed throughout the entire Arab-Muslim region stretching eastward from Morocco to the Gulf and from Caucasia down to Sudan, no country offers a better example of political violence than Lebanon. The only exception, it could be argued, is Iran. But the political violence in Iran, under Islamic rule since 1979, is quite specifically state-sponsored violence; whereas in Lebanon the example of the Shi’i community lends itself better to a general theoretical model of political violence. The Lebanese case seems to correspond even more precisely to such a model than a country such as Libya, with its role not only in the internal conflicts of neighbouring countries but in international terrorism as well. It seems to correspond to a model of political violence more precisely than Egypt or Syria, too. In the former country, the violent acts of Islamic militants - such as the assassination of Anwar el-Sadat - had long been a marginal phenomenon in a complex social order that was basically democratic, and in the latter, Islamic opposition forces led a violent civil war against the secularist military regime of Hafiz el-Assad between 1979 and 1982. Indeed, the example of the Lebanese Shi’a offers a rich variety of characteristics and variables that enable us to construct a paradigm of political violence. Attempts to address political violence in the geo-politically important region of the Middle East have tended to approach the question from either a political economy perspective (though not strictly class-based) or a cultural perspective (though not exactly culturalist).1 In this paper, we shall go beyond these two perspectives in order to penetrate the internal logic of the actors involved in emancipatory movements: in order to understand a community’s moral project and its confrontation with the state, we must interpret tumultuous events in their historic and metaphoric dimensions. First, however, it is indispensable, albeit oversimplified, to examine the variables and circumstances that can help us understand why “men rebel”.2 With this aim in mind, the first part of this paper will consider the historical context of political mobilization and violence within the Lebanese Shi’i community since the creation of the Lebanese state in 1920. We will also discuss the Shi’i community in the context of the ultra-liberal, pro-market economy of Lebanon - and particularly Beirut. Furthermore, the specific nature of the country’s political system, social structures, and especially its rapid transformation since the Second World War will also be addressed. Regional conflicts - both the Arab-Israeli conflict and that between Israel and the Palestinians - have had tremendous repercussions within the Shi’i community, and will therefore also be considered. Finally, we will discuss the profound impact on the Shi’i community of the Iranian revolution. By doing so, we hope to provide an answer to the question “why” - and “why” only - behind the phenomenon of political violence."(pg 6)Pages: 51engWith permission of the license/copyright holderdiscourse ethicsjust warcrime against humanityPolitical ethicsEthics of political systemsEthics of lawRights based legal ethicsDevelopment ethicsBook