Palestinian Islamic Jihad: Islamist Writings on Resistance and Religion

Founded in 1981, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PJ) is one of the most important yet least understood Palestinian armed factions, both in terms of its history and ideology. Yet no in-depth translation of its ideological corpus
exists. This book is the first to provide a comprehensive account of the ideology of PIJ in the movement’s own words. Based on the author’s extensive fieldwork and archival research in the occupied Palestinian territories |
and Lebanon, the book comprises the PlJ’s written texts produced since 1979, translated here into English for the first time. In addition to the primary texts, the book includes expert commentary from the author for each
source to help explain the context and the broader significance of the documents. The key contention of the book is that although PlJ employs Islamic signifiers and symbolism, its ideology is strikingly similar to the anti-
colonialism of the PLO in the 1960s, and in stark contrast to Hamas. A comprehensive resource on the PIJ, it covers: – PlJ beliefs about the Palestinian problem – what type of Islamism the PIJ espouses – how the PlJ
regards Shiites and Iran – how it can be understood as an Islamist organization – what it envisions for Palestinian society in the future This is the only sourcebook available on the PIJ.