Salafism and political Islam in Palestine and the Arab world - a Workshop

The Ibrahim Abu Lughod Institute of International Studies and the Faculty of Law and Public Administration at BZU held a workshop entitled:" Salafism and political Islam in Palestine and the Arab world" on 18 January 2011. It was attended by a number of specialized teachers and a number of MA students of Law, International Studies, democracy and human rights, as well as  undergraduate students of political science.

 The workshop comprised two sessions, one addressed the Salafists and political Islam in Palestine, while the second session has focused on the same perspective in the Arab world.

The 1st session was chaired by the  professor of history and international relations at BZU, Dr.. Roger Heacock, addressing the Salafist challenges facing the rule of Hamas in Gaza Strip. The political science professor , Dr. Basem al-Zubaidi, confirmed that Hamas faces a number of challenges, most importantly, how to manage the rivalry with the PLO in order to obtain political legitimacy, and how to enhance its ability to get the recognition as the sole representative of Palestinian political Islam.

The Director of the master's program in democracy and human rights at  BZU, Dr.. Helga Baumgarten, addressed political Islam in Palestine, asserting that the Hamas movement in Palestine focuses on a religious national identity, driving Palestinian nationalism one  step backwards.

The other session was chaired by the Dean of the Faculty of Law and Public Administration, Dr.Saleh Abdel Jawad, addressing violence in modern Yemen, Islamic Shiite Movement in the Middle East, which is spread in the whereabouts of the Shiite Muslims in the Middle East such as Iraq and Bahrain, followed by other speakers.