Abstract
Minimizing a religious explanation for Islamic terrorism, several analysts emphasize political and socioeconomic causes: the Arab-Israeli conflict, which Arabs view as an unendurable humiliation; the extension of Western political power and cultural influence into the Middle East, which is seen as still another humiliation; and the economic hardships that grip the Arab masses, which provide recruits for terrorist organizations. Shmuel Bar, a veteran of the Israeli intelligence community and a senior research fellow at an Israeli think-tank, recognizes the importance of these factors but maintains that they do “not do justice to the significance of the religious culture in which [Islamic terrorism] is rooted and nurtured,” a culture in which there is no distinction between religion and politics. His essay examines the religious-ideological motivation for Islamic terrorism.
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© 2008 Marvin Perry and Howard E. Negrin
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Bar, S. (2008). The Religious Sources of Islamic Terrorism. In: Perry, M., Negrin, H.E. (eds) The Theory and Practice of Islamic Terrorism. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230616509_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230616509_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-0-230-60864-1
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-61650-9
eBook Packages: Palgrave Religion & Philosophy CollectionPhilosophy and Religion (R0)