DOCSLIB.ORG

Ohiou1304607892.Pdf (1.6

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Ohiou1304607892.Pdf (1.6 Paths toward the Nation: Islamic Identity, the Eritrean Muslim League and Nationalist Mobilization, 1941-61 A dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Joseph L. Venosa June 2011 © 2011 Joseph L. Venosa. All rights reserved 2 This dissertation titled Paths toward the Nation: Islamic Identity, the Eritrean Muslim League and Nationalist Mobilization, 1941-61 by JOSEPH L. VENOSA has been approved for the Department of History and the College of Arts and Sciences by _________________________________________________ Nicholas M. Creary Assistant Professor of History __________________________________________________ Benjamin M. Ogles Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 3 ABSTRACT VENOSA, JOSEPH L, Ph.D., June 2011, History Paths toward the Nation: Islamic Identity, the Eritrean Muslim League and Nationalist Mobilization, 1941-61 Director of Dissertation: Nicholas M. Creary This dissertation examines the trajectory of nationalism within Eritrea’s Muslim communities during the two decades between the end of Italian colonial rule and the beginning of Eritrea’s war of independence against Ethiopia. Specifically, this study looks at how varying ideas about “Muslim identity” within Eritrea’s Islamic intelligentsia influenced the wider nationalist mobilization among activists who rejected any form of political union with Ethiopia even as international pressure to support “unionism” increased. The study also investigates how shifting ideas of Eritrean national consciousness developed alongside external trends such as pan-Islam and Nasserism. Anchored in Arabic and Tigrinya language sources, oral testimonies, and often overlooked British colonial archives, the contributions of Muslim intellectual activists are examined in relation to their significance within the Eritrean Muslim League, the largest and most prominent nationalist organization that emerged during the period. By using the Eritrean Muslim League as the primary lens of analysis, my study addresses the various ways in which League leaders worked to build the organization as a truly “national” party irrespective of religion. Indeed, one of the major underlying themes in the study is the importance of inter-religious cooperation between Muslim and Christian nationalists. This dissertation thus illustrates the various ways in which 4 Eritrea’s Muslim leaders used the legacy of Islam as a vehicle to build cooperation with like-minded Christian nationalists across the country. Consequently, the study combines elements of political, social and intellectual history to examine the often complex relationship between religious and national identity in post-World War II Eritrean society. Approved: ______________________________________________________________ Nicholas M. Creary Assistant Professor of History 5 DEDICATION To my parents, Louis Venosa and Francine Galati Venosa 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to my advisor and mentor Nicholas M. Creary for his constant encouragement and enthusiasm for my research and overall intellectual development during the course of this project. Since taking my first African history course with Dr. Creary in 2006, he has been a source of tremendous inspiration and guidance. His care and investment in my academic progress has made my time at Ohio University much more rewarding and enjoyable than I could have ever imagined. Likewise, I owe a tremendous debt and thanks to Jonathan Miran. From the start of this project, Dr. Miran has been an enthusiastic supporter, mentor and friend who has generously shared his expertise on Islam and Eritrean History to enrich my dissertation in a variety of ways. I am especially grateful for his substantive analytical feedback at every stage of the writing process. Without his participation and investment in my work, this project quite simply would have not been possible. I am also thankful to the other members of my dissertation committee, Sholeh Quinn and Robin Muhammad, for their invaluable feedback and insight in helping me to make this project as strong and intellectually relevant as possible. African Studies Director W. Stephen Howard and Associate Director Ghirmai Negash have both loomed large in my graduate school career and throughout the course of this project. Beyond serving as key members of my dissertation committee, both have been major supporters who have also helped provide me with generous financial support since I first entered Ohio University’s African Studies program, particularly with regard to the study of Tigrinya and Sudanese Arabic through multiple Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) 7 fellowships. Acacia Nikoi has also been a source of great administrative help and institutional support within African Studies. Ohio University’s Department of History has also offered constant encouragement and assistance since I entered the PhD program in September 2007, especially in regards to providing several travel grants that I was fortunate enough to receive for the US-based portions of my archival research. I am also grateful to Ohio University’s Contemporary History Institute (CHI) for their generous financial support throughout the duration of my project. I am especially grateful to CHI director Steve Miner for providing me with a doctoral writing fellowship for the 2010-11 academic year that made completing this project possible. Kara Dunfee at CHI and Sherry Gillogy in the Department of History have both made my life considerably easier due to their constant administrative assistance and good humor through all my endless queries. I am indebted to my friends Patrick Campbell and Meredith Hohe, who were kind enough to take time out of their busy schedules to provide invaluable comments and insightful critiques of early draft chapters. Likewise, friends and colleagues Gerald F. Goodwin, Chrissy Matzen, Kevin Grimm, Joel Frary, Bryan Wortmann and Marlene De La Cruz Guzman have been instrumental in framing various aspects of the project and in encouraging me to address difficult research questions for a broader audience. While researching this dissertation, several talented friends and scholars have assisted me in the sometimes difficult process of primary source translation. In particular, professors Asmina Guta and Mariya Chakir have been selfless in helping me at various points of this project on particular Arabic texts. I have also been blessed to 8 receive the help of knowledgeable friends both in Eritrea and across the wider diaspora. In particular, Nebil Ahmed and Umar Tesfai Muhammad have contributed immensely by sharing their knowledge and insights on various aspects of contemporary Eritrean history. I am also grateful to the members of the Eritrean Muslim Council of North America for their assistance in the course of my research. A special thank you is also in order to Günter Schröder for allowing me access to his extensive collection of primary source materials and interviews of former members of the Eritrean Liberation Movement (ELM) and Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF). By far the biggest thank you owed is to my wife Sabrina Amanuel Sahle, who has been kind enough to suffer along with the sometimes incoherent rants of a frustrated history student. This project, and more importantly the life outside of it, would not have been possible without her… I am also thankful to my sisters Gina and Linda Venosa for their love and support throughout these past few years and in spite of their older brother’s long exile from the New York/New Jersey area. My surrogate “brother” Ben Shaw has been nothing short of amazing in his friendship and support for me throughout the years and I could not have finished this task without his encouragement. Lastly, I am grateful to my parents, Louis and Francine Venosa. Their support for all my endeavors has been overshadowed only by the influence of their life-long lessons about the need for compassion, respect and understanding toward others. Such values have served as the foundation from which I have approached the study of African history. This dissertation is dedicated to them. 9 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………….....3 DEDICATION…………………………………………………………………………….5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...............................................................................................6 ABBREVIATIONS………………………...…………………………………………....11 NOTE ON LANGUAGE AND TERMINOLOGY…………………………………..….12 GLOSSARY…………………………………………………………….……………….13 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: ISLAM, IDENTITY AND THE CULTURAL POLITICS OF ERITREAN NATIONALISM……………………………......…14 CHAPTER 2: ‘SERFS,’ SCHOLARS AND CIVICS: THE DYNAMICS OF MUSLIM IDENTITY IN BRITISH-OCCUPIED ERITREA, APRIL 1941-NOVEMBER 1946………………………………………………………………….……….…..46 CHAPTER 3: BUILDING A CAUSE FOR ALL ERITREAN MUSLIMS: THE MUSLIM LEAGUE AND THE INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT, NOVEMBER 1946-DECEMBER 1947……………………………………………….....……..99 CHAPTER 4: WEATHERING THE STORM: THE MUSLIM LEAGUE AND THE WIDER INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT, JANUARY 1948-SEPTEMBER 1949………………………………………………………………..…..………..157 CHAPTER 5: DELEGITIMIZING RIVALS AND MAINTAINING MOMEMENTUM: MUSLIM LEAGUE STRUGGLES, SEPTEMBER 1949-DECEMBER 1950…………………………………………………………………….…….....198 10 CHAPTER 6: THE FIRST LINE AGAINST SECOND CLASS CITZENSHIP: THE MUSLIM LEAGUE, INSTITUTIONAL AUTONOMY AND POLITICAL REPRESENTATION ON THE FEDERATION’S EVE, JANUARY 1951- SEPTEMBER 1952……………………………………………………….…....230 CHAPTER 7: NEGOCIATING AUTONOMY WITHIN THE FEDERATION, OCTOBER 1952-DECEMBER 1957…………………………………….…....278
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 2004-Final-Program.Pdf
    2004 Hawaii International Conference on Education Honolulu, Hawaii Welcome to the Second Annual Hawaii International Conference on Education Aloha! We welcome you to the Second Annual Hawaii International Conference on Education. This event offers a rare opportunity for academics and other professionals from around the world to share their broad array of perspectives. True to its primary goal, this conference provides those with cross-disciplinary interests related to education to meet and interact with others inside and outside their own discipline. The international attendees to this conference bring a variety of viewpoints shaped by different cultures, languages, geography and politics. This diversity is also captured in the Hawaii International Conference’s unique cross-disciplinary approach. The resulting interaction energizes research as well as vocation. With Waikiki Beach, Diamond Head and the vast South Pacific as the backdrop, this venue is an important dimension of this conference. For centuries a stopping place of explorers, Hawaii has historically been enriched by the blend of ideas that have crossed our shores. The Hawaii International Conference on Education continues this tradition in the nurturing spirit of Aloha. Along with its ideal weather and striking beauty, the Hawaiian Islands provide natural elements to inspire learning and dialogue. The 2003 conference was a great success. We hosted more than 1,200 participants representing more than 40 countries. Thank you for joining the 2004 Hawaii International Conference on Education! Planning Committee Members Dr. William Pearman Dr. Melinda Wood Dr. Mary Mallott Dr. Ernest Oshiro Dr. Roland Stiller Dr. Eric Flower Dr. Terry Gregson Dr. David Yang The 2005 Hawaii International Conference on Education is scheduled for January 4 – 7, 2005.
    [Show full text]
  • Statement by Ms. Daniela Kravetz, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human in Eritrea
    [Check against delivery] STATEMENT BY MS. DANIELA KRAVETZ, UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE SITUATION OF HUMAN IN ERITREA Seventy-fifth session of the General Assembly Third Committee Item 72(c) NEW YORK 26 October 2020 1 Mr. Chairperson, distinguishes delegates, ladies and gentlemen. It is with great honour that I present my oral update on the situation of human rights in Eritrea. It has been two years since the peace agreement with Ethiopia and the lifting of the UN sanctions on Eritrea. In this period, Eritrea has strengthened its cooperation with neighboring countries. Yet, Eritrea’s increased engagement at the regional level has not translated into reforms in the country. In my May 2020 report, I set out five benchmarks for progress in human rights and noted the lack of meaningful and substantive improvement in relation to these areas. Since the publication of my report, there have been limited signs of progress. On the issue of political prisoners, there has been no progress. This lack of progress was most recently acknowledged by the European Parliament in a resolution adopted earlier this month, which focused on the case of Dawit Isaak and noted the pervasiveness of arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances in Eritrea. Dawit Isaak is a Swedish-Eritrean journalist who has been held for over 19 years in Eritrea, without charge or trial. His case is not an isolated one. This December will mark the 8th year since the arrest of Ciham Ali Abdu, an American-Eritrean woman who has been held incommunicado since the age of 15. She was arrested as she tried to flee the country in December 2012, and has not been heard of since.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Administration Reform in Eritrea: Past Trends and Emerging Challenges
    Vol. 6(3) pp. 44-58, September 2014 DOI: 10.5897/JPAPR2014.0285 Article Number: 1CFE3AB47302 Journal of Public Administration and Policy ISSN 2141-2480 Copyright © 2014 Research Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/JPAPR Full Length Research Paper Public administration reform in Eritrea: Past trends and emerging challenges GebreMichael Kibreab Habtom College of Business and Economics, University of Asmara, Eritrea. Received 6 May, 2014; Accepted 18 August, 2014 Public administration has always been the tool available to African governments for the implementation of developmental goals and objectives. It is seen as being crucial to the growth and development of African economies. To this end efforts have been made in many African countries to increase efficiency through decentralization, restructuring and privatization. This study presents Eritrea’s public administration reform experience, and assesses the extent to which Eritrea has taken up New Public Management reforms. The aim is to show the outcome of reforms on civil service, public enterprises and local government management. It is found that in Eritrea there is a need for periodic review and continuous administrative reform. In the civil service there are absence of promotion, retirement, and lack of competitive wages and salary increments. In local government there are lack of administrative capacity, absence of clear accountability lines and fiscal decentralization, and lack of coordination and information sharing among local government units and line ministries. The Eritrean government should now emphasize on investment in developing human capital towards effective policy formulation, analysis, implementation and evaluation, and on the reform of the public sector itself besides privatization aimed at allowing public enterprises to operate more efficiently and effectively.
    [Show full text]
  • New Perspectives on the Agordat Material, Eritrea
    NYAME AKUMA No. 68 DECEMBER 2007 ERITREA In general, the site has rendered 1469 sherds and 3958 lithic artefacts, flaked and polished tools New perspectives on the Agordat such as mace heads, stone palettes, grinders, stone material, Eritrea: A re-examination of bracelets, stone bowls, net sinkers (?), as well as pen- the archaeological material in the dants and polished axes with metal prototypes1. An National Museum, Khartoum animal figurine (made of petrified wood), beads made of faience, and bronze objects were also found. Alemseged Beldados Among the flaked stone aritfacts, obsidian debitage c/o Dr. Andrea Manzo constitutes the largest proportion. Obsidian does not Piazza S. Domenico Maggiore seem to appear locally and must have been brought 12-80134 Napoli (Palazzo Coriglali), Italy to the site (Beldados 2006). In the inventory work of E-mail: [email protected] the Agordat material, it was possible to study almost all of the artifacts except those under inventory Randi Haaland number; 4737, 4550, and 4508, which are missing Unifob Global (Beldados 2006). Nygaardsgt 5 University of Bergen 5007 Bergen, Norway Dating the archaeological material E-mail: [email protected] The material is very rich and varied, but is dif- Anwar Magid ficult to date it since it is only based on surface finds. Centre for Africa Studies However there are some artifacts and features which University of the Free State can give us an indication of the age. There are sev- P. O. Box 339 eral finds of polished axes of the lugged type and so- Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • INFORMATION and COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) in EDUCATION in SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA a Comparative Analysis of Basic E-Readiness in Schools
    INFORMATION PAPER NO. 25 AUGUST 2015 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) IN EDUCATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA A comparative analysis of basic e-readiness in schools UNESCO The constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was adopted by 20 countries at the London Conference in November 1945 and entered into effect on 4 November 1946. The Organization currently has 195 Member States and 9 Associate Members. The main objective of UNESCO is to contribute to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science, culture and communication in order to foster universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and the human rights and fundamental freedoms that are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations. To fulfil its mandate, UNESCO performs five principal functions: 1) prospective studies on education, science, culture and communication for tomorrow's world; 2) the advancement, transfer and sharing of knowledge through research, training and teaching activities; 3) standard-setting actions for the preparation and adoption of internal instruments and statutory recommendations; 4) expertise through technical co-operation to Member States for their development policies and projects; and 5) the exchange of specialized information. UNESCO is headquartered in Paris, France. UNESCO Institute for Statistics The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the statistical office of UNESCO and is the UN depository for global statistics in the fields of education, science and technology, culture and communication. The UIS was established in 1999. It was created to improve UNESCO's statistical programme and to develop and deliver the timely, accurate and policy-relevant statistics needed in today’s increasingly complex and rapidly changing social, political and economic environments.
    [Show full text]
  • We're Not Nazis, But…
    August 2014 American ideals. Universal values. Acknowledgements On human rights, the United States must be a beacon. This report was made possible by the generous Activists fighting for freedom around the globe continue to support of the David Berg Foundation and Arthur & look to us for inspiration and count on us for support. Toni Rembe Rock. Upholding human rights is not only a moral obligation; it’s Human Rights First has for many years worked to a vital national interest. America is strongest when our combat hate crimes, antisemitism and anti-Roma policies and actions match our values. discrimination in Europe. This report is the result of Human Rights First is an independent advocacy and trips by Sonni Efron and Tad Stahnke to Greece and action organization that challenges America to live up to Hungary in April, 2014, and to Greece in May, 2014, its ideals. We believe American leadership is essential in as well as interviews and consultations with a wide the struggle for human rights so we press the U.S. range of human rights activists, government officials, government and private companies to respect human national and international NGOs, multinational rights and the rule of law. When they don’t, we step in to bodies, scholars, attorneys, journalists, and victims. demand reform, accountability, and justice. Around the We salute their courage and dedication, and give world, we work where we can best harness American heartfelt thanks for their counsel and assistance. influence to secure core freedoms. We are also grateful to the following individuals for We know that it is not enough to expose and protest their work on this report: Tamas Bodoky, Maria injustice, so we create the political environment and Demertzian, Hanna Kereszturi, Peter Kreko, Paula policy solutions necessary to ensure consistent respect Garcia-Salazar, Hannah Davies, Erica Lin, Jannat for human rights.
    [Show full text]
  • Country Travel Risk Summaries
    COUNTRY RISK SUMMARIES Powered by FocusPoint International, Inc. Report for Week Ending September 19, 2021 Latest Updates: Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, India, Israel, Mali, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine and Yemen. ▪ Afghanistan: On September 14, thousands held a protest in Kandahar during afternoon hours local time to denounce a Taliban decision to evict residents in Firqa area. No further details were immediately available. ▪ Burkina Faso: On September 13, at least four people were killed and several others ijured after suspected Islamist militants ambushed a gendarme patrol escorting mining workers between Sakoani and Matiacoali in Est Region. Several gendarmes were missing following the attack. ▪ Cameroon: On September 14, at least seven soldiers were killed in clashes with separatist fighters in kikaikelaki, Northwest region. Another two soldiers were killed in an ambush in Chounghi on September 11. ▪ India: On September 16, at least six people were killed, including one each in Kendrapara and Subarnapur districts, and around 20,522 others evacuated, while 7,500 houses were damaged across Odisha state over the last three days, due to floods triggered by heavy rainfall. Disaster teams were sent to Balasore, Bhadrak and Kendrapara districts. Further floods were expected along the Mahanadi River and its tributaries. ▪ Israel: On September 13, at least two people were injured after being stabbed near Jerusalem Central Bus Station during afternoon hours local time. No further details were immediately available, but the assailant was shot dead by security forces. ▪ Mali: On September 13, at least five government soldiers and three Islamist militants were killed in clashes near Manidje in Kolongo commune, Macina cercle, Segou region, during morning hours local time.
    [Show full text]
  • “The Sorrows of Egypt,” Revisited in Knowledge He Sought Years Idol Masses
    A HOOVER INSTITUTION ESSAY on A us strateGIC vision in A CHANGING WORLD “The Sorrows of Egypt,” Revisited SAMUEL TADROS The sorrow of Egypt is made of entirely different material: the steady decline of its public life, the inability of an autocratic regime and of the middle class from which this regime issues to rid the country of its dependence on foreign handouts, to transmit to the vast underclass the skills needed for the economic competition of nations; to take the country beyond its endless alternations between glory and self-pity. (Fouad Ajami, “The Sorrows of Egypt”) In his authoritative 1995 essay “The Sorrows of Egypt,”1 Fouad Ajami, with the knowledge and experience of someone who had known Egypt intimately, and the spirit and pen of a poet who had come to love the place, attempted to delve deeply into what ailed the ancient land. The essay moved masterfully from the political to the social and Islamism and the International Order International the and Islamism from the religious to the economic, weaving an exquisite tapestry of a land of sorrows. This was not the first time that Ajami had approached Egypt. The country his generation had grown up knowing was the Egypt of promise and excitement, where Gamal Abdel Nasser’s towering presence and deep voice had captivated millions of Arabic speakers. Ajami had been one of those young men. He had made the pilgrimage to Damascus, watching and cheering as Nasser made his triumphant entry into the city in 1958, crowned as the idol of the Arabs by adoring masses.
    [Show full text]
  • Explaining Irredentism: the Case of Hungary and Its Transborder Minorities in Romania and Slovakia
    Explaining irredentism: the case of Hungary and its transborder minorities in Romania and Slovakia by Julianna Christa Elisabeth Fuzesi A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of PhD in Government London School of Economics and Political Science University of London 2006 1 UMI Number: U615886 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615886 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 DECLARATION I hereby declare that the work presented in this thesis is entirely my own. Signature Date ....... 2 UNIVERSITY OF LONDON Abstract of Thesis Author (full names) ..Julianna Christa Elisabeth Fiizesi...................................................................... Title of thesis ..Explaining irredentism: the case of Hungary and its transborder minorities in Romania and Slovakia............................................................................................................................. ....................................................................................... Degree..PhD in Government............... This thesis seeks to explain irredentism by identifying the set of variables that determine its occurrence. To do so it provides the necessary definition and comparative analytical framework, both lacking so far, and thus establishes irredentism as a field of study in its own right. The thesis develops a multi-variate explanatory model that is generalisable yet succinct.
    [Show full text]
  • Eritrea: Fact-Finding Mission to Ethiopia
    ERITREA: FACT-FINDING MISSION TO ETHIOPIA IN MAY 2019 20.11.2019 Fact-finding Mission Report Country Information Service Raportti MIG-205841 06.03.00 07.04.2020 MIGDno-2019-205 Introduction This report has been prepared as part of the FAKTA project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).1 Researchers of the Finnish Immigration Service’s Country Information Service conducted a fact-finding mission regarding Eritrea to Ethiopia in May 2019. The purpose of the fact-finding mission was to gather information on the effects of the peace agreement between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the situation at the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and the situation of Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia. Another objective of the mission was to create a contact network with international and national operators. During the fact-finding mission, the researchers visited the Tigray Region near the border with Eritrea, and the capital city of Addis Ababa. The researchers interviewed international organisations and Ethiopian operators as well as Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers who had arrived in Ethiopia. The parties interviewed for this report did not want their names revealed in the report, due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter. Some of the interviewees wished to remain completely anonymous. 1 Development Project for fact-finding mission practices on country of origin information 2017–2020. PL 10 PB 10 PO Box 10 00086 Maahanmuuttovirasto 00086 Migrationsverket FI-00086 Maahanmuuttovirasto puh. 0295 430 431 tfn 0295 430 431 tel. +358 295 430 431 faksi 0295 411 720 fax 0295 411 720 fax +358 295 411 720 2 (52) Contents 1 The effects of the peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea in Eritrea .........................
    [Show full text]
  • Somalia: Al-Shabaab – It Will Be a Long War
    Policy Briefing Africa Briefing N°99 Nairobi/Brussels, 26 June 2014 Somalia: Al-Shabaab – It Will Be a Long War I. Overview Despite the recent military surge against Somalia’s armed Islamist extremist and self- declared al-Qaeda affiliate, Al-Shabaab, its conclusive “defeat” remains elusive. The most likely scenario – already in evidence – is that its armed units will retreat to small- er, remote and rural enclaves, exploiting entrenched and ever-changing clan-based competition; at the same time, other groups of radicalised and well-trained individ- uals will continue to carry out assassinations and terrorist attacks in urban areas, in- cluding increasingly in neighbouring countries, especially Kenya. The long connec- tion between Al-Shabaab’s current leadership and al-Qaeda is likely to strengthen. A critical breakthrough in the fight against the group cannot, therefore, be achieved by force of arms, even less so when it is foreign militaries, not the Somali National Army (SNA), that are in the lead. A more politically-focused approach is required. Even as its territory is squeezed in the medium term, Al-Shabaab will continue to control both money and minds. It has the advantage of at least three decades of Salafi-Wahhabi proselytisation (daawa) in Somalia; social conservatism is already strongly entrenched – including in Somaliland and among Somali minorities in neigh- bouring states – giving it deep reservoirs of fiscal and ideological support, even with- out the intimidation it routinely employs. An additional factor is the group’s proven ability to adapt, militarily and politically – flexibility that is assisted by its leadership’s freedom from direct accountability to any single constituency.
    [Show full text]
  • Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Ethiopia: the Messages of Religions
    האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים המרכז לחקר האסלאם ע“ש נחמיה לבציון The Nehemia Levtzion Center for Islamic Studies The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Ethiopia: The Messages of Religions Haggai Erlich The Fifth Annual Levtzion Lecture Jerusalem 2013 Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Ethiopia: The Messages of Religions Haggai Erlich Tel Aviv University The Nehemia Levtzion Center for Islamic Studies The Institute for Asian and African Studies The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 2013 Copyright © Haggai Erlich 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Levtzion Center and the author The Fifth Annual Levtzion Lecture was delivered at the Hebrew University, 30 April 2009 Abstract This paper provides a succinct overview of the relationships between Ethiopia – a land in which Christianity first encountered Islam, and where Judaism was already present – and the Middle East, the cradle of these religions. The paper focuses on the dialectic between historic political and strategic needs, interests and concrete options on one hand, and the reservoir of abstract notions bequeathed by these ancient religions, on the other. The main thesis is that Islam, Christianity and Judaism, far from providing monolithic messages, harbored a wide range of prescriptions for moderates and fanatics alike. Analyzing the multi- facetted legacies by which Ethiopians and their Middle Eastern neighbors conceptualized each other, the paper discusses several modern political developments and demonstrates how they were inspired by these religious interpretations and proclivities.
    [Show full text]