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Nabih Berri and Lebanese Politics the MIDDLE EAST in FOCUS Nabih Berri and Lebanese Politics THE MIDDLE EAST IN FOCUS The Middle East has become simultaneously the world’s most controversial, crisis-ridden, and yet least-understood region. Taking new perspectives on the area that has undergone the most dramatic changes, the Middle East in Focus series, edited by Barry Rubin, seeks to bring the best, most accurate expertise to bear for understanding the area’s countries, issues, and prob- lems. The resulting books are designed to be balanced, accurate, and com- prehensive compendiums of both facts and analysis presented clearly for both experts and the general reader. Series Editor: Barry Rubin Director, Global Research International Affairs (GLORIA) Center Editor, Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal Editor, Turkish Studies Turkish Dynamics: Bridge across Troubled Lands By Ersin Kalaycıog˘lu Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos By Patrick Clawson and Michael Rubin Hybrid Sovereignty in the Arab Middle East: The Cases of Kuwait, Jordan, and Iraq By Gokhan Bacik The Politics of Intelligence and American Wars with Iraq By Ofira Seliktar Hezbollah: The Story of the Party of God: From Revolution to Institutionalization By Eitan Azani Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisis Edited by Barry Rubin The Muslim Brotherhood: The Organization and Policies of a Global Islamist Movement Edited by Barry Rubin Nabih Berri and Lebanese Politics By Omri Nir Nabih Berri and Lebanese Politics Omri Nir NABIH BERRI AND LEBANESE POLITICS Copyright © Omri Nir, 2011. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-10535-5 All rights reserved. First published in 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-28976-9 ISBN 978-0-230-11763-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230117631 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Nir, Omri. Nabih Berri and Lebanese politics / Omri Nir. p. cm. 1. Birri, Nabih. 2. Politicians—Lebanon—Biography. 3. Lebanon—Politics and government—1975–1990. 4. Lebanon—Politics and government— 1990– 5. Amal (Movement) 6. Shiites—Political activity—Lebanon. I. Title. DS87.2.B57N57 2010 956.9204Ј4092—dc22 2010028506 [B] A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: February 2011 Contents Note on Transliteration vi List of Abbreviations vii Series Editor’s Foreword ix Preface x Introduction 1 1. Nabih Berri’s Early Years 17 2. From a Marginal Militia Leader to a Key Man 29 3. A Fight for Survival: Leading Amal and the Shi‘ites in the Jungle of the Civil War 53 4. Serving as Speaker: Reaching National Status; Losing Shi‘ite Hegemony 91 5. Berri’s Political Stands 153 Conclusions 177 Notes 185 Bibliography 211 Index 219 Note on Transliteration The book uses a simplified version of the rules adopted by the International Journal of Middle East Studies to transliterate words in Arabic. In general, I did not use diacritical marks, except the letter ‘Ayn (‘) and the Hamza (’). For persons and places whose names frequently appear in the media in dif- ferent ways, or in French or English forms, I used these versions (hence Berri and not Birri, Chamoun and not Sham‘un, ‘Aoun and not ‘Awn, Khomeini and not Khumayni). Arabic names of books and articles are translated to English in the endnotes, and written both in their transliteration and trans- lation in the bibliography. Abbreviations GCLW General Confederation of Lebanese Workers IDF Israeli Defense Forces LBP Lebanese Ba‘ath Party LCP Lebanese Communist Party LF Lebanese Forces LNM Lebanese National Movement MECS Middle East Contemporary Survey NBN National Broadcasting Network PLO Palestine Liberation Organization PSP Progressive Socialist Party SLA South Lebanon Army SSIC Supreme Shi‘ite Islamic Council SSNP Syrian Social Nationalist Party UN United Nation US United States Series Editor’s Foreword Nabih Berri is one of the most interesting political figures in modern Middle East history, from a country, Lebanon, that has produced more such people than any other place in the region. Berri’s importance springs not so much from his power and personality— though as speaker of Lebanon’s parliament he has been a key figure in the complex maneuverings of modern Lebanese politics—but in a real sense from his failure. The key issue in post–civil war Lebanese politics has been the struggle between two sides or control over Lebanon. On one hand, there is Syria, Iran, Hizballah, Amal, and a number of smaller groups, an alliance that seeks to dominate the country. The key sup- porters of this within Lebanon come from the Shi‘a Muslim community. On the other hand, there is the coalition of Sunni, Maronite Christian, Druze, and other groups that opposes Syrian influence. This alliance has looked to the West for support, but such aid was usually lacking. In this framework, Berri as the leader of Amal, the Shi‘a group that I will call communal nationalist, is a client of Syria. As such, he has played an important role in this second “civil war.” There is another dimension, however, to Berri’s role. Within the Shi‘a community his group is the competitor of Hizballah and thus features in the broader battle between nationalists and Islamists throughout the region. Although the Hizballah-Amal relationship is not one of open conflict and enmity—they are on the same side of the Lebanese political divide—they are nonetheless rivals for leadership of the Shi‘a community. It is this double role that gives Berri’s story a special degree of interest. Why hasn’t Amal triumphed over Hizballah? How is Shi‘a communal iden- tity and organization shaped? Will Hizballah achieve hegemony over the Shi‘as or could countervailing forces prevent or even reverse its power? This book, then, answers many questions about Berri, Amal, the Shi‘as, Lebanon, and wider questions that lie at the center of the region’s current politics and debates. BARRY RUBIN, Series Editor Director, Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center Preface This book focuses on Nabih Berri, one of the most prominent figures in Lebanese and Arab politics in the last 30 years. Berri has been continuously leading the Shi‘ite Amal movement since 1980 and has been Parliament speaker since 1992. During this period, Berri played a part in many of the military and political events in Lebanon and the Middle East. The book is based on a large variety of sources, mainly from Lebanese and Arab media. The fact that Nabih Berri is very open to the media, and expresses his positions on every matter on the public agenda in Lebanon, provides a very wide range of information about him and his world view. Its sources also include memoirs, including those of Berri himself, and materials published by the Amal movement. The Internet was widely relied upon in writing this book, as it affords an easy access to official publications, elec- tronic media, and blogs. Academic publications on the Lebanese Shi‘a, as well as journalistic commentary, also contributed to the understanding of Berri in a wide perspective. Nabih Berri is not only an important Lebanese leader, but he is also a prominent representative of the new Shi‘ite politics in Arab countries. The Shi‘ites in general, and the Arabs among them in particular, have undergone massive change since the last quarter of the twentieth century. The 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran has played a central role in this change, includ- ing in the split among Arab Shi‘ites regarding the means they wish to use in order to better the inferior position they hold in their various countries. The Islamic revolution led to the establishment of radical Shi‘ite Islamic movements in Arab countries, movements which have sought to promote a religious agenda inspired by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The same pro- cess occurred in Lebanon, where the leadership of the Shi‘ite community is divided between two main streams. The first, led by Nabih Berri and Amal, sees itself primarily as a nationalist Lebanese and Arab movement. The sec- ond, led by Hizballah, sees itself primarily as a religious Islamic movement, apart from its Lebanese identity and its close ties to Iran. The literature on the Lebanese Shi‘a has undergone a process similar to the one the community itself has experienced. After years in which the com- munity was perceived as insignificant and was therefore ignored, Western and Arab literature became aware of their presence. At the same time, the Shi‘a in Lebanon started to awaken in the mid-1970s. Tom Sicking and Shereen Khairallah were the first to recognize the Shi‘ite awakening and to Preface xi publish an article about it.1 Amal’s rise in the next decade and the increas- ing importance of the Shi‘ites during the Lebanese civil war resulted in the publishing of two fundamental books concerning the Lebanese Shi‘a in the mid 1980s, The Vanished Imam, by Fouad Ajami, and Amal and the Shi‘a, by Augustus Richard Norton.2 Both dealt with the rise of Amal and the Shi‘ite younger generation identified with it. Since these two books were published, Amal has gradually become the representative of the mod- erate secular portion of the Lebanese Shi‘a, which has been neglected ever since in the literature as a result of the increasing importance and domi- nance of the Islamic fundamentalist stream led by Hizballah.
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