Selected Books and Chapters
Faith and Resistance: The Politics of Love and War in Lebanon (London: Pluto Press, 2018).
This book explores the rise of Shi‘i activism in Lebanon and across the Middle East, drawing parallels to other theologies of liberation in the region as well as in Latin America and South Africa. Based on more than two years of ethnographic fieldwork in Lebanon and using a Gramscian framework, it carefully looks at the Islamic Resistance Movement in particular, focusing on the social institutions affiliated with Hizbullah and its allies to better understand how resistance is lived in daily lives, as well as how a culture of resistance is reproduced within the community. This book also critically analyses how the resistance movement is negotiating its newly acquired political and economic powers in relation to its activist origins, asking what impact this negotiation may have on the wider resistance project and decolonial aspirations globally. The preface and intro are available below.
Based on extensive empirical research, this chapter looks at the American personalities and foundations funding the 14 most influential organisations peddling Islamophobia in the United States, Europe and Israel (many of which share personnel or advisors). Out of the 60 US-based funders I uncovered, which donated tens of millions to Islamophobia between 2009-2013, my research shows that 45 of them also financed pro-occupation groups and illegal Israeli settlements, giving almost $169 million during the same five years – all tax exempt. Furthermore, the five largest donors all give generously to Republican causes. A copy of the chapter is available below.
Selected Articles
Abstract: The Arab uprisings ushered an unrealistic level of euphoria across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA); however, ten years on, most of the same dictatorships continue to rule and reactionary forces have only become more powerful. For many, the Arab street has become a more dangerous, even dystopic, place. With democracy curtailed and economic prosperity an unlikely possibility in the near future, some writers and artists in the MENA region are turning away from the nightmares of the present towards the futuristic lands of science fiction and fantasy, imaginary places where they have the freedom to openly reflect upon their predicament. Indeed, it is reported that dystopian literature in Arabic fiction has proliferated in recent years. The same trend can be seen in art: a 2016 exhibition in London billed itself as ‘a dazzling journey into the future of Palestine—through both utopian and dystopian visions of what lies ahead’. In this article, I first briefly detail the recent oppression in Egypt and Palestine—what I call the dystopian present—including against artists and writers. I then look at the contemporary role of art and literature as social critique.
Abstract: The transatlantic Islamophobia industry, emboldened by US intelligence efforts to entrap Muslims, appears to have helped to increase permissible levels of Islamophobia across the US, as illustrated by the fiery anti-Muslim rhetoric during the 2016 presidential campaign. In this article, I first look at five key leaders of the Islamophobia industry who also claim to be “terrorism experts” and have links to US and Israeli intelligence. I then describe US law enforcement’s mass surveillance of Muslims and its invention of terrorists, including a map of the “successful terrorist prosecutions” claimed by the US Department of Justice, most of which were tried only as criminal cases. Finally, I explore in-depth the case against the Holy Land Foundation, a Muslim charity based in Texas that was run by Palestinian-Americans and targeted by both the state and the Islamophobia industry for its dubious links to “terrorism”, helping to legitimate the Bush W. Administration’s “War on Terror”. I argue that this nexus of intelligence and Islamophobia has empowered anti-Muslim voices that were formerly marginal.
Selected Blogs
‘The brothers who funded Blair, Israeli settlements and Islamophobia,’ Middle East Eye, 13 August 2015. Co-authored with David Miller.
‘An insight into Palestinian resilience in Gaza,’ Middle East Monitor, 14 January 2014.
Dr. Sarah Marusek 