08 April 2022 | h 14:00-15:30 (CET)

Antonella Acinapura, Queen’s University Belfast

Framing reality, choosing the tactic. The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine and the Second Intifada (2000-2005)

Abstract

During the Second Intifada (2000-2005), the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (PIJ) employed a wide range of tactics against Israeli targets. Although political violence has long been the subject of academic inquiry in different fields, few studies focus on the role of shared perceptions and discursive practices in influencing the type, timing, and evolution of tactics. Towards addressing this gap, this research examines how framing informs the selection and evolution of specific and different tactics over the time. Drawing upon a new dataset on PIJ repertoires of actions and a frame analysis of PIJ documentation, the findings indicate that militant groups constantly shift their tactics in accordance with the way they perceive and communicate about their social reality. Moreover, in moving beyond the impasse of ‘why political violence’, this research offers an understanding of militant Islamism as pragmatic and flexible, whose complexity challenges simple labelling, such that of ‘radical’ and ‘terrorist’ organizations as a whole.

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