Jean-François Legrain
Jean-François Legrain has been retired since April 2021 after having been a CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research) researcher since 1990 and a member of the Institut de Recherches et d’Etudes sur le Monde Arabe et Musulman (IREMAM)/Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l’Homme (MMSH) in Aix-en-Provence since 2012. He has been also a lecturer at Aix Marseille Université.
Former researcher at the Institut Français d’Études Arabes in Damascus (1976-77, 1986-87), the Centre d’Études et de Documentation Économique, Juridique et Sociale in Cairo (1987-1992), and the Centre d’Études et de Recherches sur le Moyen-Orient Contemporain in Amman and Jerusalem (1992-1994), he has been a member of the Groupe de Recherches et d’Études sur la Méditerranée et le Moyen-Orient (GREMMO) (1994-2012). He has taught at the Institut catholique in Paris (1979-1986) and the Institut d’’Études Politiques in Lyon (1995-2002, 2010).
Author of the "Chronologie palestinienne" in the Revue d’Études palestiniennes (Paris) (1982-1987), he has also been a member of the editorial committee of the quaterly Égypte-Monde arabe (Cairo) (1990-1992), a member of the editorial committee and later the editor-in-chief of the academic journal Maghreb-Machrek (Paris) (1995-2004), a member of the board of directors of the quarterly Cahiers d’Études sur la Méditerranée Orientale et le Monde Turco-iranien (CEMOTI) (Paris) (2002-2008) and a member of the publishing committee of the Publications de la Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée (Lyon) (2011-2012). Since 2001, he is the editor-in-chief and webmaster of the “Guides de la recherche-sur-Web" (http://www.mom.fr/guides/) at the Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée. Since 2012, he is a member of the scientific committee of Égypte-Monde arabe (Cairo).
His researches mainly relate to Palestinian political mobilizations in the West Bank and the Gaza strip. As a contemporary historian and a arabist, he is also concerned with the methodological questions raised by the inclusion of internet documents in a research corpus.
His publications are available on https://iremam-base.cnrs.fr/.
Former researcher at the Institut Français d’Études Arabes in Damascus (1976-77, 1986-87), the Centre d’Études et de Documentation Économique, Juridique et Sociale in Cairo (1987-1992), and the Centre d’Études et de Recherches sur le Moyen-Orient Contemporain in Amman and Jerusalem (1992-1994), he has been a member of the Groupe de Recherches et d’Études sur la Méditerranée et le Moyen-Orient (GREMMO) (1994-2012). He has taught at the Institut catholique in Paris (1979-1986) and the Institut d’’Études Politiques in Lyon (1995-2002, 2010).
Author of the "Chronologie palestinienne" in the Revue d’Études palestiniennes (Paris) (1982-1987), he has also been a member of the editorial committee of the quaterly Égypte-Monde arabe (Cairo) (1990-1992), a member of the editorial committee and later the editor-in-chief of the academic journal Maghreb-Machrek (Paris) (1995-2004), a member of the board of directors of the quarterly Cahiers d’Études sur la Méditerranée Orientale et le Monde Turco-iranien (CEMOTI) (Paris) (2002-2008) and a member of the publishing committee of the Publications de la Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée (Lyon) (2011-2012). Since 2001, he is the editor-in-chief and webmaster of the “Guides de la recherche-sur-Web" (http://www.mom.fr/guides/) at the Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée. Since 2012, he is a member of the scientific committee of Égypte-Monde arabe (Cairo).
His researches mainly relate to Palestinian political mobilizations in the West Bank and the Gaza strip. As a contemporary historian and a arabist, he is also concerned with the methodological questions raised by the inclusion of internet documents in a research corpus.
His publications are available on https://iremam-base.cnrs.fr/.
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This research establishes an inventory of the phobias and propaganda developed around the so-called “Shiitization” of Palestine as the cement of an “axis” of destabilization. Even if these phobias are usually religious and the propaganda political in nature, both tend to excel in mutual instrumentalization. I show that these types of discourse, beyond their superficial differences, centre on a common “conspiracy theory” (i.e. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran are thought to form one ensemble, with every element being, in fine, enslaved to the interests of Iran alone, the “enemy” of peace and stability in the Greater Middle East).
Three main aspects of the “threat” are questioned: the “spread” of the Shiite faith, the “fascination” with revolutionary Iran and the “uniqueness” of the Iranian, Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian projects.
In this context, Hamas fits in many aspects in the legacy of Arab nationalism. Born from the Muslim Brotherhood, it acts from the outset in a colonialist context. Moreover, the post-colonial nation-states are his partners or opponents in an Arab system in which it intends to have a place. Palestine, finally, provides the framework and the geographical limits of its struggle unlike internationalist jihadist movements.
Beyond the illusory projects of Arab unity and boundaries of nation-states, Arab nationalism seems at the same time to persist. Arabism –this culture backed by a common language- is experienced by Arabic speakers in an undeniable sense of community. Possibly supported by the Islamic identity, it appears today still able to mobilize people around the issue of Palestine and the Holy Places. Such transnational mobilizations, however, remain in the majority of cases within the postcolonial nation-states borders.
This research establishes an inventory of the phobias and propaganda developed around the so-called “Shiitization” of Palestine as the cement of an “axis” of destabilization. Even if these phobias are usually religious and the propaganda political in nature, both tend to excel in mutual instrumentalization. I show that these types of discourse, beyond their superficial differences, centre on a common “conspiracy theory” (i.e. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran are thought to form one ensemble, with every element being, in fine, enslaved to the interests of Iran alone, the “enemy” of peace and stability in the Greater Middle East).
Three main aspects of the “threat” are questioned: the “spread” of the Shiite faith, the “fascination” with revolutionary Iran and the “uniqueness” of the Iranian, Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian projects.
In this context, Hamas fits in many aspects in the legacy of Arab nationalism. Born from the Muslim Brotherhood, it acts from the outset in a colonialist context. Moreover, the post-colonial nation-states are his partners or opponents in an Arab system in which it intends to have a place. Palestine, finally, provides the framework and the geographical limits of its struggle unlike internationalist jihadist movements.
Beyond the illusory projects of Arab unity and boundaries of nation-states, Arab nationalism seems at the same time to persist. Arabism –this culture backed by a common language- is experienced by Arabic speakers in an undeniable sense of community. Possibly supported by the Islamic identity, it appears today still able to mobilize people around the issue of Palestine and the Holy Places. Such transnational mobilizations, however, remain in the majority of cases within the postcolonial nation-states borders.
La scène rap de Gaza, comme toute scène rap de par le monde, ne saurait être appréhendée comme un en-soi. Elle s’inscrit, certes, dans un contexte local (gazaoui), national (palestinien) et linguistique (arabophone). Mais elle fonctionne également, dans son inspiration comme dans ses références, dans des allers-retours avec la scène internationale plus particulièrement américaine. Après avoir esquissé les traits les plus saillants de l’histoire et de la cartographie du rap gazaoui de ses origines vers 2003 à 2013 et dressé l’état de ses ambitions tant esthétiques que sociales et politiques, je m’interroge sur la pertinence du choix du rap comme vecteur de mobilisation. Sur la base de la sociologie spécifique des rappeurs gazaouis, je pose in fine la question de la tension entre, d’une part, le dit de la dénonciation d’un enfermement et de l’aspiration à la libération nationale et à la démocratie et, d’autre part, le non-dit du malaise vécu au sein de cette société gazaouie sur laquelle se sont tardivement greffées les familles de ces rappeurs pour beaucoup venues de l’exil à l’occasion du retour de Yasser Arafat en 1995.