Islamic Jihad

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This article is about particular organizations known as Islamic Jihad. For the general Islamic idea of jihad as a "holy war," see Jihad.

Islamic Jihad (Arabic: ‎, Harakat al-Jihad al-Islami) is a militant Islamist group based in the Syrian capital, Damascus. In the Western world, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is the organization usually meant by the term "Islamic Jihad", due to the widespread media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This organization is led by Sheikh Abdullah Ramadan.

Islamic Jihad is also a name used by various other Islamist groups, including the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and the Yemeni Islamic Jihad. The name has been used by groups since the April 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut in order to claim responsibility for attacks. Hezbollah is believed to have used the name in the 1980s to claim responsibility for attacks in Lebanon, parts of the Middle East, and Europe.

The name Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO) is the one used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or Pasdaran, as a cover name for state sanctioned terrorist operations. The order for 1983 US embassy bombing most likely originated high up in the Iranian authority, and the IJO made the claim that they carried out the embassy bombing¹.

Islamic Jihad was also briefly mentioned in the Hollywood blockbuster TRUE LIES.

References

Note 1: Baer, Robert. 2002. See No Evil Three Rivers Press, New York, New York.

Islamic Jihad

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