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Nizar Hamzeh
in the News
Local News
Media
June, 2005
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The Daily Star of June 14 published an article about
the current accusations of electoral fraud in the aftermath
of the parliamentary elections in Lebanon. The paper
published the commentary by Dr. Nizar Hamzeh, a political
science professor at AUB, who said that "there is no law in
Lebanon that prohibits spending money during elections and
this is why the culture of bribery has evolved."
April,
2005
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The Daily Star of April 1 published an article about
the political comeback of the fundamentalist Islamic
Unification Movement (Harakat at-Tawhid al-Islamiyya),
founded by Sheikh Said Shaaban, who was succeeded by his son
Bilal. The article said that according to a study published
by AUB professor Nizar Hamzeh, Shaaban lamented the Syrian
intervention of 1976 into Lebanon to help the Maronites,
who, he asserts, would have otherwise fled to Cyprus or
Latin America.
International
News Media
July,
2005
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The
Baytown Sun of July 6th 2005 reported on
Syria’s recent clashes with militants, under U.S. pressure,
to crack down on insurgents who have been making their way
into Iraq. These clashes might be a sign of a resurgence of
Islamist extremists who oppose the Syrian regime and are
taking advantage of its weakness to strengthen their ranks.
According to Nizar Hamzeh, a political science professor at
the American University of Beirut and an expert on Islamic
political movements, "the more you weaken the regime, the
more you give the chance for opposition groups, including
Islamic extremists, to regroup.”
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International Herald Tribune of July 15th 2005
posted reactions from around the world to the Pew survey
findings. The survey focused on the spread of Islamist
extremism, and people were able to respond to the findings
in the form of online debates. One of the debates dealt with
the opinion of the Lebanon towards extremists, and among the
participants was Nizar Hamzeh Professor of political science
at the American University of Beirut. He commented
that extremism in Lebanon is not viewed as a threat by
Muslims due to the presence of Muslim resistance groups like
Hizbollah and Amal
April,
2005
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The
Christian Science Monitor of April 12 tried to
analyze the consequences of the Syrian withdrawal from
Lebanon. The Lebanese opposition is going to face the stark
challenge of forging fresh common causes among groups united
largely by their opposition to Syria’s presence. "The
dangerous element is if we return to the religious fault
lines of 1975," says Nizar Hamzeh, professor of politics at
the American University of Beirut. "If the changes occur
along political lines, then that’s fine. But if they emerge
along sectarian lines, then whatever unity has been achieved
will lose its flavor.” Also mentioned was the importance of
holding the parliamentary elections on time.
March, 2005
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KTLA-TV ran an article by Los
Angeles Times of March 7, about the planned Hezbollah
demonstration for Tuesday March 8 in Beirut. In it, they
quote AUB professor Nizar Hamzeh "They can't really afford
to be silent on this, if they continue being passive it's
going to seem as though the whole country subscribes to
dismantling the resistance.”They also quoted AUB political
scientist Adnan Iskander, "It's saving face for the Syrians,
showing that there are people here who support them and so
on," and "But now the government could ask the Syrians to
stay in the Bekaa. I think it hinges on whether the Syrians
should withdraw before the elections, because if they stay
in the Bekaa, we won't have a free election.
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