Islamic Jihad

Although the term jihad can refer to a nonviolent or violent struggle against evil, Islamic jihad usually refers to the use of force in an attempt to establish an Islamic state or in an attack on individuals or nations viewed as enemies of Islam.

Today, several terrorist organizations are sometimes referred to as “Islamic Jihad.” These include the following:

• Al Jihad (aka Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Egyptian al-Jihad, Jihad Group, New Jihad): Active since the 1970s, it has the goal of overthrowing the secular Egyptian government and replacing it with an Islamic State.
• A splinter group from Hezbollah (aka Islamic Jihad Organization, add most common other akas): Hezbollah had its origins in the Iranian revolution in 1979; during 1982, it evolved into a group in with the goal of transforming Lebanon into an Islamic state and supporting Palestine in its battle with Israel. In the mid-1980s, Hezbollah began kidnapping Westerners and holding them hostage, hoping to gain more influence in regional affairs and bargain for the release of Shiites held in Israeli, Kuwaiti, or Western jails. The Islamic Jihad splinter group claimed responsibility for many of these kidnappings.
• Palestinian Islamic Jihad: Founded in the late 1970s to carry out attacks on Israeli military and civilian targets in support of a Islamic Palestinian state.

These Islamic Jihad groups share a focus on using violence to further establishment of Islamic states in the Middle East, but they may be more or less nationalist, religious, or territorial. These groups probably have global connections with other terrorist groups and may function as factions within Al Qaeda. However, because of their shifting membership, such groups may be called by different names in the mass media and even in government reports.

The groups referred to as Islamic Jihad, like other terrorist groups may begin as structured organizations with a hierachical leadership. However, they tend to evolve into loosely affiliated groups or “cells” that act independently, with little or no centralized leadership. However, they share a common commitment to conducting a “holy war” that is viewed as sanctioned or even mandated by Islamic law.