Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Lara Deeb

Lara Deeb is a professor of Anthropology and Middle Eastern and North African Studies at Scripps College in the Claremont Colleges

A Primer on Lebanon—History, Palestine and Resistance to Israeli Violence — Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Beirut, Lebanon on October 3, 2024. Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images

Primers

A Primer on Lebanon—History, Palestine and Resistance to Israeli Violence

The Israeli bombardment of Lebanon between September and November 2024 was the deadliest violence in the country since the civil war.

Lara Deeb, Maya Mikdashi, Tsolin Nalbantian, Nadya Sbaiti • 38 min read

Current Analysis

Fissures in Hizballah's Edifice of Control

On August 15, Beirut awoke to the news that more than 20 alleged members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) had been captured by a group calling itself “the military wing of the al-Miqdad family.” The group had sent footage to the al-Mayadin television network, which was quickly picked up by other local

Lara Deeb, Mona Harb • 12 min read

MER Article

The September 11 Effect on Anthropology

Conventional wisdom among scholars of the Middle East is that the September 11, 2001 attacks left behind a threatening professional environment. Graduate students and faculty alike speak of hostile infiltrators in their classrooms, inevitably bitter tenure battles and the self-censorship that both c

Lara Deeb, Jessica Winegar • 5 min read

MER Article

Hizballah in the Sights

Thanassis Cambanis, A Privilege to Die: Inside Hezbollah’s Legions and Their Endless War Against Israel (Free Press, 2010).

Lara Deeb • 20 min read

MER Article

Sanctioned Pleasures

Beirut is known internationally for a youthful jet set that likes to be identified with the world clubbing circuit, including such stops as B018, an underground nocturnal haunt reminiscent of a coffin built by Lebanese architect Bernard Khoury upon the remains of a war crime.

Lara Deeb, Mona Harb • 23 min read

MER Article

Louder Than Bombs

Political posters and banners are not new in Beirut. Activists have long hung portraits of party leaders or hastily spray-painted party symbols to claim territory, mark special events or simply insist on being recognized. At certain city intersections, these images are nearly always layered thickly,

Lara Deeb • 4 min read

Current Analysis

Hizballah: A Primer

Hizballah, the Lebanese Shi‘i movement whose militia is fighting the Israeli army in south Lebanon, has been cast misleadingly in much media coverage of the ongoing war. Much more than a militia, the movement is also a political party that is a powerful actor in Lebanese politics and a

Lara Deeb • 20 min read

Current Analysis

Lebanon: An Occupation Ends

Just about everything about last week's Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon was surprising to most observers. When, in the early hours of May 24, the last Israeli soldier stepped off Lebanese soil and locked the border gate behind him, he ended a 22-year occupation several weeks ahead of

Lara Deeb • 6 min read