{{short description|Lebanese journalist and spokesman for the Islamist group Hezbollah}} {{Other people|Mousawi|Musavi (name)}} {{Hezbollah}} '''Ibrahim Mousawi''' ({{langx|ar|إبراهيم الموسوي}}; also spelled Moussawi or El-Moussaoui, born 1965) is a [[Lebanese people|Lebanese]] journalist and spokesman for the [[Islamism|Islamist]] group [[Hezbollah]].
==Biography== He was born in 1965 to a family from [[Baalbek]] and grew up in the southern suburbs of [[Beirut]].<ref>[http://english.hizbollah.org/essaydetails.php?eid=577&cid=214 One mans tussles with the thought police] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080223135930/http://english.hizbollah.org/essaydetails.php?eid=577&cid=214 |date=2008-02-23 }} Kristin Dailey, [[Daily Star (Lebanon)|Daily Star]], 17-12-2007</ref> Mousawi is [[Shiite]]. He has two BAs in Journalism and [[English literature]] from the [[Lebanese University]] and has worked as a [[Head teacher|head master]] at [[secondary school]]s. Mousawi is editor of the weekly Hezbollah newspaper al-Intiqad (Criticism)<ref>[http://www.alintiqad.com/ Al Intiqad weekly]</ref> in Beirut. He has been quoted as a [[Hezbollah]] [[spokesman]] since at least 1998.<ref>in an interview with Al J. Venter "Middle East Mind Games: Interview With Hezbollah," Soldier Of Fortune, January 1998. p. 63 according to [http://smallwarsjournal.com/documents/swjvol4.pdf The Political Warfighter] Mr. Erik Evans, ''Small Wars Journal'', Feb 2006 - and: [http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9812/23/lebanon.03/index.html Violence escalates along Israel-Lebanon border] CNN, December 23, 1998</ref>
He joined the Hezbollah TV station [[Al Manar]] (the Beacon), which does not include Israeli officials in its broadcasts because, according to Mousawi, "It [Israel] is an enemy state," and "Why would you put spokesmen for an enemy state on the air?"<ref>[https://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/lebanese-tv-station-makes-no-disguise-its-hatred-israel LEBANESE TV STATION MAKES NO DISGUISE OF ITS HATRED FOR ISRAEL] By Jon Sawyer, Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau Chief February 10, 2003</ref> He hosted a political talk show and worked as editor-in-chief of foreign news at Al Manar. In an article for the ''[[Daily Star (Lebanon)|Daily Star]]'' in 2002, Mousawi explained the religious basis for [[suicide attack]]s in a ''[[fatwa]]'' of [[Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah]].<ref>[http://www.lebanonwire.com/0206/02060802DS.asp "Fadlallah Explains Religious Basis for Suicide Attacks,"] Daily Star, June 8, 2002</ref> [[Jeffrey Goldberg]] wrote in the ''[[The New Yorker|New Yorker]]'' magazine that Mousawi had said to him that "Jews are a lesion on the forehead of history."<ref>[http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2002/10/14/021014fa_fact4?currentPage=all In the Party of God - Are terrorists in Lebanon preparing for a larger war?] Jeffrey Goldberg, The New Yorker on October 14, 2002</ref> When ''Al-Manar'' was banned from French [[satellite TV]] for airing a 29-part [[Ramadan]] special ''[[Ash-Shatat]]'' (Diaspora) during October–November 2003, which featured the "[[Blood libel against Jews]]" and quoted extensively from the [[Protocols of the Elders of Zion]], Mousawi said the ban resulted from "political pressure by the Jewish lobby".<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3581514.stm France offers 'hate TV' reprieve] BBC News 20 August 2004</ref> He earned his MA in [[Political science|Political Science]] from the [[American University of Beirut]] (AUB) in 2003.
Mousawi rose to prominence during the [[2006 Lebanon War]] as a spokesman for Hezbollah. He said that "Pain is the only language that the enemy understands".<ref>A. Hackensberger, "[http://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/94796.html Israel versteht nur die Sprache der Gewalt]", Neues Deutschland, August 3, 2006</ref> Following the cessation of hostilities, Mousawi was invited to speak to European audiences in [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Germany]]<ref>[http://www.m100potsdam.com/Presse/Pressematerial/Download_2007/M100_2007_Pressemappe.pdf M100 - Das internationale Medientreffen im Rahmen der Medienwoche Berlin-Brandenburg]{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} in Potsdam, 7 September 2007</ref> and the [[United Kingdom|UK]],<ref>i.e. Mousawi in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMBsIxPQluU Belfast in October 2006] and at the "World Against War international peace conference" in London, December 2007</ref> where he was announced as a Hezbollah spokesman on posters of the [[Stop the War Coalition]].<ref>[http://www.stopwar.org.uk/images/arabicposter.pdf poster for a public meeting by the Stop the War Coalition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425144706/http://www.stopwar.org.uk/images/arabicposter.pdf |date=2011-04-25 }} on February 28, 2008 at Euston Road, London: in English "Editor of Hizbollah newspaper Al-Intiqad", in Arabic "Editor of Magazine "Intiqad" and spokesperson for Hizbullah"</ref> Mousawi received a PhD in [[Political Islam]] from [[Birmingham University]] in 2007.<ref>Prof. Scott Lucas was the examiner of his Ph.D. thesis: [http://www.libertas.bham.ac.uk/blogs/watchingamerica/index.htm A Tale of (British or Lebanese) Extremism: My Friend "The Radical Propagandist"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316042029/http://www.libertas.bham.ac.uk/blogs/watchingamerica/index.htm |date=2009-03-16 }} blog ''Watching America'' by Professor Scott Lucas, March 3, 2008</ref> The title of his dissertation was "Compatibility between Islam and democracy; Shiism and democracy under Wilayat Al-Faqih, Iran as a case study''". He co-authored an article on "''Hizbullah's Jihad Concept"<ref>[http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2007/2007-19.html Hizbullah’s Jihad Concept] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028205834/http://moses.creighton.edu/jrs/2007/2007-19.html |date=2011-10-28 }} by Hilal Khashan (American University of Beirut) and Ibrahim Mousawi (Birmingham University) in: The Journal of Religion and Society Vol. 9 (2007) ISSN 1522-5658</ref> and lectures on Political Science at AUB.<ref>[http://wwwlb.aub.edu.lb/~webinfo/localnewsJan08.html AUB News January 2008]{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
In October 2007, Mousawi was refused entry to Ireland on security grounds following a recommendation from the [[Garda Síochána|Gardaí]]<ref>[http://www.galwayfirst.ie/content/view/2031/948/ Lebanese TV journalist refused visa for anti-war conference]{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} galwayfirst, 14 October 2007</ref> and he is also barred from entering the [[United States]] because of his links with Hezbollah.<ref>[http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=99723 London pressed to deny visa to Hizbullah spokesman] By Andrew Wander, Daily Star, February 28, 2009</ref> The British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] tried to have Mousawi banned from Britain like [[Yusuf al-Qaradawi]] and [[Moshe Feiglin]] in February 2008, but failed.<ref>Freedom of Information request: [http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m11&SecId=11&AId=59048&ATypeId=1 Home Office silent on how Hizbollah man was given entry to UK] by Simon Rocker, The Jewish Chronicle 28 March 2008</ref> Mousawi's visit was condemned by Conservative Party Leader [[David Cameron]] in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] and by shadow Defence Minister [[Pauline Neville-Jones, Baroness Neville-Jones|Baroness Neville-Jones]], a former chairwoman of the [[Joint Intelligence Committee (United Kingdom)|Joint Intelligence Committee]].<ref>[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm071114/debtext/71114-0005.htm David Cameron, House of Commons Hansard Debates for 14 Nov 2007], [https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm071203/text/71203w0008.htm#column_773W Mr. Amess, Oral Answers House of Commons, Monday 3 December 2007], [https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldhansrd/text/80319-0003.htm Lord Strathclyde, House of Lords Hansard text for 19 March 2008]</ref>
In February 2009, Hezbollah publicly appointed Mousawi as its new media relations officer.<ref name="medreloff">[http://www.iloubnan.info/politics/actualite/id/31753 Hezbollah appoints new media relations officer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006155610/http://www.iloubnan.info/politics/actualite/id/31753 |date=2011-10-06 }} iloubnan.info - February 04, 2009</ref> When Mousawi was announced for a UK visit in March 2009, campaigners from the [[Centre for Social Cohesion]] pledged to seek an arrest warrant for him.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090310162501/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/4953470/Campaigners-will-seek-arrest-of-Islamic-radical.html Campaigners will seek arrest of Islamic radical] By David Barrett, The Telegraph 7 March 2009</ref> He was banned from the UK in March 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=43333&c=1 |title="Lebanese newspaper editor to be denied entry to Britain", Press Gazette, 13 March 2009 |access-date=13 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306015325/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=43333&c=1 |archive-date=6 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mousawi, Ibrahim}} [[Category:Lebanese journalists]] [[Category:Hezbollah members]] [[Category:1965 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Musawis]] [[Category:Lebanese University alumni]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Birmingham]]