Sectarianism

In his book "On Sect, Sectarianism and Imagined Sects", published by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, Azmi Bishara defines the sect as "a group based on belonging to a religion or a doctrine, with a great influence for imagined elements."

It is a known fact that many essentially political and social conflicts, and rivalries over power, have been deliberately framed in a sectarian manner to mobilise people on the basis of sectarian identity, and thus re-shape said identities and manufacture them where they do not exist. 

Dr. Azmi Bishara

Sectarianism is not a religious issue, but a socio-political phenomenon.