Posted on 05/16/2007 5:50:54 PM PDT by SJackson
The Western embargo of the Palestinian government is bolstering extremist organisations in the occupied territories, reports Khaled Amayreh in East Jerusalem
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For sometime, Palestinian Islamic and nationalist leaders have been warning that the Israeli, American and European economic embargo against the democratically-elected Palestinian government, including the recently formed broad-based government of national unity, is driving Palestinian society towards extremism.
This week, the credibility of these warnings was vindicated when a group believed to be affiliated with Al-Qaeda, or at least espousing its ideology, attacked a school celebration in Rafah, in the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, killing one person and injuring five others.
The attackers didn't target the school children or their teachers, but rather the organisers and police, killing the bodyguard of a local Fatah leader.
The group had earlier publicly warned the school, run by the UN, against holding the event, on the grounds that the celebration involved the "mixing of adolescent boys and girls which is forbidden in Islam".
School and other local officials apparently didn't take the warnings seriously, and didn't implement the necessary security precautions to prevent any possible attack, thinking that the Salafis (ultra- orthodox Sunni Muslims) wouldn't actually carry out the attack.
The attack was condemned throughout the occupied Palestinian territories as a totally unjustified crime.
Hamas called the attackers "misguided" people who "lightly and easily spill the blood of Palestinians". Fatah called the perpetrators "representatives of dark forces" and "murderers".
The attack in Rafah, along with other recent sporadic incidents, including the yet-to-be-resolved kidnapping of BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston, are being seen as ominous signs for the future.
Unlike Hamas, which in comparison looks like a group of boy scouts, Al-Qaeda-allied groups don't seek, or care, about popularity, and their actions are not influenced by public opinion.
This means that they are willing to proceed with their agenda and carry out whatever goals are set for them regardless of how they are perceived by society.
It is difficult to ascertain the numerical strength of the Salafis, especially those who are militant, in the occupied territories.
However, it is well known that they are concentrated in the Gaza Strip and are spreading to the West Bank as well.
There is no doubt that one of the chief reasons for their dramatic appearance is the "failure of democracy" in Palestinian society, mainly due to the Western rejection of the outcome of the 2006 elections that brought Hamas to power.
From the very beginning, the Salafis had sought to convince Hamas to refrain from taking part in the elections, arguing that the West, especially America, was not sincere about the issue of democracy and that Western powers were only using the issue to weaken Islam and serve their own imperialistic interests.
And when the US, Israel, the EU and most Arab regimes imposed an exceptionally harsh economic, financial and political blockade on the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which pushed the bulk of Palestinian society on to the brink of poverty, the Salafis and others, like Hizb Al-Tahrir, confronted erstwhile proponents of Hamas's participation in elections, telling them "didn't we tell you so?"
It is thus widely presumed that many, if not most, of those joining the ranks of Al-Qaeda, particularly in the Gaza Strip, are actually former Hamas supporters and members who have come to the conclusion that the West's real purpose is to destroy Islam, not to promote democracy, and that the only way to stop this is through Jihad.
The current refusal of the West, including the EU, to lift the embargo on the government of national unity is enforcing and probably vindicating such convictions among many Palestinians (and obviously among many other Arabs in neighbouring countries), thus facilitating the recruitment of more and more converts to Al-Qaeda's cause.
The growth of similar organisations in the occupied Palestinian territories, and possibly among Palestinians in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria as well, will have serious ramifications on the Palestinian cause itself, given the nearly nihilistic approach adopted by these people.
Indeed, Al-Qaeda believes in an existential confrontation until the very end, with the enemy. It regards the latter as being, not only the US and Israel, but any group or government or people that hamper the attainment of its goals. In this light, the list of potential enemies of Al-Qaeda includes Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood, who reject many aspects of Al-Qaeda's ideology.
Hence, it is feared that the emergence of Al-Qaeda or similar groups as significant political players in the Palestinian arena could redefine the entire Palestinian struggle for freedom from the Israeli occupation.
Moreover, it is an almost foregone conclusion that Israel stands to benefit from the strengthening of Al-Qaeda amongst Palestinians, especially in the short run, as it will enable Israel to claim that it has a common cause with the West in combating "Islamic terror", thus obtaining an additional excuse to consolidate its occupation and theft of Palestinian land.
As mentioned earlier, the growth of Al-Qaeda in Palestine will expectedly be at the expense of such Islamic movements as Hamas, a comparatively moderate movement that is open to compromise.
Hence, it is likely that Hamas will undertake a campaign to educate Palestinians against the dangers of Al-Qaeda's nihilistic ideology, especially following the recent acrimonious exchanges between itself and Al-Qaeda's second in command, Ayman El-Zawahri. He castigated Hamas for signing the Mecca Agreement with Fatah on 8 February, which he called a "sellout".
In fact, Hamas-affiliated Muslim scholars are already engaging some Salafi activists, trying to convince them that their way of thinking is not compatible with authentic Islam.
Earlier this week, a number of Muslim religious scholars sought to convince the purported kidnappers of BBC journalist Johnston that taking him captive was incompatible with the rule of Sharia, or Islamic law, since Johnston was a "Mustaaman " or a non-Muslim, a member of Ahl Al-Ketab (People of the Book) who came to Gaza, not as a fighter, but as a journalist to communicate Palestinian suffering to the outside world. And he did so with the permission of the Palestinian Authority. Hence, his abduction was immoral and therefore unlawful from the Islamic view point.
The kidnappers reportedly argued that Britain, like the US and Israel, was in a state of war with Muslims, citing the Anglo-American occupation of Iraq, and that this justified the kidnapping of Johnston as a British citizen.
The Hamas-affiliated scholars retorted that things have changed historically, since the days when all citizens and denizens of a country would follow their king. They argued that many Britons were against the occupation of Iraq and had already forced their Prime Minister Tony Blair to resign.
Earlier, it was reported that the kidnappers demanded $5 million from the British government, in addition to the release by the Jordanian authorities of a would-be female Iraqi suicide bomber. However, these demands were dismissed as "speculations" by Ahmed Youssef, the political adviser to Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
Youssef said that he believed Johnston would be released in a few days, or a few weeks, at the maximum.
In any case, what is abundantly clear is that the betrayal by the West of the Palestinians, and the continuation of the blockade on the Palestinian government is driving many Palestinians towards Al-Qaeda.
This should be taken as a serious warning of things to come, if the present trend continues, and if American, Israeli and European policies continue to nourish the root causes of extremism and terrorism in the Middle East by narrowing Palestinian horizons and effectively giving Israel a carte blanche to finish its goal of dispossession, at the expense of the Palestinian people.
Here we go again. Blame America first. I wonder, will Ron Paul bring this up in the next debate?
This is a joke, right? I mean how much more radical can you get than sending your children into Israel to blow themselves up. I guess you could get the bombers to think bad things about Jews at the exact time of detonation.
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
----------------------------
I thought they didn't even want Israel to exist, now they're complaining that they can't buy stuff from Jooooos??
Unlikely, he's consistantly opposed to foreign aid.
This is up Pat Buchanan's alley, he's opposed to foreign aid in general, but has advocated providing aid to Hamas. We did, but not enough, so it's our fault.
Buchanan defends foreign aid - for Hamas, Patrick Buchanan
Buchanan defends foreign aid [For Hamas-he's wrong],Joseph Farah
;) Thanks for the links.
They need Looter guy come to Gaza chill them out ROFL
They need a beer LOL!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.