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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Dahlan: Iran, Qatar backed Hamas coup

2007-06-29

Former Fatah security chief Muhammed Dahlan said Wednesday that he was not surprised by Hamas's "coup" in the Gaza Strip and that he had warned various parties about the Islamic movement's plans. He also accused Iran and Qatar of providing Hamas with hundreds of millions of dollars. Dahlan, who is a Fatah member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, has been accused by Hamas of conspiring with the US and Israel to remove the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority unity government from power. He is also under attack from some Fatah leaders and activists who hold him responsible for the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip. His remarks came amid growing pressure on PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to negotiate with Hamas on a solution to the current crisis. Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have advised Abbas to resume talks with Hamas leaders over the formation of a second unity government, a top PA official in Ramallah said. He told The Jerusalem Post that Abbas's position remained that there would be no dialogue with Hamas until it apologized for what it did in the Gaza Strip and withdrew its men from all the PA offices and security headquarters that they had occupied. Hamas, for its part, welcomed Arab calls for dialogue with Fatah, but said it would not accept pre-conditions. Hamas spokesman Ayman Abu Taha said that in any case his movement was not keen on talking to a "bunch of murderers" in Fatah. "I was not surprised by the coup in the Gaza Strip," Dahlan said. "I knew about Hamas's plans and I told different parties about this so we could try to thwart them." Asked why the numerically superior Fatah-controlled PA security forces were rapidly defeated by Hamas, Dahlan said: "The Palestinian security establishment was never prepared for internal fighting. "Since the beginning of the [second] intifada in 2000 our security forces faced systematic destruction by Israel. The Israelis destroyed 280 security installations in the past seven years and Hamas continued to destroy security installations before they launched their coup." Dahlan pointed out that Hamas militiamen had raided the central prison in Gaza City and freed murderers. "They claim that they have just now liberated the Gaza Strip for the second time [after Israel's 2005 disengagement]," he said. "The Hamas men have Fatah blood on their hands. They forgot that Fatah protected them when they were being chased by Israel." Dahlan denied that he had played any role in the Hamas-Fatah clashes that preceded the takeover, saying he had been abroad for nearly two months for surgery. "I was not in charge of security in the Gaza Strip," he said. "I was out of the country because I had to undergo surgery. This is not a personal matter because Hamas has been targeting our people and institutions over the past three years." Dahlan lashed out at Qatar and Iran, accusing them of giving Hamas $400 million each. He also accused Qatar of turning its Al-Jazeera TV network into an organ of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. "For decades, Iran never paid the Palestinians one dollar," he said. "But they gave Hamas $400m. that went to Hamas's bank accounts, and not to the Palestinian people. "Qatar also gave Hamas another $400m. that was used to slaughter Palestinians." Dahlan said Iran had trained many Hamas militiamen. "Our people are the victims of regional and international meddling in our affairs," he said. He also said that Hamas was founded with the support of Israel, to fight the PLO and Fatah. "Everyone knows that Israel established Hamas back then so that it could fight the PLO," he said. "When Hamas members were arrested back then for possession of weapons, they used to tell the Israelis that the guns were supposed to be used only against Communists and secular Palestinians."

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Fatah's final death blow

2007-06-17

Why did the Gaza Strip fall so easily and quickly into the hands of Hamas? How come Fatah, which has more than 40,000 armed men there, was defeated despite the millions of dollars and the large amounts of weapons that it received over the past year and a half? These are only some of the questions that decision-makers in Washington and many European capitals have been asking in the wake of the "military coup" staged by Hamas in the Gaza Strip this week. It's obvious why. Hamas is a disciplined terrorist organization, and Fatah is an ill-mannered, ill-led, undisciplined terrorist organization. While these decision-makers may have been caught by surprise by the Hamas victories, for many Palestinians - particularly those living in the Gaza Strip - the writing has long been on the wall. Fatah lost the battle for the Gaza Strip not because it had fewer soldiers and weapons, but because it lost the confidence and support of many Palestinians a long time ago. The decline of Fatah actually began with the day Yasser Arafat died in November 2004. Since then, Fatah has been dealt one blow after another. The biggest disaster occurred in January 2006, when Fatah was defeated by Hamas in the parliamentary elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Fatah lost the vote mainly because of its leaders' involvement in rampant corruption and abuse of power. Mahmoud Abbas, who succeeded Arafat in January 2005, had run on a platform that promised Palestinians an end to corruption, mismanagement and nepotism. That's why more than 60 percent of the Palestinians then gave him a mandate. But after Abbas came to power, he did almost nothing to fulfill his pledges. Instead of fighting corruption, he surrounded himself with symbols of corruption and former Arafat cronies. Since that's the mandate the insiders had given him. The Fatah boys wanted a lackey in charge and that's who they put up. His job was to provide a genial face to the world and make sure the boodle got divided according to instructions. Instead of ending the anarchy and lawlessness, he promoted notorious warlords, and for the first time, the number of Palestinians killed in internal fighting under Abbas was higher than those killed by Israel. And instead of dismantling gangs and militias, whose members had long been terrorizing the Palestinian public, Abbas rewarded many of them by granting them "military" ranks and placing them on his payroll. Subsidized by your tax dollars and mine. Many voters who went to the ballot boxes in January 2006 wanted to punish Abbas and his Fatah faction for having failed to improve their living conditions on all fronts. That's why they voted for Hamas. Even some Christians are said to have cast their ballots for Hamas. The name of the game back then was: Let's punish these Fatah thieves and thugs who have been stealing our money and terrorizing us for so many years. The point of an election is to give people a choice: here the choice was between murdering crooks and crooked murderers. Anyone with any sense, and that includes Rantburg, knew where this was going the instant Hamas won the election. ON THE eve of the 2006 election, Hamas knew exactly what the Palestinians wanted: an end to financial corruption and good governance. That's why Hamas ran under the banner of Change and Reform. That's also why Hamas put on its list of candidates doctors, university professors, engineers, pharmacists and lawyers. By contrast, the Fatah list did not come up with any new faces. Hamas also knew what Hamas wanted, what its leaders wanted, and most importantly, what their overlords in Iran and Syria wanted. And it wasn't reform. Hamas won because its leaders promised the Palestinians good governance and an end to anarchy and lawlessness. Hamas also won because there was still a large percentage of Palestinians who believed that "Islam is the solution." And still do. Hamas is still very popular, as this writer and others note. Hamas isn't imposing itself against the will of the Gazans, it's imposing itself with their consent. They're the strong horse. US-backed efforts to undermine the Hamas-led government over the past 16 months have failed, largely because most Palestinians clearly do not regard Fatah as a better alternative to Hamas. In the aftermath of its defeat in the 2006 election, Fatah failed to draw the conclusions and get rid of all the icons of corruption among its top brass. Moreover, Fatah did not engage in any kind of internal reforms, and representatives of the young generation remained marginalized. Would have been better if Bush had washed his hands of all of it after Hamas won the election, but one can understand why he couldn't. Even if free and democratic elections were held tomorrow in the Palestinian territories, it is highly unlikely that Palestinians would vote for the same people they voted out in 2006. Besides, many Palestinians would argue that Hamas did not fail in government; from day one, no one actually gave them a chance to rule. Because no one in the Western world was eager to support a band of cut-throat terrorists. That's the point the Paleos and their symps around the world refuse to acknowledge: the Paleos were free to vote for a terrorist government, and we were free to decide not to do business with them. BY OPENLY embracing Abbas and Fatah, Washington has caused them grave damage. That's likely true. The more diabolical amongst us would note that this was the point. The weapons and funds that were supposed to boost Fatah ahead of a confrontation with Hamas have only increased Hamas's popularity on the streets of the Gaza Strip. The public support for Fatah made Abbas and Muhammed Dahlan look, in the eyes of many Palestinians, like Antoine Lahad, the former commander of the pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army. And when a Palestinian sees that the Americans are trying to bring down his democratically-elected government, his sympathies go straight to the government and not to those allegedly involved in the conspiracy. Also true, because in the end, most Paleos are either terrorists themselves or openly support their terrorist brethern. That's the clearest point made in the Hamas election, one that many in the world can't grok. The Paleo leaders, from Arafat on down, have spent the last fifty years turning their population into a terrorist society. It's worked. The writing was on the wall because Hamas had already inflicted heavy casualties on Fatah in previous rounds of fighting over the past year. In addition, it was clear that Hamas was eventually going to take over the entire Gaza Strip, because of the anarchy and disunity among the Fatah-controlled Palestinian security forces and their commanders. It was obvious that Fatah was going to lose, because the masses were not going to take to the streets to defend leaders living in villas and driving luxury cars. They don't 'defend' that anywhere in the Arab world, they tolerate it until they get an alternative. Unfortunately, that alternative is generally putting more theocratic-minded terrorists in charge, who first thing grab the villas and luxury cars for themselves, and second work to perpetuate their rule through misery, misfortune and war. See Iran for a current example.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

PA security foils Hamas assassinations

2007-01-15

The Palestinian Authority security forces have foiled an attempt by Hamas to assassinate senior PA leaders in the Gaza Strip, including PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah legislator Muhammed Dahlan, Palestinian security sources said Monday. The sources said the security forces discovered over the past few days a number of underground tunnels in the northern Gaza Strip that were dug along major roads used by PA and Fatah leaders. Some of the tunnels were also discovered beneath the homes of top Fatah officials in the same area, the sources said. Abdel Hakim Awad, a senior Fatah official in the Gaza Strip, said the tons of explosives were discovered in the tunnels, some of which were traced back to the interior of Hamas- controlled mosques. "There are plans to assassinate senior Fatah leaders, including President Mahmoud Abbas and Muhammed Dahlan," he said. "Otherwise, how can anyone explain the network of booby-trapped underground tunnels in the northern Gaza Strip, particularly the main Salah a-Din Street?" The convoys of both Abbas and Dahlan often pass through Salah a-Din Street on their way to Israel and the West Bank. Hamas leaders have accused Dahlan of being behind an assassination attempt on the life of PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh several weeks ago. Last week, thousands of Hamas supporters staged demonstrations in the Gaza Strip where they condemned Dahlan as a collaborator with Israel and the US. Awad also revealed that one of the tunnels was supposed to provide access to the headquarters of the PA National Security Force near Jabalya refugee camp. He expressed astonishment at the fact that Hamas was plotting to assassinate Fatah leaders despite reports that the two parties were close to reaching a deal on the formation of a unity government. "This proves that Hamas is using double-talk," he charged. "On the one hand, their leaders are talking about the resumption of the unity government talks, while on the other hand the movement's actions on the ground suggest that they are headed toward escalation." Warning against the grave consequences of such assassinations, the Fatah official said his party has briefed all Palestinian factions, including Hamas, on the discovery of the underground tunnels. "Any attack on our leaders will draw a scorched earth response from Fatah," he said. Awad also accused Hamas members of kidnapping four Fatah activists and shooting a fifth in separate attacks in the Gaza Strip on Sunday night. PA officials said talks over the formation of a unity government might resume in the coming days. They added that Abbas was planning to appoint Dahlan as head of the PA's National Security Council. According to the officials, former Finance Minister Salam Fayyad may return to his job in a new unity government, while the Foreign Ministry would be handed over to independent legislator Ziad Abu Amr. A senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip denied the charges that his movement was planning to assassinate Abbas and Dahlan, explaining that the tunnels were supposed to be used to repel a possible attack by the IDF. "The latest allegations are part of a campaign of incitement waged by Fatah against Hamas," the official told The Jerusalem Post. In another development, a Hamas leader said Monday that his movement could liberate most of the land of Palestine and establish a Palestinian state within 10 years provided that the Palestinians united and formed a strong army. This is the first time that a Hamas official talks about plans to establish a Palestinian army. Some PA officials have in the past accused Hamas of trying to establish its own army in the Gaza Strip, noting that the movement's paramilitary "Executive Force" was already acting as if its members were soldiers. "Hamas could achieve a fateful victory [over Israel] if the internal fighting stops and once the Palestinians develop their military capabilities," said Hamad al-Rakab, a top Hamas official in the Khan Younis district in the southern Gaza Strip. "When we talk about victory, we mean the liberation of the land, the establishment of a Palestinian state on most of the territories of historic Palestine and guaranteeing the return of all refugees to their original homes." According to Rakab, Hamas's goal could be achieved if the Palestinians met two conditions - ending internal strife and establishing a Palestinian army consisting of all the armed groups. He admitted, however, that the idea of a Palestinian army remains a "remote dream" at this stage. He suggested that until then the Palestinian armed groups establish a "joint operations command" to coordinate attacks on Israel. He also called for developing the technological capabilities of Hamas's armed wing, Izzaddin Kassam, especially with regards to rockets and missiles.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

PA says it foiled Hamas attempt to kill Dahlan

2006-12-28

Palestinian Authority security forces in the Gaza Strip recently managed to foil an attempt by Hamas members to assassinate former PA security minister and Fatah legislator Muhammed Dahlan, Fatah activists said Wednesday. The activists, who did not say when the alleged attempt took place, claimed that the forces discovered a large roadside bomb that had been planted along the route used by Dahlan's motorcade outside his hometown of Khan Yunis.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Fatah preparing showdown with Hamas

2006-10-25

Fatah is preparing for a major showdown with Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the Muslim feast of Id al-Fitr, Palestinian sources said on Tuesday. The sources said that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has instructed his loyalists in Fatah and the PA security forces to be prepared for a "major security operation" in the Gaza Strip in the coming days. Mahmoud Abbas has instructed his loyalists in Fatah and the PA security forces to be prepared for a "major security operation" in the Gaza Strip in the coming days. They said the decision was made in the wake of the growing tensions between Hamas and Fatah and the killing of five Fatah activists and security officers over the past few days. "Thousands of Palestinian policemen and Fatah gunmen will be deployed in the streets of the Gaza Strip after the feast," the sources told The Jerusalem Post. "The measure is designed to halt the anarchy in the Gaza Strip and to show Hamas that the PA leadership is determined to protect its representatives." Abbas, who met in Amman on Tuesday with Jordan's King Abdullah, is under immense pressure from his Fatah party to dismiss the Hamas government and call early elections. Some Fatah leaders have gone as far as urging Abbas to stage a coup against the Hamas government under the pretext that it has failed to carry out its duties. Some Fatah leaders have gone as far as urging Abbas to stage a coup against the Hamas government under the pretext that it has failed to carry out its duties. Former PA security chief Muhammed Dahlan called on Abbas to use his constitutional powers to resolve the crisis with Hamas. Accusing Hamas of carrying out systematic assassinations against Fatah operatives in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Dahlan also accused Hamas of violating a cease-fire agreement with Fatah that was reached under the auspices of Egypt. "Hamas's actions are leading us to civil war," he cautioned. "We call on President Abbas to assume his responsibilities and take decisive measures to end the crisis." Syria-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who met earlier this week in Doha with Qatar's emir, Hamad bin Khaifa al-Thani, was reported to have warned that his movement would foil any attempt by Abbas to replace the Hamas government. Mashaal, who was summoned to Qatar for urgent talks on the Hamas-Fatah crisis, is expected to visit Cairo in the coming days to seek ways to avoid an all-out confrontation with Abbas's Fatah party. Both Qatar and Egypt have been exerting heavy pressure on Hamas to agree to Abbas's plan to form a technocratic government that would convince the international community to resume financial aid to the Palestinians. But in an interview with Al-Jazeera, Mashaal categorically rejected the idea, saying a "technocratic" government was good in Europe, but not in a place like the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Mashaal categorically rejected the idea, saying a "technocratic" government was good in Europe, but not in a place like the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Mashaal was also reported to have rejected a Qatari initiative calling for the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit in return for a few hundred Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. "The countdown for an Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip has begun. Such an operation will have devastating effects on the people in the Gaza Strip and could result in the collapse of the Palestinian Authority." Egypt, Qatar and Jordan have warned the Palestinians that Israel is preparing a massive military operation in the Gaza Strip in the event that efforts to release Shalit fail, a senior PA official told the Post. He said that such an operation would play into the hands of Hamas and undermine Abbas's efforts to replace the Hamas government. "The countdown for an Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip has begun," the official claimed. "Such an operation will have devastating effects on the people in the Gaza Strip and could result in the collapse of the Palestinian Authority." In a separate development, PA Interior Minister Said Siam of Hamas returned to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday through the Rafah border crossing after visiting Syria, Iran and Egypt.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Fatah supporters say Hamas mosques incite against them

2006-05-14

In yet another indication of growing tensions between the two movements, Fatah sympathizers in the Gaza Strip have begun boycotting Hamas-controlled mosques, accusing the Islamist movement of inciting against their leaders. On Friday, thousands of worshipers refused to enter the Farouk Mosque in the Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, saying the preacher was planning to verbally attack Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and other PA leaders. The Fatah supporters prayed in the streets while their Hamas rivals prayed inside the mosque. Like most mosques in the Strip, the Farouk Mosque is controlled by Hamas. Leaders of Abbas's Fatah party have in recent weeks expressed deep concern over "incitement" in the mosques, saying Hamas preachers were exploiting Friday prayers to launch scathing attacks on them. Hamas officials dismissed the allegations as "lies" and said the only incitement was that coming from Fatah. This is the first time that Fatah supporters are boycotting Friday prayers at a mosque in the Gaza Strip. Preachers at the services often target Israel, the US and corruption in the PA. Maher Miqdad, a Fatah spokesman in the Strip, accused Hamas of using the mosques to incite against political rivals. "They are preparing the stage for bloodshed," he said. "Some of them have even been calling for the elimination of their opponents, whom they describe as apostates and infidels." A Fatah-affiliated businessman in Gaza City told The Jerusalem Post he had stopped going to the mosque near his home because of the incitement. "Hamas has turned the mosques in the Gaza Strip into platforms for delivering political speeches," he said. "They have decorated the mosques with political signs and banners and the preachers are saying awful things against Abbas and other Fatah leaders." In Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, thousands of Fatah supporters also boycotted prayers at a local mosque on Friday. They too prayed outside the mosque. Hamas has been using Friday prayers to urge Palestinians to donate to the new PA government and to criticize Palestinian officials for allegedly conspiring against Hamas. Most of the attacks have been directed against Abbas and Fatah leaders Muhammed Dahlan, former PA minister of state for security affairs head of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip, Jibril Rajoub, former head of the PSS in the West Bank, Tayeb Abdel Rahim, Abbas's top aide, and Abu Ali Shaheen, a former PA minister for supplies who founded Fatah along with Yasser Arafat. In Nablus, thousands of Hamas followers gathered after prayers Friday to donate money and jewelry to the new government. "These donations are our way of telling the world that we can live without them, and our children are paying what the Europeans should be paying," said Bassam al-Shakaa, a former mayor of Nablus. Organizers said more than NIS 1 million was collected during the drive. Last week, during a similar campaign in Ramallah, residents donated over $60,000 to the Hamas-controlled PA. Meanwhile, Hamas leaders on Saturday demanded an apology from Abdel Rahim over allegations that its members had smuggled weapons into Jordan. Abdel Rahim called on Hamas to punish members who were supposedly involved, drawing sharp criticism from Hamas leaders. "After being acquainted with the details of the plot, we call on the [Hamas] government to condemn this action and to take daring steps to punish those responsible," he said, referring to Jordanian charges that Hamas had smuggled and stored weapons and ammunition in the kingdom in preparation for terrorist attacks. Hamas spokesmen described Abdel Rahim's statements as "irresponsible" and demanded an apology, accusing him of serving the interests of a "third party."

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Israel-Palestine

al-Qaeda To Paleos: Give Us Free Rein In Gaza Or We Will Kill You

2005-09-01

From DEBKA: In a new communique issued Thursday, Sept 1, al Qaeda-Palestine issues a warning to Mahmoud Abbas and Muhammed Dahlan, calling them "heads of the Palestinian Karzai regime." If the Palestinian Authority arrests its members in the Gaza Strip, the group threatens to send bomb cars into the PA’s main cities. The notice names al Qaeda’s Gaza commander for the first time as "Sheikh Abu Qassam" – an obvious alias. It also reports the oath of allegiance said to have been taken by al Qaeda’s Palestinian members to Osama bin Laden.

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Israel-Palestine

Serious deterioration in Arafat's health

2004-10-27

Palestinian officials and doctors rushed to the Mukata in Ramallah Wednesday evening amid reports that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat was seriously ill. A senior PA official told The Jerusalem Post that Arafat, who has been ill for nearly two weeks, was facing difficulties breathing. The official refused to confirm or deny reports that Arafat, 75, had lost consciousness. PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and former prime minister Mahmoud Abbas were among several officials summoned to Arafat's compound. This is the second time Abbas has been summoned to the Mukata in the past week. The officials are still at the Mukata. Waiting by his deathbed, well, hoping it's his deathbed. The sources said Arafat's aides have asked for medical teams from Arab countries to arrive in Ramallah by Thursday, most likely from Tunisia and Egypt. Three Tunisian doctors arrived last week and have been monitoring the Palestinian leader. PA officials said this week that Arafat was recovering from flu. Flu, gallstones, as long as it's painful and lingering The Palestinian Authority has not yet requested permission from the IDF to allow Arafat to leave his compound to seek treatment, but Israel announced Wednesday night it will allow Arafat to leave the Mukata and seek medical treatment. The director of the Ramallah hospital arrived at the Mukata, Palestinians reported. Muhammed Dahlan is also said to be on his way to see Arafat. Yasser Arafat's latest health problems come at a time of unprecedented political and security instability in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, raising fears that his death could trigger a bloody power struggle among the top brass of the Palestinian leadership. Fears, hell! It's what we've been praying for. A day after undergoing an endoscopy test, Yasser Arafat was forced on Tuesday to break his Ramadan fast in order to receive medication and liquids. PA officials who visited Arafat made every effort to play down the severity of his illness, saying he had been diagnosed with a large gallstone and was on his way to full recovery. The officials dismissed as "lies" reports that Arafat was suffering from stomach cancer. Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei said Arafat was not in a life-threatening situation, but needed more time to rest and recover. According to Qurei, Arafat is expected to resume his normal activities "within a few days." However, one of Arafat's aides was less optimistic, saying it was too early to predict when and if he would be back to work. "It could be days or weeks before he resumes his marathon, round-the-clock meetings," the aide added. "I doubt if he will ever be able to work 18 hours a day, as he has done for decades. Clearly, he now needs a lot of medical attention." Arafat's failing health has once again raised the question about the identity of his successor. Arafat has always run the PLO and the PA as a one-man show, refusing to share powers with any official and blocking the emergence of a possible successor. Update... Fox News sez Yasser's in critical condition. Pray for sepsis...

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Israel-Palestine

Muslim Brotherhood to Thwart Gaza Evacuation? (Debka)

2004-07-14

salt to taste EFL The business that brought him [Qaradawi] to London is revealed here exclusively by DEBKAfile's Middle East sources. The preacher placed before a World Muslim Brotherhood conference a working document drawn up at "a secret meeting of the movement" somewhere in the Middle East, calling on all brethren in the Muslim world to rise up and foil Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and, most of all, to combat any potential Egyptian or Jordanian role in its implementation. The Brotherhood was exhorted to resort "to all means available." . . . adding: "No power can prevent the Brotherhood from thwarting this scheme, even if it entails direct and open confrontation with the governments of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. The struggle will be uncompromising." This is the first time . . . the Muslim Brotherhood . . . has crossed the line between radical doctrinal rhetoric and operational violence, threatening Israel, the Palestinian areas - and Arab governments too - with a campaign of terror. This sensitive information was relayed to two White House officials, Stephen Hadley and Elliot Abrams, when they met Sharon and other Israeli officials in Tel Aviv Tuesday, July 13, according to DEBKAfile's political sources. It explains the sudden absence of Egyptian emissaries from contacts with Sharon on the future of his disengagement initiative. Cairo, ever prone to Islamic fundamentalist outbreaks, is loath to take the lid off a fresh wave, especially during the potentially volatile period of regime transition from the ailing president Hosni Mubarak to his son Gemal. Jordan is likewise playing down its support for Sharon's plan. King Abdullah has enough worries from the danger of Iraqi guerrilla war spillover and clandestine al Qaeda activity without giving the Muslim Brotherhood's broad and influential Jordanian membership a pretext for opening yet another front against the throne in Amman. On the other hand, the Palestinian Hamas, Jihad Islami and factions of the popular resistance committees, are bound by the Brotherhood's decision to fight tooth and nail against Egyptian or Jordanian attempts to establish a security presence in Palestinian areas. This circumstance leaves former Gaza strongman Muhammed Dahlan with little option but to shelve his dreams of ruling the territory and return to his studies in London.

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Middle East

Despite martyrdom rhetoric, Hamas leaders hide from missiles

2003-08-25

JPost - Reg Req’d Top leaders of Hamas were nowhere to be found Monday amid the Green Hamas flags and gunmen marching in black baklavas to commemorate the funeral of the group’s military wing leader Ahmed Aishtawi. Pussies Hamas leaders — including Abdel Aziz Rantissi, Mahmud Al Zahar, and Ismail Hania — were not however ducking the Palestinian Authority’s much-anticipated crackdown on terrorist organizations, but the far more terrifying hellfire missiles of Israel’s Apache helicopters. An actual threat vs. an inconvenience before the revolving door releases them The PA reported on Sunday that it was launching a series of crackdowns on militant activity in the Gaza Strip, that it intended to shutter several Hamas-linked institutions, prevent arms smuggling, and arrest a limited number of militants. But there was little evidence of such anti-terror activity on the ground Monday aside from Sunday’s photo-op in which PA police blocked three smugglers tunnels. Despite declarations to the contrary, PA security chiefs in Gaza on Monday said they had no orders to arrest, subdue or fight Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders who threaten the PA’s own authority. In an effort to deflect criticism that the PA is doing nothing to clamp down on groups like Hamas, one officer in the Preventive Security Apparatus recounted that his forces have worked lately to arrest "several drug dealers, who harm the Palestinian economy." the boomers are ok though - they bring in more EU, UN money to the coffers The official, Yusef Aisa Abu Khaled, the Director of the Analysis Administration, effectively the head of doctrine and planning for Preventive security, added that the PA had intended to close Hamas charities, but following Israel’s assassination of popular Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab, public opinion on the streets had turned against the PA, rendering such an endeavor "impossible." even if they tried? oh, riiggghhtt, they didn’t Both Abu Khalid and Maj. Gen, Saeb Ajez, the Commander of the Northern Gaza Strip’s PA National Security Service, acknowledged that the PA understands that groups like Hamas present an existential threat to its government. "Palestinian security views Hamas and Israel in the same way," as a security threat, said Ajez. an existential threat? maybe the reality needs to be brought home to....ramallah? An "existential threat"? Camus would no doubt understand, if he was still around. Perhaps he could write a sequel to The Myth of Sysiphus, describing in excruciating detail the never-ending struggle to handle the absurdity of politix in Paleoland... Yet both officers noted that the PA is unwilling to move against Hamas because the it is neither physically ready nor willing to engage the terrorist organizations in an open battle, though PA National Security officers are "trying to stop mortar and Kassam fire into Israel." Instead, Ajez and Abu Khaled noted that the PA hopes to transform "militant organizations into political organizations," which they believe might willingly dismantle themselves. Israeli security sources have long condemned the plan, the only one the PA has proffered, arguing that the chances of Hamas dismantling itself are "zero". Without booms and flying meat there is no Hamas... The Gaza street is meanwhile being sucked further into a power vacuum; about the only mark of authority in the 340 sq. km. Strip is the thudding sound of IDF helicopter rotors, which sends militants roaches scurrying into alleyways. Less than a kilometer from Aisa’s office on Muhafaza Street sit the charred remains of Abu Shanab's station wagon — a monument to Israel’s promise to take out the terrorists if the PA does not. a new Gaza jungle gym huh? According to Ajez, the PA’s critical problem arises from its chronic "lack of proper organization." Ajez’ National Security forces continues to be ruled by PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, while Muhammed Dahlan ostensibly holds the reigns over the PA’s Preventive Security service. There is little if any cooperation between the two and what little cooperation exists often founders over competition for funds and materiel, as well as ideology. Hamas pussies leaders, who, like Rantissi, are almost ubiquitous on Arabic Satellite channels, have fled into hiding — all save for the group’s spiritual leader Shiekh Ahmed Yassin, an ailing paraplegic. With the knowledge that the IDF tracks them through their cellphone use, most have change their numbers. When asked at the rally by a Palestinian journalist for Ismail Hania’s new phone number, the Hamas leader’s son simply shrugged, replying, "even I don’t know it." "We're sorry. The number you have dialed is not a working number... Neither is that one... Nope, that that one, either..." Looking haggard, Ajez worried that the PA was rapidly losing its youth to Hamas, and its grip on power. "Do you know," he said, "that there is not one public [swimming] pool in all of Gaza. There are no fields for our kids to play in." He added that many Gazans, a population of which almost 50% is under the age of 18, are turning to Hamas to "make their living." When asked why the PA has not built institutions to keep the youth busy, Ajez, unusually critical of his own government, stated that "the PA has always consumed and not produced. The PA provides security and law and it collects taxes," while Hamas provides destitute locals with badly needed social services. And a chance to become martyrs. And the PA does a piss-poor job of all those things... The PA dared not disrupt the funeral ceremony, attended partially by gunmen who totted mortar shells with their fins poking out the top of their backpacks. In the background the funeral chant leader boasted that revenge will come to Israel through the group’s "improved efficiency in Kassam rockets and explosives." The masked gunmen carrying the mortars had only one sentence for the press: "Death and Allah are one, we will keep fighting Israel until martyrdom." the Death cult chant, how druidic...let the IDF help you to make it happen... keep your heads up and smile

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Middle East

Arafat approves plan to overhaul Fatah

2003-07-12

Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has endorsed a plan to overhaul the Fatah movement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials in Ramallah disclosed Thursday. They said the changes are aimed at reorganizing Fatah and replacing many of its veteran operatives. The move is seen by some officials as an attempt by Arafat to tighten his grip on Fatah and flush out activists who appear to have shifted their loyalty to PA Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and his Minister of State for Security, Muhammed Dahlan. According to one official, Arafat has allocated $1.5 million for the plan. He said former Minister of Interior Hani al-Hassan, who is a senior Fatah leader, has been entrusted with the mission of overseeing the changes. Earlier this week, Arafat named Hassan as "general commissioner" of Fatah in the West Bank and asked him to cancel a number of bodies belonging to the movement, especially the Higher Committee Movement, which consists of representatives representing the young generation in Fatah. Some of these activists are among the harshest critics of Arafat and the PA leadership.

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Middle East

Yasser refuses to ratify new government

2003-04-14

Palestinian Authority Chairman-for-Life Yasser Arafat has refused to endorse the new Palestinian cabinet formed by the incoming Palestinian premier Mahmoud Abbas. Palestinian sources said Arafat was displeased with a number of new ministers whom he viewed as too critical of his policies. "I mean, these guys're gonna make me feel... irrelevant." A meeting of the Fatah Executive Committee which was supposed to take place on Sunday for the purpose of endorsing the new cabinet was cancelled by Arafat. The sources said the meeting would still take place Tuesday or Wednesday if Abu Mazen made the changes demanded by Arafat. "Cheeze, Yasser! Okay. What do you demand?" "Chuck it." The composition of the 20-member cabinet includes some of Arafat's erstwhile critics. Abbas appointed the former Gaza Preventive Security Chief Muhammed Dahlan as minister of state for interior affairs. Dahlan was quoted as expressing confidence that he could put an end to guerrilla attacks against Israel. However, two former PA ministers, information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo and local affairs minister Saeb Erekat, have refused to join the cabinet. Once the Palestinian cabinet is approved, possibly later this week, President Bush is expected to unveil a 'road map' to Palestinian state. But not before, which means not until... The Zionist regime has voiced serious reservations about the plan and dispatched a Sharon's aide to Washington to press the Bush Administration to take them into account.

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