Corrupt? Misguided? Militants face the heat

NABLUS, West Bank – A stolen car, its number plates torn off and replaced by a black plaque bearing the word ‘Palestine’ and the symbol of a militant group, pushes through a crowded alley in the Balata refugee camp.

As it squeezes among the pedestrians, some seem reluctant to get out of the way while others shoot looks of disdain at the muscle-bound young men in black T-shirts just visible behind the vehicle’s tinted windows. A guide points out that the car is driven by members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militant group allied to Fatah, the political party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Formed by Abbas’s predecessor, Yasser Arafat, al-Aqsa has carried out scores of attacks and suicide bombings against Israel over the past five years, putting it at the forefront of the battle against Israel’s 39-year occupation of the West Bank.But among the residents of Balata, one of the largest and poorest Palestinian refugee camps and traditionally a fertile source of recruits, there is less awe these days for the actions of groups like al-Aqsa, and a growing sense of scorn.”To be honest, I feel frustrated with the resistance,” says Ismail Hashash, the owner of a driving school in Balata, using the general term Palestinians use for those who battle Israel.”They don’t respect the goal, which is fighting the occupation.They’ve been corrupted.Instead of just fighting Israel, they are involved in disputes and crime, or they just like to show off their weapons.”The very fact that the 32-year-old, who says he knows many militants as acquaintances, is willing to criticise them openly shows how the groups have fallen in his esteem.He says the movements have lost their way, and are now filled with unemployed young men looking for direction.HIZBOLLAH WORSHIP Many explanations are given for the decline – from the view that the long “resistance” has run out of steam to the fact that Israel has infiltrated it, turning fighters into collaborators.Palestinian analysts say the number of those who use the term militant as a cover for a gang-like lifestyle of theft and non-political violence now exceeds those who might truly be regarded as fighters – a clear sign of decline.Palestinians might easily be able to differentiate between the two groups, but the trend still reflects something rotten at the heart of a once unified movement.Israel’s recent war against Hizbollah in Lebanon has thrown the shortcomings into starker relief.Hizbollah, which has waged a 24-year campaign against Israel, is widely perceived by Palestinians to have come out on top in the conflict, dealing a blow to Israel’s vaunted military – something Palestinian militants have rarely managed to do.A song praising Hizbollah is now the most popular tune in the Palestinian territories, and posters of Hassan Nasrallah, the bearded cleric who heads the Lebanese group, are plastered on the walls of towns throughout the West Bank and Gaza.It has become common to hear Palestinians talk of how they plan to emulate Hizbollah, yet in the very desire to imitate lies an admission that the home-grown resistance is not working.”I hope we can learn lessons from Lebanon, but the truth is we are divided,” said Muhammed Jumasin, 23, a metalworker from Balata who said he aspired to be a “pure” militant.”We are splintered into four or five groups and everyone is competing, which leads to corruption,” he said.DEFENDING THE CAUSE Despite its problems, the Palestinian “resistance” is by no means dead.There are daily attacks against Israeli forces in the West Bank and Gaza, although the Palestinians, with their basic weaponry and tactics, nearly always come off worse.Militants remain a powerful and often feared presence in towns like Nablus and Jenin, sometimes publicly executing suspected collaborators.The leaders of the militant groups – which include Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, as well as al-Aqsa – reject suggestions that their cause is corrupted and insist on the need for resistance.”We may be four or five armed groups, but all of these groups come together in confronting the Israeli army whenever that army confronts us,” said Alaa Sanakreh (32), a leader of al-Aqsa in Nablus who also favours the Hizbollah comparison.Reminders of the conflict with Israel are everywhere in Balata, where the main street is littered with sun-bleached and peeling posters of the “martyrs” killed in clashes with Israel, the images showing them praying or brandishing weapons.The most recent poster was dated August 29 2006, when two al-Aqsa gunmen were killed after an attack on an Israel patrol.Pointing out the posters, Jumasin, the aspiring militant, said he honoured the dead as heroes but had less respect for those who are alive and only act the militant part.Nodding to the car of fighters that nosed through Balata earlier, he was disparaging.”How can I respect those people in a stolen car?” he asked.”I come from a poor family, that for me is not what the resistance is about.”Ghassan Khatib, a former Palestinian minister and now a lecturer at Birzeit University, said a similar disintegration of the militant movement happened in the late 1980s, at the end of the first Intifada, or popular uprising against Israel.”The number of people claiming to be part of the resistance came to be much larger (than those actually fighting it) and it was very problematic in terms of maintaining law and order.”He sees a similar situation now as the Palestinian Authority struggles to get a grip on growing insecurity in the West Bank and Gaza, while also trying to confront Israel.Nampa-ReutersA guide points out that the car is driven by members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militant group allied to Fatah, the political party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Formed by Abbas’s predecessor, Yasser Arafat, al-Aqsa has carried out scores of attacks and suicide bombings against Israel over the past five years, putting it at the forefront of the battle against Israel’s 39-year occupation of the West Bank.But among the residents of Balata, one of the largest and poorest Palestinian refugee camps and traditionally a fertile source of recruits, there is less awe these days for the actions of groups like al-Aqsa, and a growing sense of scorn.”To be honest, I feel frustrated with the resistance,” says Ismail Hashash, the owner of a driving school in Balata, using the general term Palestinians use for those who battle Israel.”They don’t respect the goal, which is fighting the occupation.They’ve been corrupted.Instead of just fighting Israel, they are involved in disputes and crime, or they just like to show off their weapons.”The very fact that the 32-year-old, who says he knows many militants as acquaintances, is willing to criticise them openly shows how the groups have fallen in his esteem.He says the movements have lost their way, and are now filled with unemployed young men looking for direction.HIZBOLLAH WORSHIP Many explanations are given for the decline – from the view that the long “resistance” has run out of steam to the fact that Israel has infiltrated it, turning fighters into collaborators.Palestinian analysts say the number of those who use the term militant as a cover for a gang-like lifestyle of theft and non-political violence now exceeds those who might truly be regarded as fighters – a clear sign of decline.Palestinians might easily be able to differentiate between the two groups, but the trend still reflects something rotten at the heart of a once unified movement.Israel’s recent war against Hizbollah in Lebanon has thrown the shortcomings into starker relief.Hizbollah, which has waged a 24-year campaign against Israel, is widely perceived by Palestinians to have come out on top in the conflict, dealing a blow to Israel’s vaunted military – something Palestinian militants have rarely managed to do.A song praising Hizbollah is now the most popular tune in the Palestinian territories, and posters of Hassan Nasrallah, the bearded cleric who heads the Lebanese group, are plastered on the walls of towns throughout the West Bank and Gaza.It has become common to hear Palestinians talk of how they plan to emulate Hizbollah, yet in the very desire to imitate lies an admission that the home-grown resistance is not working.”I hope we can learn lessons from Lebanon, but the truth is we are divided,” said Muhammed Jumasin, 23, a metalworker from Balata who said he aspired to be a “pure” militant.”We are splintered into four or five groups and everyone is competing, which leads to corruption,” he said.DEFENDING THE CAUSE Despite its problems, the Palestinian “resistance” is by no means dead.There are daily attacks against Israeli forces in the West Bank and Gaza, although the Palestinians, with their basic weaponry and tactics, nearly always come off worse.Militants remain a powerful and often feared presence in towns like Nablus and Jenin, sometimes publicly executing suspected collaborators.The leaders of the militant groups – which include Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, as well as al-Aqsa – reject suggestions that their cause is corrupted and insist on the need for resistance.”We may be four or five armed groups, but all of these groups come together in confronting the Israeli army whenever that army confronts us,” said Alaa Sanakreh (32), a leader of al-Aqsa in Nablus who also favours the Hizbollah comparison.Reminders of the conflict with Israel are everywhere in Balata, where the main street is littered with sun-bleached and peeling posters of the “martyrs” killed in clashes with Israel, the images showing them praying or brandishing weapons.The most recent poster was dated August 29 2006, when two al-Aqsa gunmen were killed after an attack on an Israel patrol.Pointing out the posters, Jumasin, the aspiring militant, said he honoured the dead as heroes but had less respect for those who are alive and only act the militant part.Nodding to the car of fighters that nosed through Balata earlier, he was disparaging.”How can I respect those people in a stolen car?” he asked.”I come from a poor family, that for me is not what the resistance is about.”Ghassan Khatib, a former Palestinian minister and now a lecturer at Birzeit University, said a similar disintegration of the militant movement happened in the late 1980s, at the end of the first Intifada, or popular uprising against Israel.”The number of people claiming to be part of the resistance came to be much larger (than those actually fighting it) and it was very problematic in terms of maintaining law and order.”He sees a similar situation now as the Palestinian Authority struggles to get a grip on growing insecurity in the West Bank and Gaza, while also trying to confront Israel.Nampa-Reuters