Chapter Ten: Middle Eastern Terrorism in Metamorphosis

1. Chapter Ten:Middle Eastern Terrorism in Metamorphosis

2. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad

3. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad • Groups that operate under the name Islamic Jihad • Hezbollah’s umbrella included Islamic Jihad from 1982 until 1988 • Other groups also use the name Islamic Jihad and operate in other countries

4. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad • The PIJ • Emerged from Egypt • The founders-- Fathi Shekaki, Abdul Aziz, and Bashir Musa-- wanted to create an Islamic state using military action

5. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad • Fathi Shekaki • The PIJ’s first leader, Shekaki fell under the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He longed to take direct action against corrupt Muslim governments and the infidels who influenced them • Shekaki supported the Iranian revolution; he wanted no social program or general political movement; he felt his small group should be devoted to one thing: military action • Shekaki was impressed with two of Hezbollah’s innovations: the umbrella-styled organization and the suicide bomber • Shekaki found that by letting his group split, he became virtually invisible to his enemies

6. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad • The structure of the PIJ • The U.S. Department of State sees the structure of the PIJ as a pillar of strength • The PIJ was not concerned with claiming credit for operations, but it was concerned about killing; Actions, not slogans and ideas, caused revolution

7. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad • Ramadan Abdullah Sallah • Shekaki was assassinated by Israelis in Malta in 1995 • Nine months before his death, Shekaki was interviewed by Time magazine in which he said there would be no peace until Israel was destroyed • Shekaki’s successor, Ramadan Abdullah Sallah, maintained the Shekaki philosophy

8. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad • Funding • The PIJ has an organized financial supporters around the world: • The United States • Iran • Syria

9. Hamas

10. Hamas • Sheik Ahmed Yassin • Yassin believed that Islam was the only path that could restore Palestine, and he preached reform and social welfare • After being jailed, he decided in the future his organization would have a military wing

11. Hamas • Hamas and the Hamas Charter • Hamas was formed in December 1987 • The Hamas Charter, published in 1988, declared that Palestine was God-given land, from Jordan to the Mediterranean. There could be no compromise with the Israelis, and Israel could not be allowed to exist • Hamas would be much more than a military organization; it would be a Muslim government

12. Hamas • The Hamas organization • Political Wing • Oversees international and foreign relations • Social Wing • The largest unit, Hamas runs charities, schools, hospitals, and other social service organizations • Military Wing • The Izz el Din al Qassam Brigades is named after a martyr during the period of British occupation of Palestine and forms the military striking power of Hamas

13. Hamas • Musa Abu Marzuq • After the first Intifada, Hamas faced an internal power struggle • Yassin was jailed from 1989 to 1997 • The American educated Musa Abu Marzuq took over Hamas, and his strategy was much more violent than Yassin’s • Marzuq assembled a new leadership core and based it in Lebanon. He also sought financial backing from Syria and Iran • In 1996, Marzuq authorized a campaign of suicide bombing inside Israel. The PIJ launched one at the same time, and both campaigns continued into 1997 • After Yassin was released from prison in 1997, he reasserted control over Hamas

14. Hamas • 2003 peace effort • In the summer of 2003, Palestinian prime minister Mahmud Abbas brokered a limited cease-fire, asking Hamas, the PIJ, and related groups to end their campaigns • The peace effort ended in August after a suicide bombing on a bus in Jerusalem. The Israelis responded by renewing a policy of selective assassination • Hamas passed another milestone in the campaign against Israel: It used a female suicide bomber in a joint operation with a newer group, the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades

15. Hamas • The future of Hamas • In March 2004 Yassin was leaving a mosque in Gaza when Israeli helicopters appeared and fired three missiles at him • Hammas announced Yassin’s replacement, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, an old member of the group of the inside faction. The Israelis assassinated Rantisi after he took office • A new leader was appointed but his identity was kept secret • Reuvan Paz senses a shift in Hammas thinking • In August 2004, U.S. and Iraqi forces battled the Shi’ite militia of Maqtada al Sadr in Najaf, Iraq • Hamas had two interesting communiqués in the wake of this battle: The first one condemned the United States for fighting around Najaf, the site of a Shi’ite holy shrine and the second release called upon Iraqis to support the militia of Maqtada al Sadr • By voicing support for Iranian-styled Shi’ites and not Shi’ites in general, Hammas is falling into Hezbollah’s orbit

16. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade

17. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade • The al Aqsa Intifada • Suicide bombing became the most important tactic of all the Palestinian terrorist groups at the beginning of the al Aqsa Intifada. • Hezbollah, Hamas, and the PIJ were in the forefront • Fatah also became involved. If Fatah wanted to play a leading role, it had to move from the secular to the religious realm

18. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade • Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades • The Brigades began as a secular group, but they increasingly used Jihadist rhetoric • They were the first secular Palestinian group to use suicide tactics • The goal of the Brigades is to stop Israeli incursions and attacks in Palestinian areas, and they intend to punish Israel for each attack

19. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade • Tactics of the Brigades • The Brigades’ primary tactics have been drive-by shootings, snipers, ambushes, and kidnap-murders • The use of the suicide bombers were frightening for two reasons • They were secular • They sought out crowded civilian targets

20. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade • Leadership of the Brigades • One school of thought maintains that Arafat led and paid for the Brigades • The Israelis say that Arafat may not have determined targeting and timing, but he paid the expenses and set the agenda • A BBC News investigation points to Marwan Barghouti as the commander • Arafat claimed he knew nothing about the Brigades

21. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade • Structure of the Brigades • The Brigades have little centralized structure • Cells exist in several Palestinians communities, and leaders are empowered to take action on their own without the approval from a hierarchy • The managerial relations within the Brigades remain a paradox, even to the Palestinians • No obvious leadership struggle has occurred within the Brigades since Arafat’s death

22. Jewish Fundamentalist Groups in Israel and Palestine

23. Jewish Fundamentalist Groups in Israel and Palestine • Militant Judaism • Militant Judaism is based on the biblical notion that God has promised to restore the state of Israel • The theology is racist, eschatological, and linked to the conquest and possession of territory

24. Jewish Fundamentalist Groups in Israel and Palestine • Kach and Kahane Chai • Kach was created by Rabbi Meir Kahane • In 1968, Kahane created the Jewish Defense League • Moving to Israel in 1971, Kahane combined politics and biblical literalism to demand that all Arabs be expelled from territories occupied by Israel • Kahane was assassinated in 1990 in the United States, and Kahane’s son, Benjamin, created a new group, Kahane Chai • Kach and Kahane are committed to stopping any peace proposal that recognizes the territorial rights of Palestinians • Kach and Kahane Chai have defined God’s biblical promises in terms of territory

25. Jewish Fundamentalist Groups in Israel and Palestine • Gush Emunim • Gush Emunim has the same set of beliefs as the violent fundamentalists, but their rhetoric appears normative compared with the violent rhetoric of other groups. This has generated political support

26. Jewish Fundamentalist Groups in Israel and Palestine • Problems with Jewish militant extremism and the prospects for peace • Extremists denounce the existing social order because it is not racially pure • The extremists claim the exclusive right to determine the truth • Extremists advocate an ideal order, and Gush Emunim and Kach claim the Messiah can only return once the existing order is purified • The national identity of Israel and its political legitimacy can only be determined through religion • All current events are defined within a narrow set of beliefs that define a limited worldview and identify only a few people as being chosen by God

27. Jewish Fundamentalist Groups in Israel and Palestine • Moshe Amon • Amon believes that Israel was founded on secular principles but that Jewish Orthodox extremists gain control over government policy • To create an opportunity for some type of peaceful settlement, all religious extremism must come to an end

28. Controversial Counterterrorist Policies

29. Controversial Counterterrorist Policies • Counterterrorist Services • Mossad- The Israeli intelligence service • Shin Beth- The domestic Israeli security service • The IDF • The Israeli police

30. Controversial Counterterrorist Policies • Bulldozing • When Israel first faced suicide bombings, the government implemented a controversial policy called bulldozing whose purpose was to destroy the family homes of suicide bombers • Security Fence • The bulldozing policy expanded to include clearing ground for military reasons and clearing space to build a security fence, that is, a wall separating Israel from Palestinian areas

31. Controversial Counterterrorist Policies • Punishing Lebanon for the sins of Hezbollah • The Israelis destroyed bridges, power plants, and other infrastructure targets in Operation Grapes of Wrath • The Israelis wanted to hurt Lebanon to force its government to clam down on Hezbollah

32. Controversial Counterterrorist Policies • Construction of a massive wall • The concrete and barbed-wire barrier snaked trough Palestinian areas, often putting water and other resources in the hands of the Israelis • It also separated people from services, jobs, and their families

33. Controversial Counterterrorist Policies • Selective assassination • Left-wing leaders in Israel deplore this policy, calling such assassinations “gangster murders” • Human rights groups have condemned the policy and challenged it in Israeli courts