Hamas by Paola Caridi

Author:Paola Caridi [Paola Caridi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: world history; history; history books; jerusalem; palestine; history teacher gifts; history gifts; history buff gifts; gifts for history buffs; history of israel; historical books; middle east history; history lovers gifts; israeli palestinian conflict; war; political science; military; biography; sociology; philosophy; foreign policy; journalism; military history; international relations; revolution; cold war; geopolitics; historical; warfare; biographies; culture; 21st century; human rights; society; anthropology; school
ISBN: 9781644211977
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Published: 2023-10-23T18:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Hamas Versus Fatah

Prison Diplomacy

The clash over the question of recognizing Israel transcended borders and in particular went beyond the streets of Palestine, which faced its own immediate and more pressing problems: salaries, of course, but especially violence among armed factions. As the factions committed to one side or the other of the duopoly that had come to dominate the PNA leadership, it was above all the Gaza Strip that paid the price for the tension that had by now become a staple of everyday life. Weapons appeared on the streets; shots were fired in broad daylight; people were hit in the legs; the opponent’s militants were kidnapped for a few hours here and there; warnings were issued. In Gaza the safety of the population—even that of children going to school—was no longer put at risk by Israeli soldiers, but by the Palestinian militants.

It was Hamas versus Fatah, and the clashes got worse by the day. The armed groups linked to the two main Palestinian factions became the real protagonists of the confrontation, both as instruments of political conflict and as groups who exerted pressure on their own leaderships. The friction reached all the way into the security institutions, which in spring 2006 were still in the process of being reformed. In April, Abbas reinforced the Presidential Guard and made it answerable directly to him, and also established an organization tasked with monitoring the borders, which in practice meant the crossing between Gaza and Egypt at Rafah. Hamas responded by establishing the Security Forces Unit, a body that took its orders from the Haniyeh government’s interior ministry, thereby challenging Abu Mazen’s authority. Heading what would later be called the Executive Force303 (or tanfisiyya in Arabic) was Said Siyyam, well known as one of the movement’s hawks and one of the men who had contacts not just with Hamas’s military wing, but with other armed factions within the Strip. Indeed, many say it was Siyyam himself who pressed for the Force’s establishment.

The Executive Force brought together the groups that had been established and consolidated during the Second Intifada. Thus, it was not just Hamas’s militants who joined the Executive Force, but more importantly the members of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), as well. The PRC was itself heterogeneous and not integrated into the Islamist movement. In a move that appeared to be aimed at strengthening links with the PRC, Siyyam appointed as director general of his ministry the founder of the PRC, Jamal Abu Samhadana, who was also second on Israel’s most-wanted list. Abu Samhadana’s appointment, therefore, was yet another spark over a very dry pyre, and one that could not but seriously embarrass Abbas, who sure enough immediately—yet unsuccessfully—attempted to block it. The Executive Force initially comprised 3,000 men but practically doubled within a few months. The perception was that the Force had been established for two reasons: to reinforce and “regularize” the military tools at Hamas’s disposal in the Gaza Strip and to establish an organization strong enough to confront the Preventive Security Force—which had traditionally been close to Dahlan—head-on.

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