Fatah's Embrace of Islamism Part II

by Ido Zelkovitz

 

2^nd part of 2

 

Conclusion

Fatah imagery chronicles the Islamization of the movement. In the 1970s, Fatah graphic art dedicated itself to promoting the culture of armed struggle, which, at the time, was the heart of the movement's ideology.

 

Today, the gap between Fatah and Hamas in terms of the role of Islam has narrowed. Fatah is more likely to see Islam as one component of national identity while Hamas preaches the primacy of Islamic identity,[47] but both agree that Palestinian society should be Islamist. Fatah leaders may try to keep their movement distinct, not by reversion to its secular past, but rather by arguing that its version of Islam is less extreme than that of Hamas.[48] It is not a coincidence that Fatah organized mass prayers in public areas in the Gaza Strip to protest against Hamas policies.[49]

 

Fatah's loss to Hamas in the January 2006 parliamentary elections, though, forced it to externalize its Islamism. This may further a trend within the West Bank and Gaza—as well as, perhaps, in Jordan—toward Islamist radicalism.

 

It is no surprise that Fatah chairman Mahmoud Abbas recently attended Friday prayers at his Muqata'a mosque, accompanied by the political leadership of Hamas in the West Bank.[50] To preserve his legitimacy, as well as national unity among Palestinians, Abbas must strengthen the Islamic elements in his political behavior. Fatah has deepened its own Islamic terminology and now preaches on the importance of prayer and faith in God during training and indoctrination of its new members.[51] Fatah has also started a

propaganda campaign accusing Hamas of being a servant of Iranian interests and Shi'i supporters,[52] thereby using Islam to criticize its rival.

 

Fatah's new religiosity cannot easily be undone. It is ironic that while many Western diplomats now turn to Fatah as an alternative to Hamas's Islamism, the real Fatah is much closer to Hamas while the secular Fatah now appears to be a relic of the past.

 

Ido Zelkovitz is a Ph.D. candidate in Middle Eastern History at Haifa University.

 

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

 

 

 

[1] Stephen Hadley, remarks at Johns Hopkins University, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Washington, D.C., Nov. 28, 2007.

[2] Yezid Sayigh, Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949-1993 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997), p. 91.

[3] Rafiq Shakir an-Natsha, Al-Islam wa-Filastin (Beirut: Manshurat Filastin al-Muhtalla, 1981), p. 17.

[4] Nels Johnson, Islam and the Politics of Meaning in Palestinian Nationalism (London: Kegan Paul International, 1982), pp. 65-6, 77-86; Saqr Abu Fakhr, Al-Haraka al-Wataniya al-Filastiniya: Min an-Nidal al-Musallah ila Dawlat Manzu'at as-Silah (Beirut: Mu'assasa al-'Arabiya li'd-Dirasat wa'n-Nashr, 2003), pp. 26-9.

[5] Emanuel Sivan, Hitnagshut be-Tokh ha-Islam (Tel Aviv: 'Am 'Oved, 2005), pp. 190-2 .

[6] Fawaz Turki, Soul in Exile: Lives of a Palestinian Revolutionary (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1988), p. 53.

[7] "Political Beliefs and Preferences of People Who Trust Fatah and People Who Trust Leftist Factions," Analysis of Palestinian Public Opinion on Politics, Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, Sept. 2000, p. 35.

[8] Kata'ib Shuhada' al-Aqsa, "Kilmat al-Kata'ib—Min Al-'Asifa ila Kata'ib Shuhada' al-Aqsa," accessed Nov. 21, 2007.

[9] Kata'ib Shuhada' al-Aqsa, "'An al-Kata'ib," Sept. 21, 2005.

[10] Tony Blair and Yasir Arafat, news conference, Prime Minister's Office, Oct. 15, 2001.

[11] Ronni Shaked and Avivah Shabi, Hamas: Me-emunah be-Allah le-derekh ha teror (Jerusalem: Keter, 1994), pp. 204-6; Meir Hatina, Islam and Salvation in Palestine (Tel Aviv: Moshe Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University, 2001), p. 69.

[12] Qur. 9:14.

[13] See Hamas proclamations, nos. 3, 5, and 7, in Shaul Mishal and Reuven Aharoni, eds., Avanim zeh lo ha-kol: ha-Intifadah v?e-neshek? ha-keruzim (Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuhad and Avivim, 1989), pp. 202-13.

[14] Hillel Frish, "Nationalizing a Universal Text: The Quran in Arafat's Rhetoric," Middle Eastern Studies, May 2005, pp. 322-5.

[15] Munazzamat at-Tahrir al-Filastiniyya, Rasail al-Akh Abu A'mmar Ra'is al-Lijna at-Tanfidhia li-Munazzamat at-Tahrir al-Filastini—Al-Qa'id al-'Amm li-Quwwat ath-Thawra al-Filastinyya ila Abtal al-Quwwat al-Mushtarika wa-Jamahir ash-Sha'bayn al-Lubnani wa'l Filastini fi'l-Harb as-Sadisa, Wathiqa 1-2-3-4-5 (n.p., n.d.), pp. 23-40.

[16] Qur. 22:39-40.

[17] Qur. 60:111.

[18] Al-Hayat (London), Oct. 5, 2002, in Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Special Dispatch Series, no. 428, Oct. 11, 2002.

[19] Ephraim Lavi, "Zehoyot Kibotziot Mitharot be-He'ader Medina Leomit," paper delivered at "The Solidarity of the Arab State—Is It in Decline?" conference, Moshe Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University, Mar. 21, 2006.

[20] Michael Milstein, Fatah ve-Hareshot Hafalastinit Bein Mahapekha le-Medine (Tel Aviv: Moshe Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University, 2004), p. 57.

[21] Fabio Forgione, "The Chaos of the Corruption: The Challenges for the Improvement of the Palestinian Society," The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group Report, Jerusalem, Oct. 2004.

[22] Gal Luft, "The Palestinian Security Services: Between Police and Army," Middle East Review of International Affairs, June 1999.

[23] Nigel Parsons, The Politics of the Palestinian Authority: From Oslo to Al-Aqsa (New York: Routledge, 2005), p. 154.

[24] Medinat Israel Neged Maerwan Iben Hatib Barghuthi (The state of Israel vs. Maerwan Iben Hatib Barghuthi), file no 1158/02, Beit Ha-Mishpat Ha-Mehozi Be-Tel Aviv, May 20, 2004.

[25] Anat N. Kurtz, Fatah and the Politics of Violence: The Institutionalization of a Popular Struggle (Eastbourne, U.K.: Sussex Academic Press, 2005), p. 140.

[26] Ar-Ra'y al-'Amm (Kuwait), Mar. 6, 2004.

[27] Rema Hammami, "From Immodesty to Collaboration: Hamas, the Women's Movement, and National Identity in the Intifada," in Joel Beinin and Joe Stork, eds., Political Islam: Essays from Middle East Report (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1997), pp. 204-6.

[28] Sukur al-Fatah, 'Ashat Dhikra al-Marid al-Fathawa'i, Jan. 1, 2005.

[29] Hatina, Islam and Salvation in Palestine, p. 66.

[30] Daniel Pipes, "The Muslim Claim to Jerusalem," Middle East Quarterly, Fall 2001, pp. 49-66.

[31] Qur. 110:1.

[32] Kata'ib ash-Shahid Ahmad Abu'r-Rish, Hawla Mushkilat Kata'ib ash-Shahid Ahmad Abu'r-Rish ma'a Hamas (n.p.: Rabi'a al-Thani 4, 1426 A.H., May, 13, 2005).

[33] Sivan, Hitnagshut be-tokh Ha-Islam, pp. 190-2.

[34] Kata'ib ash-Shahid Ahmad Abu'r-Rish, "Min Nahnu-Nibadha Muhtasara," accessed Nov. 15, 2007.

[35] "Masirat Fatah fi Mukhaym al-Bureij," Sept. 20, 2007.

[36] Yusuf Sadik, "Kanada Taharib Kata'ib ash-Shahid Ahmad Abu'r-Rish," accessed Nov 28, 2007; Kata'ib ash-Shahid Ahmad Abu'r-Rish, "Iftitah al-Maktab al- I'alami li- Kata'ib ash-Shahid Ahmad Abu'r-Rish Ba'd Ighlaqahu mi qabal Jihat Sahyuniya-Kanadiya," Mar. 13, 2007.

[37] Fatah, "An-Nizam al-Assasi," Fatah Basic Order, first part, articles 7-8, accessed Nov. 12, 2007.

[38] Kata'ib ash-Shahid Ahmad Abu'r-Rish, "Min Nahnu-Nibadha Muhtasara," accessed Nov. 15, 2007.

[39] Qur. 5:51-52.

[40] Qur. 48:2.

[41] "Kata'ib Fatah al-Mubin," n.p., 2005.

[42] Tariq Ibrahim and Muhammad Ibrahim, Sha'rat al-Intifada (London: Filastin al-Muslima, 1994), pp. 265, 367-6.

[43] 'Abu ash-Shaykh: "Afkhar inani Ibn li-hadha al'A'ila wa-Fakdan ithnayn min ashiqqa'i la Yuharabuni'," accessed Mar. 12, 2006.

[44] Qur. 2:192.

[45] Kata'ib Shuhada' al-Aqsa, "Bayan Na'i min Kata'ib Shuhada' al-Aqsa wa- Talai' al-Jaysh ash-Sha'bi- Kata'ib al-A'wda: Al-Ab al-Qa'id Yasir A'rafat fi Dhimmat Allah," Nov. 11, 2004.

[46] Yunus Karim, interview on Israeli Channel One, May 18, 2005.

[47] Lavi, "Zehoyot Kibotziot Mitharot be-He'ader Medina Leomit."

[48] Bakr Abu Bakr, Harakat Fath wa't-Tanzim Allathi Nurid (Ramallah: 'Anah li't-Taba'a wa'n-Nashr, 2003), p. 165.

[49] Al-Ta'amim (Fatah periodical, Ramallah), Aug. 2007.

[50] Al-Ayyam (Ramallah), Nov. 3, 2007.

[51] Bakr abu-Bakr, "Qiyam as-Sala wa-ikhtirak al-Gudur," accessed July 11, 2007.

[52] Fatah- al-I'alam al-Markazi, "M'ashal: Hamas al-ibn ar-ruhi lil-Imam Khumayni" (M'ashal: Hamas is the spiritual son of Imam Khomeini), accessed Aug. 21, 2007.