Egypt, China central banks sign pacts to boost yuan use, payment systems    EGX ends week in green on July 10    Egyptian pound strengthens against US dollar on July 10    EBRD, Banque Misr sign Egypt's 1st $100m sustainability-linked loan deal    Egypt's FM discusses Gaza efforts with Arab counterparts    Egypt's EDA, Haleon discuss local market support    Environment ministry signs agreement to strengthen marine protection, promote ecotourism    Egypt, WHO discuss expanding health cooperation, development initiatives    Service restoration underway after Cairo telecom fire, minister tells PM    Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrives in Egypt for high-level talks    Gaza under siege, fire: Resistance intensifies amid deepening humanitarian collapse    Korea Culture Week in Egypt to blend K-Pop with traditional arts    Egypt, Pakistan boost healthcare ties – Cabinet    UK, Egypt strengthen cooperation on green transition, eco-tourism, and environmental investments    Escalation in Gaza as ceasefire talks remain fragile amid mounting humanitarian crisis    CIB finances Giza Pyramids Sound and Light Show redevelopment with EGP 963m loan    Egypt's PM, Uruguay's president discuss Gaza, trade at BRICS summit    Greco-Roman tombs with hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered in Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Egypt condemns deadly terrorist attack in Niger        Egypt's EHA, Schneider Electric sign MoU on sustainable infrastructure    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Egypt's FM inspects Julius Nyerere Dam project in Tanzania    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Hamas branded 'too secular'
Published in Al-Ahram Weekly on 20 - 08 - 2009

Hamas acts swiftly to quash radical Islamists in Gaza, but the Salafist source may prove more difficult to quell than its expressions, writes Saleh Al-Naami
In the biggest confrontation yet between the dismissed government of Ismail Haniyeh and an Islamic group, more than 30 people were killed last week, including 12 civilians and several policemen. The bloody confrontation came after Abdel-Latif Moussa -- also known as Abul-Nur Al-Maqdisi, leader of Jund Ansar Allah, or Soldiers of the Followers of God, and among the killed -- declared an Islamic emirate, or mini-state, in Rafah. Moussa, who promised to implement Islamic law, accused Hamas of being too "secular".
Recently, Moussa's followers killed Mohamed Al-Shamali, a leading figure of the Ezzeddin Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, who was trying to mediate between them and security officials.
At first, some of the statements attributed to Salafi groups threatened retaliation against Hamas leaders and security officials. The Salafis, who want to return to pure Islam practised by the Salaf (early Muslims), were cited as saying that the public should stay away from mosques in which Hamas leaders pray. Later on, Salafi leaders denied issuing such threats.
A statement by Salafi groups said that, "we are the sons of one nation and our cause is a shared one and we must not shed each other's blood under any circumstances." Salafi groups stated they were not at war with Hamas or any Palestinian faction "regardless of differences in opinion".
According to the same statement, Salafis were against vilifying anyone who testifies that: "there is no God but God."
Salafi groups denied that the formation of an Islamic emirate was meant to undermine any government or vilify "the sons of our nation". The groups described the killing of Abdel-Latif Moussa by the Hamas government as a "hasty reaction". Dismissed prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, who is in control of Gaza, said that security forces couldn't help but take action against the excesses of Jund Ansar Allah who were assaulting the government and denouncing it as "apostate".
Haniyeh warned that Salafi groups were "exploiting some youths to feed alien ideas of denunciation and bloodshed, a trend that started following the failure of the siege and the war on Gaza". He called on young men to "distance themselves from negative thinking and misguidance".
The declaration of the emirate crowned a series of assaults by Jund Ansar Allah. Members of the group tried to attack both former US president Jimmy Carter and Quartet envoy Tony Blair on their recent visits to Gaza. The groups bombed dozens of Internet cafés in Gaza, saying that they were "spreading decadence and vice among youngsters".
Deputy Ismail Al-Ashqar, chairman of the Legislative Council's Security Committee, described Jund Ansar Allah as "deranged and misguided". In a statement to Al-Ahram Weekly, he said that the government "will not tolerate deviations, whether intellectual, ethical, or patriotic". He added that, "deviations are unacceptable in our society, for it is a Muslim and struggling society and we do not need mentally sick people to impose their agenda on our people."
Al-Ashqar said that Jund Ansar Allah have no business denouncing society and calling others apostate. "How can they call society apostate, and call the mujahideen and the resistance and Hamas infidels? They are a misguided people who must be punished by the law."
According to Al-Ashqar, the rise of these groups comes "in the context of the Zionist threat to the government and the movement, after all the attempts of burying the government and unseating Hamas have failed, and after the last Zionist attack on our people in Gaza has been thwarted."
Israeli security officials are pleased with the rift between Hamas and the Salafi group. A source in the Israeli army has been cited as saying that the killing of Mohamed Al-Shamail by the Salafis was good news. The source added that Al-Shamali played a major role in the storming of the Israeli security post on the Karem Abu Salem crossing in the far southeast of Gaza in May 2006 -- the operation in which Gilad Shalit was captured. Al-Shamali is also though to have been involved in many attacks in which several Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers were killed or wounded.
Adnan Abu Amer, expert in Islamic movements, said that the recent confrontation was significant. The declaration of an Islamic emirate in Rafah came at a time when a stifling and criminal blockade was being imposed on Gaza, one in which Israel and the Mahmoud Abbas government and many Arab countries, in addition to Europe and the US, were involved. What made the declaration of the emirate particularly galling was that all the parties implicated in the siege, which has led to the death of hundreds of wounded and sick Palestinians, now had an excuse to justify their criminal act and claim that Hamas was planning to establish an Islamic emirate all along.
Abu Amer told the Weekly that those who speak in the name of the Palestinian Authority, Israel and the US saw the declaration of Jund Ansar Allah as a justification for continued blockade. "What does the declaration of an emirate mean while a government is in power? It means simply that there is another authority claiming that it has the right to monopolise the use of force in a way that suits the ideas of its people, which leads to chaos and disorderliness," Abu Amer said.
He called attention to the fact that those who belong to Salafi groups were accused of carrying out bombings against Internet cafés and wedding halls, the last of which was a large bomb that hit a wedding in Khan Younis, wounding dozens. They are also believed to have attacked Palestinian Christians in Gaza.
Hamas is determined to win the battle with extremist groups once and for all. Thus, the recent round of violence in Rafah may not be the last.


Clic here to read the story from its source.