The Islamic Movements in the Occupied Territories

1. The rise of the political roles of the oil-rich countries after the war of 1973.
2. Migration to the Persian Gulf.
3. The inability of other political forces and their retreatment in the last years.
4. The victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

In the meantime, the most vital factor which goes back to the Arab cultural nature that rests on the foundation of traditional religions is the Arabic-Islamic culture, which alongside other factors, has always prepared a favourable ground for the revival of religion. In this framework, some social-political-organizational aspects aimed at increasing the political influence of the Islamic movement in the Occupied Territories after 1967, are among the social phenomena of the rise of the Islamic movement.

Based on the statistics at hand, in the last years, the number of mosques in the West Bank has increased from 400 in 1965 to 750. In addition, in the Gaza Strip, there are more than 600 mosques, while 20 years ago, their number did not exceed 200. Regardless of the full accuracy of these figures (due to the lack of accurate charts and statistics), it is still considered as one of the phenomena of the rise of the Islamic movement in social life, especially from the fact that increasing the number of the mosques was concurrent with the increase of their social, cultural and even political activities. Several political demonstrations in protest of the policies of the Israeli occupiers started in the mosques. The mosques which were exempted from the process of closing down public places by the occupation authorities turned into the meeting points for discussions for the Muslim youths in regards to the current political matters and in reality, this matter led to the emergence of the political roles played by the mosques.

The numerical increase of the mosques was not the only social phenomenon nourishing the religious atmosphere. Rather, in the last years, it is what is referred to as the Islamic links (ar-Rawabit Islamiyyah).

In a number of the villages in Palestine, villages such as al-Muthalath, al-Jalil and al-Nasirah are conducting different social activities like; helping the poor families, building mosques, establishing kindergartens and organizing working camps whereby there were three of them in Umm al-Fahm village. ‘ar-Rawabit Islamiyyah’ has other cultural activities which are focused on religious enlightenment in confronting what is known as the invasion of laicism civilization.

The financial costs of the ‘ar-Rawabit Islamiyyah is funded from the funds and donations collected by the zakat committees affiliated with them. Spreading the religious atmosphere in social life has been reflected in some people’s behavioural traits, specifically the people in the Gaza Strip. For instance, the increase in the number of women wearing the hijab and organizing celebrations on Islamic occasions.

Likewise, some people carried out attacks against the places where alcohol was sold and brothels and also against the Muslim women who never adhered to the Islamic hijab.

By conducting several local types of research and political opinions, alongside the results of the students’ elections which have been conducted in the last years in the occupied Palestinian universities, the magnitude of the political forces affiliated with the Islamic movement is no longer a mystery.

In one of the local research projects which was carried out in the first half of the 70s (the years between 1971-1973) in regards to a group of people that were freelance business owners in some regions such as: al-Janin, Tulkarm, Nablus, it was discovered that close to 55% of the people that were interviewed preferred the involvement of religion in their social lives. Likewise, most of them (76%) accepted the religion of Islam as the framework of their lives. Of course, this conclusion does not reflect the real magnitude of the Islamic movement as an organized political movement. This is because Islam can also become an acceptable framework for many political forces.

In the last opinion poll that was conducted by ‘al-Fajr’ newspaper, the Australian TV Channel and the American magazine, Newsday, in August 1986 in the occupied territories, the position of the movement has become increasingly apparent. By referring to the votes of a thousand citizens from the cities, villages and different camps in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, made up of heterogeneous strata, they were asked to say their views in regards to more than 30 questions. Among these questions, perhaps the question that is related to our discussion is the fourteenth question. In the fourteenth question, it had been specifically stated: “In the case of an establishment of an independent Palestine, which political name would you choose as the system of government of that country?”

The answers were as follows:

1. A monarchial governmental system based on the constitution. (1.1%)
2. A capitalist system like the current systems in Western Europe and the United States. (1.9%)
3. The socialist system like the socialist countries in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. (6.7%)
4. A system based on Islamic laws. (26.5%)
5. A system based on Pan-Arabism and Arab unity. (2.1%)
6. A Palestinian, Arab, Islamic state. (29.6%)
7. A secular and democratic Palestinian state. (10.4%)
8. A democratic Palestinian State. (2.2%)
9. Other systems. (5%)

Suppose we say that the fourth group that chose ‘a system based on the Islamic laws’ is the only representative of the Islamic movement; and the answer, ‘A Palestinian, Arab, Islamic state’ is only reflecting the overall trend and does not include a specific concept, in that case, the position of the choice ‘Islamic,’ amongst the other political choices stipulated in this opinion poll, can be specified. There is no doubt that the choice ‘Islamic’ has demonstrated a considerable percentage and also attained a vital position amongst the other political trends.

1. The victory of the Islamic movement in the universities

By assessing the Islamic movement in 5 universities (with the exemption of Bethlehem University whose expense is provided by Christian institutions), universities such as an-Najah National University, Birzeit, Islamic University of Gaza, al-Quds and Hebron, the tangible rise of the Islamic Movement becomes clear. If the superiority of this feature and its dominance over the university students’ unions – and more or less in the al-Quds and Hebron Universities due to the fact that they are Islamic – is an acceptable and justifiable matter, then the rise of this movement in the universities such as an-Najah National University in Nablus and Birzeit University in northern Jerusalem is still questionable, that is, by considering the activism of the liberal and secular trends in these universities. The development of the Islamic movement began in the late 70s and the last elections of the Students’ Unions in 1979 in Birzeit University witnessed the remarkable superiority of the religious candidates (43%) against the candidates of the National League Party. Of course, during that time, in the list of the religious candidates, there were also names of some Christian students. Additionally, the religious candidates raised a slogan chanting ‘The mosques and churches against the faithless.’ Nevertheless, after one year, the people on the list of the religious candidates were all Muslims. The number of the votes attained was between 25-35%. The Islamic faction at an-Najah National University, in the years between 1980-1981 enjoyed more or similar success.

1982 was an exceptional year. During that time, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the withdrawal of the troops and leadership of the Liberation Organization from Beirut imposed special conditions on the Islamic movement within the occupied territories. For the sake of maintaining their solidarity and unity, different Islamic movements supported the organization and laid aside their own political differences for a temporary time, due to the prominent crisis.

During the following years, it picked other aspects since the Islamic faction in the Birzeit University garnered a total of 31.3% of the votes. In 1985, there was a slight decrease in proportion to the votes attained. On the contrary, the leftist forces (forces that are normally supposed to be strong) only attained 25% of the votes and the Fatah movement attained 40% of the votes.

In the elections held in 1986 in an-Najah National University, the list of the Fatah candidates – the faction of Martyr Sa’ad Sa’il – won the elections and had attained 1511 votes, that is, 52% of all the voters who constituted 89% of all the students at the university. The list of the Islamic candidates was second with a total of 1154 votes. The (coalition of the People’s Front and communists) attained 309 votes and the faction of the National League attained 98 votes.

In 1987, in the last elections conducted in an-Najah National University, even though the votes attained had a slight difference, however, no significant change was realized in the ranking of the factions. The Fatah candidates, named ‘The Student Youth Movement - the faction of the martyrs of the Palestinian revolution – won 11 seats in the Students’ council by attaining a total of 1446 votes. The candidates of the Islamic movement – the faction of the martyrs of Saeb – followed in the second position by attaining 1238 of the votes. Third in position, was the People’s Front – the faction of martyr Ghassan Kanafani – that attained 209 of the votes. The last was the Democratic Front candidates – the faction of martyr Khaled Nazzal and Haj Sami Abu Ghosh – that attained 99 of all the votes.

2. Conflict with the leftist movement

It is not a matter of surprise if a burgeoning Islamic movement finds itself on the scene of a political conflict. During the 80s, a lot of conflicts between the Islamists and the other political forces were seen, whether in the universities or other institutions and nationalist political bodies. Perhaps, the most significant of them was the conflict that happened at the Gaza Red crescent centre and matters went to the extent of using weapons. Furthermore, another aggressive conflict was between the university students who supported the Islamic trend against the non-religious leftists which led to the death of one of the Muslim lecturers at the Islamic University of Gaza.

In reality, the followers of the Islamic movement started fighting continuously against the leftist and the non-Islamic forces from the late 70s. At the beginning of 1980, the Islamic University of Gaza turned into a stage of demonstrations in protests of the dominance of the leftists in the Palestinian nationalist organizations and delegations. In that same year, another incident occurred in October. The committee of (nationalist trends) affiliated to the Liberation Organization was conducting a meeting at al-Bireh mosque. During their meeting, a group of people entered the mosque with the aim of disrupting the meeting. The year 1982 had not yet ended when a conflict began in an-Najah National University between the teaching staff and Students’ Union that left tens of people nursing injuries. Similar conflicts also took place in Hebron University.

A year later, the universities in Gaza witnessed students’ strikes which went on for almost three weeks. The Islamic Administrative Council of the University mentioned above rejected the membership of a person whom they had suspected to have close ties with the Liberation Organization! The matter escalated to fighting between the two parties which left several people injured. The year had not yet ended when the followers of the Islamic movement in the universities of Gaza, Hebron and Birzeit came together and chanted slogans against the Christian Chancellors of the Universities. At the beginning of 1984, during the anniversary of the founding of the Palestine Communistic Party in an-Najah National University, the Islamists fought with the opposing students.

The occurrence of these incidents depicts the political incompatibility of different groups in the political scene of Palestine. This means that the difference in opinions in regards to the nature of the Palestinian government and its social system and mostly its political forces are pushing it towards an internal conflict. And of course, the real danger for any national liberation movement lies in this matter!

3. The organized activities

What has been mentioned, are some of the political and social aspects which demonstrate the relative power of the Islamic movement in the occupied territories, although, these are not all the aspects. This is because this movement is familiar with the organized activities and in the last years, it has witnessed the establishment of several organizations and groups which only hold the slogan of ‘Islam’ in their hands. The scope of the activities of some of these organizations and groups is only limited to the propagation of Islam. For instance, the ‘Jama’at al-Tabligh wal-Da’wah,’ whereby its centre is close to Ramallah and has strong ties with countries such as India and Pakistan. The founder and leader of that group is Mawlana Muhammad Ilyas.

This group refrained from carrying out any political activity and has sufficed in conducting the propagation of Islam in mosques and other public places. The basis of this propagation is following the lifestyle of the Holy Prophet (s) and struggling to teach the general Muslim community in regards to the concept of the Muslim nation (ummah). Nonetheless, other groups which have not only limited themselves to propagation, that carry out political activities, are several in number and they include: Hezbollah, which was formed in the prisons of Gaza and in support of Iran’s Islamic Revolution. The group ‘Muslim community’ which had a limited presence in the Gaza Strip and following the verdicts issued by the military court in Ramallah against some of its members, declared its formation on the 10^th of December 1984.

Apart from these groups, a number of groups and other Islamist organizations too, either had ties in some manner with the Muslim Brotherhood – the representative of the traditional Islamic movement - or were influenced by them. To cite an example, we can mention the ‘Muslim Hands’ organization. Not much is known in regards to this organization and it is led by one of the Muslim thinkers in West Bank named, Bassam al-Jarrar. Likewise, the group ‘al-Shabab al-Ma’arakah al-Islamiyyah in the Gaza Strip, alongside the ‘Movement for Islamic Reforms’ (Harakat al-Islah al-Islami) which is affiliated to Jordan and Iraq and then comes the turn of the ‘Muslim Youths’ (al-Shabab al-Muslim) which is mostly affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Despite the difficulty in presenting a complete and accurate image of the organizational structure of the Islamic movement in the occupied territories, whether due to the existing asylum around the activities of some of its members or due to the occupation conditions, what is noteworthy is that the movements are mostly following the mode of political activity alongside propagation duties as a tool for promulgating their ideologies. Owing to this reason, a new organization named, Islamic Jihad (Jihad al-Islami) was established which raised the slogan of ‘armed measures’ and prioritized the matter of liberating the motherland and destroying the dominance of the occupiers and exited the traditional procedure of the Islamic movements by this means. Not only did it achieve the vital and distinguished position, but it is also considered as a new phenomenon in the Islamic movement. We shall not be exaggerating if we say that the Islamic Jihad Movement is the representative of the new faction that has attained tremendous victory in comparison to the traditional faction of the Muslim Brotherhood.

4. The Islamic Jihad Movement and the armed measures

The Islamic Jihad Movement believed in armed fighting as a political strategy. The journals of this group depict that the Islamic Jihad Movement intends to implement the Islamic laws in the society after establishing an Islamic government in Palestine. This matter, the complete annihilation of Israel, and as result, the prioritizing of this aim necessitates that this matter can only be achieved by means of armed measures and jihad against the occupational forces.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution, which invites all the Muslims towards jihad in the course of liberating Jerusalem (al-Quds) and the whole of Palestine, has played a significant role in forming the ideology of the members of the Islamic Jihad Movement. The genuine manifestation of this ideology in the tangible rise of the activities leading to the martyrdom of this group in the last few years and specifically in Bayt al-Muqaddas has become evident.

Even though the most important operation that was carried out under the name of Islamic Jihad Movement, is that operation that was conducted by the groups of Tariq and Nasir Halis – both of them from Bayt al-Muqaddas – in mid-October 1986 named as ‘Operation Bab al-Mugharabah.’ Alongside this operation, in the following year, another operation was carried out in the centre of Gaza in al-Shuja’iyyah Alley on October 6^th which left one Israeli security officer dead. Other than these, other operations were carried out in the name of the Islamic Jihad Movement, although, they were not as successful as the previous operations. Of course, this is with the exemption of the attacks that were carried out with the aim of targeting a part of the Israeli economy. This style is similar to the strategy of the guerilla war which was not only limited to the military targets and a specific battlefield. Rather, it was based on multiple modes of operations in a manner that was extended to all parts of the government departments.

Definitely, this was done with the aim of analyzing the forces of the enemy and forcing them towards a long-term war and dispersing their defensive forces. Besides, the organizational structure of the Islamic Jihad Movement is similar to the special structure of the guerilla fighters in the perspective of utilizing the task forces and their extensive geographical reach. The Islamic Jihad Movement replaced the traditional pyramid shape with small factions made up of four or five people. These factions are working independently and this matter has led to the ease in movement of the people. There is no accurate information in regards to the manner of how the expense or the weaponry of these factions are provided!!

5. Islamic Jihad Movement and the leadership of its sponsors

In the Arabic and Western resources, it has been elaborated in regards to the establishment of the Islamic Jihad Movement by Shaykh Abdullah Darwish who hailed from the village of Kafr Qasim in 1979, the year of the inception of Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Together with this, the organizational affiliation of Shaykh Abdullah to the Islamic Jihad Movement has not been proven. However, this matter has mostly portrayed him as a spiritual father and a potential leader in comparison to an actual leader! In 1979, Shaykh Abdullah was expelled from the Ministry of Education. Before his expulsion from the schools in his village, Kafr Qasim, he was teaching religious studies. Later on, he was arrested as a result of his ties with the Islamic Jihad Movement.

After completing three years in prison, he was released in 1982. After being released from prison, he started preaching in the mosques and emphasized the importance of religious awareness and learning as a tool for promulgating Islam and implementing the Islamic laws (shari’ah), where this was not compatible with the political strategy of the Islamic Jihad Movement. And perhaps it can be considered to mean his retreatment from the jihadist ideology; that is, the use of armed measures for the purpose of establishing an Islamic government.

In reality, Shaykh Abdullah Darwish was close to the traditional ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood and their well-known strategy in regards to political activities and especially in the arena of propagation. Shaykh Abdullah does not refute his influence from the Muslim Brotherhood and specifically from Shaykh Umar al-Tilmisani, the former general master of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Shaykh Abdullah Darwish was the head of the editorial board of the weekly religious journal ‘as-Sirat’ that was being published in the occupied territories. Anyway, regardless of his leadership background, it must be noted that the leadership of the Islamic Jihad Movement, makes use of a council and the names of all the members have not been officially announced. Of course, the method of Shaykh Abdullah did not have any impact on the development of the Islamic Jihad Movement and the active members within the Islamic Jihad Movement published another journal that featured more belief in regards to armed jihad.

This journal was being published under the name of ‘al-Bayan’ with its edition in London done by Dr. Khalid Dayab. Of course, today, Shaykh Abdul-Aziz al-Ouda is considered the spiritual leader and Dr. Fathi Shaqqaqi is the military officer of the Islamic Jihad Movement.[7] In addition, let us now discuss the matter in regards to the current organizational leadership of the working groups who have carried their operations under the name of jihad. The most noteworthy matter is that the leadership of this movement was not only limited to a certain group of individuals. Rather, some of the former military officers of the Palestine Liberation were leaders of this movement. The most prominent person amongst these individuals was Jabir Amar, a former major general of the army. He carried out religious-political activities in the Israeli prisons and had extensive activities in the Gaza Strip. His activities began in Egypt, a place where he has spent a part of his life. His propagation was based on the propagation of the Islamic Jihad.

In this framework, another name has emerged from within the Liberation forces of Palestine and that name is Ahmad Mahna. He was the leader of one of the military factions of the Islamic Jihad Movement in the Gaza Strip. He has been arrested twice in accusation of being affiliated with this group and the last time being in 1986. Other than this, some of the people in the Islamic Jihad Movement, have risen among the workers. For example, Farid Abumakh, a worker hailing from Tel Aviv – later became a commander of one of the factions of the Islamic Jihad Movement in one of the villages of al-Muthalath. Amongst the civilian activists of the group, we can mention Khalid Dayab who was a doctor hailing from Rafah. He was living in Egypt and completed his medical studies at Zagazig University. He had carried out political activities before his return to the occupied territories. These are among the most significant members who are undertaking the leadership of the Islamic movement in the occupied territories.

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