Al Ahram: Palestinians embracing Al-Qaeda--it's the West's fault

There is evidently a growing Al-Qaeda presence among the Palestinians. Media coverage of it has been murky so far, but in this article it emerges as a major trend (although, of course, we drove them to it):

[...] From the very beginning, the Salafis had sought to convince Hamas to refrain from taking part in the elections, arguing that the West, especially America, was not sincere about the issue of democracy and that Western powers were only using the issue to weaken Islam and serve their own imperialistic interests.

And when the US, Israel, the EU and most Arab regimes imposed an exceptionally harsh economic, financial and political blockade on the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which pushed the bulk of Palestinian society on to the brink of poverty, the Salafis and others, like Hizb Al-Tahrir, confronted erstwhile proponents of Hamas's participation in elections, telling them "didn't we tell you so?"

It is thus widely presumed that many, if not most, of those joining the ranks of Al-Qaeda, particularly in the Gaza Strip, are actually former Hamas supporters and members who have come to the conclusion that the West's real purpose is to destroy Islam, not to promote democracy, and that the only way to stop this is through Jihad.

The current refusal of the West, including the EU, to lift the embargo on the government of national unity is enforcing and probably vindicating such convictions among many Palestinians (and obviously among many other Arabs in neighbouring countries), thus facilitating the recruitment of more and more converts to Al-Qaeda's cause.

The growth of similar organisations in the occupied Palestinian territories, and possibly among Palestinians in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria as well, will have serious ramifications on the Palestinian cause itself, given the nearly nihilistic approach adopted by these people.

Indeed, Al-Qaeda believes in an existential confrontation until the very end, with the enemy. It regards the latter as being, not only the US and Israel, but any group or government or people that hamper the attainment of its goals. In this light, the list of potential enemies of Al-Qaeda includes Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood, who reject many aspects of Al-Qaeda's ideology.

Hence, it is feared that the emergence of Al-Qaeda or similar groups as significant political players in the Palestinian arena could redefine the entire Palestinian struggle for freedom from the Israeli occupation.

Moreover, it is an almost foregone conclusion that Israel stands to benefit from the strengthening of Al-Qaeda amongst Palestinians, especially in the short run, as it will enable Israel to claim that it has a common cause with the West in combating "Islamic terror", thus obtaining an additional excuse to consolidate its occupation and theft of Palestinian land.

As mentioned earlier, the growth of Al-Qaeda in Palestine will expectedly be at the expense of such Islamic movements as Hamas, a comparatively moderate movement that is open to compromise.

The key word is "comparatively," I suppose.

Hence, it is likely that Hamas will undertake a campaign to educate Palestinians against the dangers of Al-Qaeda's nihilistic ideology, especially following the recent acrimonious exchanges between itself and Al-Qaeda's second in command, Ayman El-Zawahri. He castigated Hamas for signing the Mecca Agreement with Fatah on 8 February, which he called a "sellout".

In fact, Hamas-affiliated Muslim scholars are already engaging some Salafi activists, trying to convince them that their way of thinking is not compatible with authentic Islam. [...]

That's a relief.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Tags: Israel, Palestinians, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Salafism