Uncertainty for Hamas in West Bank
Politicians affiliated with the group say they fear more Palestinian factional violence.
from the June 25, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
The two wings of Hamas
To West Bank Fatah leaders worried about the strength of Hamas militias, there's little interest now in hearing arguments why there's any reason to differentiate between the group's military and political wings.
"We've been given orders that any Hamas member in the West Bank [should] be rounded up and put in jail," Juma says. On Friday, Abbas ordered all nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to obtain new operating licenses, a move that may make many Hamas-affiliated NGOs illegal. The crackdown is becoming palpable enough that Hamas leaders in Gaza have taken notice. Mahmoud Az-Zahar, a Hamas hardliner in Gaza, said in a weekend interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel that Hamas members might start carrying out attacks on Fatah in the West Bank because of the sweep.
In the meantime, Nablus is on edge.
"Whatever was done is nothing compared to what was done to us in Gaza," says Sari Hussein, an Al Aqsa leader who acknowledges that some of his men burned Masri's offices. On his cellphone, he shows the footage of a Fatah leader in Gaza being dragged through the street and killed. For him, it's a reminder of what they're up against.
"The leadership is in hiding now, and it's the second- and third-level people who are coming to us and saying, please, please, we don't want trouble," he says. "But why didn't even one of them put their hands up and say, 'We have nothing to do with what's happening in Gaza? No one here in Hamas stood up to condemn what was happening in Gaza. And now the people here are saying, 'Why did we vote for Hamas?' This is the beginning of this war, not the end."
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