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| Militant: Bashar Aqub says he won't give up his gun easily. Joshua Mitnick |
Restive Nablus challenges Fatah's Abbas
The ability of the Palestinian president to rein in the city could bolster his position in upcoming talks with Israelis.
from the November 5, 2007 edition
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Despite the talk of a crackdown, Bashar Aqub strolls an empty arch-covered corridor with a pistol in a holster. Wearing a Puma sweater and speaking openly about his membership in the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, he brags that the PA police won't dare enter the Old City.
"They don't impress me," he says. "The PA can never come to the Old City to catch us. The PA can only come to the Old City with our permission."
He insists that his group of militants are "clean" of criminal activity and has been subject to a smear campaign by the Palestinian Authority. "This is a legal weapon," he says, about his gun. "I will not give it up for anyone."
With the help of European governments and with some $86 million from the US, the Palestinians aim to remake their security forces into a professional outfit. Two weeks ago, a military academy opened where officers will study conflict management, Hebrew, and information technology.
A Western military official with contacts in the PA said bringing Nablus under the sole control of PA forces isn't a mission that will be completed overnight. "It depends how you define success," the source said.
Abbas has said repeatedly that he wants to establish "one authority and one gun."
But as the central government withered in the turmoil of the Palestinian uprising, Nablus came under the control of young gang members who enforced their own law while the government fell into disrepair. And, even though Hamas is not a power broker here as it is in the streets of Gaza, branches of the Al Aqsa brigades wage turf wars that exacerbate the fears of residents already scared about Israeli army incursions.
The vacuum of authority touched Awni Kaldoun when his 14-year-old son was abducted last month outside his apartment by kidnappers hoping to pressure the moneychanger to pay an outstanding debt. Only after a week-long ordeal was the teenager returned, though Mr. Kaldoun says the Palestinian police had no part in the release.
"We dealt with it in terms of tribal law. The police were unable to deal with it," he explains. "I submitted other complaints, and no one was arrested."
He said he was skeptical about the new deployment's prospects. "If the law applies to all, then they will be successful. But if it is applied to some and others are left to roam the street, it will fail."
Part of the difficulty of the crackdown is that it involves taking to task the grassroots of Abbas's political party, who have joined the Al Aqsa cells while moonlighting as police officers. But with Abbas's political reputation staked on boosting personal security, and with the Israelis demanding an improvement as a prerequisite for progress on political talks, a confrontation may be approaching.
At least that is how the Al Aqsa militants in the old city see it."If they don't want us to carry weapons in the streets," says Saari Hussein, an Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade member, "there will be a problem. If the PA tells me to put down my weapon, I won't listen. I'll shoot at whoever comes to arrest me."
Material from Reuters was used in this article.
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