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JONATHAN GARB

Special to The Jewish News

T

he world media has
given little attention
to one of the most alar-
ming developments of the
past year — the significant in-
crease in brutal incidents in
which Arabs are murdered by
other Arabs in Judea,
Samaria and Gaza. This
trend belies the image of the
intifada as a spontaneous and
popular revolution directed
against the IDF. Rather, it is
largely a reign of terror by
street gangs and activists of
the terrorist organizations,
which severely disrupts the
lives of the inhabitants.
Since the beginning of the
Palestinian uprising (known
by its Arabic name intifada,
a "shaking off"), 245 Arabs
have been murdered by other
Arabs in the administered
territories. As of now, these
murders are being committed
at the rate of approximately
15 a month.
One of the forms of disinfor-
mation used by Palestinian
apologists in order to convert
this reign of terror into a
semi-legitimate revolutionary
activity is to describe the
murders as attacks on "col-
laborators." This term inten-
tionally conjures up shades of
the resistance against the
Germans in World War II.
However, internal Palestinian
sources, such as a leaflet
distributed on July 21, 1989,
by the "United Leadership of
the Intifada," have admitted
that most of the attacks on
suspected "collaborators"

Israeli soldiers carry the body of an Arab killed by fellow Arabs.

Fratricide

The intifada has loosed a power struggle
within the Palestinian community.

were groundless. Moreover,
Palestinian leader Faisal a-
Husseini has stated that
many of the attacks are caus-
ed by old clan disputes.
Most of the incidents do not
even have a pretended or im-
agined connection with col-
laboration. Some incidents
are caused by internal con-
flicts between the various fac-
tions involved in the intifada,
as they vie for control over the
lives of the inhabitants. For
example, on June 18, two
members of Fatah were stabb-
ed in Nablus by members of
the fundamentalist Hamas
organization. Other Palesti-
nians have been murdered for
disobeying decrees (strike
days and boycotts of Israeli
goods) distributed by the
various factions which seek to
force the inhabitants to com-
ply with their will.
The extreme religious
groups such as Hamas
employ terror in order to

coerce the inhabitants into
observing the laws of Islamic
morality. For example,
Fawisha Abu Sawish was
hacked to death; on May 15,
1989 for being "promiscuous."
In their drive to establish
political control over the ter-
ritories, the leaders of the
uprising have launched an

One of the forms
of disinformation
is to describe the
murders as
attacks on
"collaborators."

all-out assault on the existing
Palestinian leadership. They
have attacked reporters,
mayors, moderate Palestinian
public figures and village
leaders, such as Lutfi Khalaf,
the mukhtar of Burkin, who

was lynched and hanged in
the street on June 18.
Far from being isolated and
haphazard incidents, these
acts of terror are an organiz-
ed and institutionalized part
of the intifada. The leaflets
published by the leadership of
the intifada, which lay down
the uprisings, operational
guidelines, constantly call for
the killing of collaborators,
village leaders, strike
breakers, moderates, etc. A
leaflet published by Fatah on
May 5 enumerates the condi-
tions under which • col-
laborators may be killed.
Typically, section 3-2 of the
leaflet states that anyone
whose death is called for by
the public can be killed.
The murders are usually
carried out by gangs describ-
ed by the leaflets as shock
forces. These gangs use the
uprising as a cover for acts of
rape, sadism and blackmail.
Several months ago, a

member of the "Red Eagles"
was interviewed on Israel
television and described, with
obvious relish, the sadistic
murders he had committed.
The victims are often tor-
tured before being stabbed,
hanged or hacked to death.
Samar Kamel, who was ac-
cused of immorality, was kill-
ed by having boiling pitch
poured over him. In another
case, youths in Meggido Jail
poured boiling water over a
14-year-old they had
suspected of collaboration.
There are frequent in-
cidents of sexual violence
against women: in February
1989, Sabeh Kanaan was
raped for three days and her
hands were broken. Two
months later she was killed.
In other incidents, members
of the PLO's Popular Army
stripped women in front of
their husbands as a punish-
ment for using the services of
the civil administration.
The victims also include old
men, such as Hamdan
Jadrawi, 72, who was
murdered by masked youths
on June 8. The "occupying
forces" also seem to include
92-year-old Arabs like -Ahmad
Hassan, killed Aug. 4, 1989,
in Zibwad.
During the past year, the
murder of innocent Arabs by
brutal gangs has become an
increasingly widespread
phenomenon. By now, it is an
integral part of the intifada.
This darker side of the upris-
ing has been virtually ig-
nored by the media and has
been condoned or even en-
couraged by the vast majori-
ty of Palestinian leaders. ❑

World Zionist Press Service

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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