Palestinian Islamic Jihad - Jihad Islami
(also known as Harakat al-Jihad al-Islami al-Filastini) Source:
International
Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism
Under this name several
radical Palestinian Islamic factions were active from 1979 on in the
Territories, mainly under the influence of the Iranian Islamic revolution
and the growing Islamic militancy in the region.
The PIJ Fathi Shqaqi faction has
in recent years become the most prominent Palestinian terrorist group to adopt
the Islamic Jihad ideology. It views Israel, the “Zionist Jewish entity”, as the
main enemy of the Muslim Brothers and the first target for destruction. Thus, it
calls for an Islamic armed struggle and strives for the liberation of all of
Palestine. This is to be accomplished by guerilla groups, led by a
revolutionary vanguard, which carry out terrorist attacks aimed at weakening
Israel. Its militants see themselves as those who lay the groundwork for the day
when the great Islamic Arabic army will be able to destroy Israel in a military
confrontation.
In the 1980s the group was
involved both in subversive and terrorist activity in the Territories and prior
to the Intifada carried out several terrorist attacks in the Gaza Strip. At the
beginning of the Intifada it numbered some 250 militants and several hundred
sympathizers in the universities and the young activists around the mosques. In
August 1988 the group's leaders were expelled to Lebanon, where Shqaqi
reorganized the faction and strengthened its ties with the Hizballah and Iran.
The faction was behind several of
the deadliest terrorist suicide attacks carried on in Israel by the radical
Islamic organizations in 1995-1997. Fathi Shqaqi was killed by unknown
assailants in October 1995 in Malta.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (Harakat
al-Jihad al-Islami al-Filastini) was founded in 1979-80 by Palestinian students
in Egypt, who had split from the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood in the Gaza
Strip. The founders were highly influenced by the Islamic revolution in Iran on
the one and hand, and the radicalization and militancy of Egyptian Islamic
student organizations, on the other.
The founders - Fathi Shqaqi, `Abd
al-`Aziz `Odah and Bashir Musa - were disappointed by the supposed moderation of
the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, and what they considered the neglect by the
Egyptian Islamists of the priority that should be given to the Palestinian
problem. Shqaqi and Musa, therefore, proposed a new ideological program, which
became the basis for the new organization. They claimed that the unity of the
Islamic world was not a precondition for the liberation of Palestine, but on the
contrary, the liberation of Palestine by the Islamic movements was the key to
the unification of the Arab and Islamic world. In other words: the Jihad for the
liberation of Palestine by Islamic movements will bring upon the expected Jihad
for the reconstruction of the greater and one Islamic state.
The admiration of the three
Palestinian militants for the Islamic revolution in Iran was at that time unique
of its kind in the Arab world and among the Islamic Sunni movements. Not only
did they consider the Iranian revolution as a model for the Arab world, but they
accepted the principle of "the leadership of the men of religion" (vilayet-i-faqih)
although it was a Shi'ite concept. Shqaqi was also the first in the Arab Sunni
world to write, already in March 1979, a book glorifying Khomeini and the
Iranian revolution, which was banned by the Egyptian authorities.
This group of Palestinian students
maintained close relations with radical Islamic Egyptian students, some of whom
were involved in the assassination of president Sadat, in October 1981. As a
result, the Palestinian Islamic radicals were expelled from Egypt and returned
to the Gaza Strip, where they formally began their activity as an Islamic Jihad
organization.
The faction was involved in
subversive and terrorist activity in the Territories in the 1980s. During the
year 1987, prior to the Intifada, it carried out several terrorist attacks in
the Gaza Strip. In August 1988 the two faction`s leaders, Shqaqi and `Odah, were
expelled to Lebanon, where Shqaqi reorganized the faction, maintaining close
contacts with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards unit stationed in Lebanon and
with Hizballah. Shqaqi expanded the political connections of the faction and
became a prominent member of the new Rejection Front which emerged after the
Israeli- Palestinian Oslo agreement, under Syrian influence.
Shqaqi was killed in October 1995
in Malta, allegedly by Israeli agents. His successor is Dr. Ramadan `Abdallah
Shalah, who has resided several years in Florida, U.S.A, and moved to Damascus
at the beginning of 1996. Shalah has not the charisma and the intellectual and
organizational skills as Fathi Shqaqi and this has influenced the organization's
position and activity.
The group has been active on the
political scene in the Territories, mainly in the Gaza Strip, among students and
intellectuals. Until the foundation of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, the
Islamic Jihad groups did not have connections to Hamas, and were regarded even
as rivals in the Gaza Strip. Since then, and mainly after Hamas switched to the
strategy of suicide terrorist bombings, there was some operational cooperation
between the two organizations in carrying out attacks like the one in Beit-Lyd,
in February 1995, or in coordinating simultaneous terrorist attacks. Shqaqi 's
death undermined the PIJ's position in the Territories and Hamas no longer sees
it as a threatening rival.
The group has offices in Beirut,
Damascus, Tehran and Khartoum, but its activity is focused in Lebanon, where
there are several tens of Palestinian members. It has some influence in the Gaza
Strip, mainly in the Islamic University, but not in a way that can endanger the
dominant position of Hamas as the leading Islamic Palestinian organization.
During the 1980s several other
groups of Palestinian Islamic Jihad were formed, but the main faction which has
survived is the group founded by Shqaqi.
The Islamic Jihad Organization -
the al-Aqsa Battalions (Munazzamat al-Jihad al-Islami - Kata’ib al-Aqsa) was
founded under the religious guidance of Sheikh `As`ad Bayyud al-Tamimi in Jordan
in 1982, with the support of Fatah activists. It has carried out its first
terrorist operation already in October 1983, by killing an Israeli citizen in
Hebron. The faction has tried to carry out other operations in the 1980s but
failed. During the Intifada it became active under the name of the “Islamic
Jihad Organization - the al-Aqsa Battalions”. Some of its activists maintained
good relations both with Iran and Sudan. Its religious leader, `As`ad al-Tamimi,
was also a supporter of the Iranian revolution, and was arrested or confined
several times by the Jordanian authorities. Formally the group is still active
in Jordan, but has no supporters in the Territories.
The Islamic Jihad - The Temple
(al-Jihad al-Islami - Bait al-Maqdas) was founded in the early 1980s by the
“Western Sector” apparatus of Fatah, headed by Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad). It
was composed of Fatah terrorist activists from “The Students Committee”, who
carried out an important terrorist attack in Hebron on April 1, 1980, killing
six Israelis leaving a synagogue. Later on the activists of that committee
turned to religion and formed the group which was called “The Islamic Jihad -
The Temple”. The group was led by Bassem Sultan, Marwan al-Kayali and Muhammad
Bkheis, who were killed by a car bomb in Lymassol, Cyprus on February 1988. The
faction's ideologue was Munir Shafiq, who also had pro-Iranian affiliations. It
was the first Palestinian Islamic group that staged a terrorist attack prior to
the Intifada, by throwing hand grenades on Israeli soldiers and their families
during a swearing-in ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on October 15 ,
1986. The faction had very few militants in the Territories.
The Islamic Jihad Squad (Tanzim
al-Jihad al-Islami) was a small group of Islamic Jihad militants led by Ahmad
Muhanna. These militants were imprisoned in Israel for violent activities in the
framework of a PLO off-shoot, the Palestinian Popular Liberation Forces (Quwat
Tahrir al-Sha`biyyah al-Filastiniyyah), who became Islamists in the late 1970s
under the leadership of Jaber `Ammar. Ahmad Muhanna split from this group and
during the 1980s was active mainly from Sudan and was also involved in Islamist
militant activity in Egypt. The faction carried out a terrorist attack in Egypt
against an Israeli tourist bus in Northern Sinai, on February 4, 1990.
Source:
Jewish Virtual
Library
Harakat al-Jihad al-Islami al-Filastini,
better known as
Palestinian
Islamic Jihad (PIJ), was formed in 1979 by Islamic fundamentalist
Fathi
Shaqaqi and other radical Palestinian students in
Egypt who
had split from the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood in the
Gaza Strip
whom they deemed too moderate. The 1979 Islamic revolution in
Iran
influenced the group's founder, Shaqaqi, who believed the liberation of
Palestine would unite the Arab and
Muslim
world into a single great Islamic state. Today, PIJ is committed to the
creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel
through a jihad (holy war).
The Egyptian government expelled
the PIJ to the
Gaza Strip after learning of their close relations with radical Egyptian
students who assassinated
President Anwar
Sadat in 1981. Still, PIJ members remained active in Egypt, attacking a tour
bus in Egypt in February 1990 that killed 11 people, including nine Israelis.
PIJ agents were arrested in Egypt in September 1991 while attempting to enter
the country to conduct terrorism.
The PIJ began its terrorist
campaign against Israel in the 1980s. In 1987, prior to the
intifada,
it carried out several terrorist attacks in the Gaza Strip. In August 1988, the
faction`s leaders, Shaqaqi and `Abd al-`Aziz `Odah, were expelled to
Lebanon, where
Shaqaqi reorganized the faction, maintaining close contacts with the Iranian
Revolutionary Guards unit stationed in Lebanon and with
Hizballah. Although several other factions of Palestinian Islamic Jihad were
formed in the 1980s, the main faction remains the group founded by Shaqaqi.
After the 1993 Olso
Peace Accords between Israeli and the Palestinians, Shaqaqi expanded the
political connections of the organization to become a member of the new Syrian
influenced Rejection Front.
PIJ and
Hamas (The
Islamic Resistance Movement), a separate Palestinian terrorist organization,
were regarded as rivals in the Gaza Strip until after the foundation of the
Palestinian
Authority (PA) in 1994 when Hamas adopted the strategy suicide terrorist
bombings. Since then, there has been some operational cooperation between the
two organizations in carrying out attacks like the one in
Beit-Lid,
in February 1995, where two suicide bombers killed eight Israelis and wounded
50.
When PIJ leader Shaqaqi was killed
in October 1995 in Malta, allegedly by Israeli agents, the PIJ position among
Palestinian terrorist organizations dipped because his successor,
Ramadan
Abdallah Muhammad Shalah, who lived in the United States for several years,
lacked Shaqaqi's charisma and intellectual and organizational skills. That did
not stop PIJ's terror campaign, however, which included the
March 1996
suicide bombing of the Dizengoff Center in downtown Tel Aviv, which killed
20 civilians and wounded more than 75, including two Americans.
The group is currently based in
Damascus and its
financial
backing is believed to come from there and Iran. PIJ also has offices in
Beirut, Tehran and Khartoum. It has some influence in the Gaza Strip, mainly in
the Islamic University, but not in a way that can endanger the dominant position
of Hamas as the leading Islamic Palestinian organization. Unlike Hamas, PIJ has
no social or political role in the
PA.
Aside from Israel, PIJ also
considers the United States an enemy because of its support for Israel. The PIJ
also opposes moderate Arab governments that it believes have been tainted by
Western secularism and has carried out attacks in
Jordan,
Lebanon and
Egypt.
Since September 2000, PIJ has been
responsible for scores of terrorist attacks, including 15 suicide and car
bombings, which have claimed the lives of more than 25 Israelis and wounded
almost 400. On December 22, 2001, despite a declaration by
Hamas to
halt
suicide bombings inside
Israel, in response
to a
crackdown on militants by
Yassir Arafat,
PIJ vowed to continue its terror campaign. PIJ's representative in
Lebanon, Abu
Imad Al Rifai, told Reuters, "Our position is to continue. We have no other
choice. We are not willing to compromise."
Pictured above is the emblem of
Islamic Jihad. In the center, on a background of the
Dome of the Rock, the map of greater Palestine is represented flanked by
assault rifles. Above it and between the rifles appears the inscription Allah
huAkbar [“Allah is Great,” the famous Islamic battle cry and usually the last
words of a suicide bomber]. It is an excellent example of the radical Islamic
religious message promulgated by the organization, whose goals are the
destruction of the State of Israel (which they refer to as “the full liberation
of the Palestinian lands”) by means of an armed and uncompromising
jihad (holy
war) and the establishment of a religious Islamic Palestinian state in its
place.
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