Special Dispatch-Palestinian Authority/Jihad & Terrorism Studies Project
To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit:
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD163307 .
During the Hamas takeover of Gaza, the movement's leaders made statements in support of an Islamic state, expressed hope for the victory of Islam over the infidels, and called to build a mosque in place of the PA offices and to kill Fatah members. Hamas gunmen ransacked a Catholic convent and school.
Fatah members, most notably PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, accused Hamas of attempting to transform the conflict from a national-political confrontation into a religious-sectarian one, and of sanctioning the killing of Fatah members. Some Fatah members also expressed fear that Hamas would turn Gaza into a Taliban-style Islamic emirate with Iranian and Syrian support.
The following are excerpts from statements by Hamas and Fatah members:
Hamas Official: The Secular Era in Gaza Has Ended; Islam Will Triumph Over the Infidels
Hamas official Nizar Rayyan promised to turn the headquarters of the National Security Forces in Gaza into a big mosque and to deliver a sermon at the presidential headquarters. In addition, he said: "In a few hours, the secular era in Gaza will end without leaving a trace... Today heresy ends. Today the struggle is between Islam and the infidels, and it will end with the victory of the faith. [Once victorious], Hamas will open its arms to the members of the security forces, so that they will return to the faith, [for] Islam is generous with infidels [who repent]. We hold the truth and they [represent] falsehood... How can we not fight against those who desecrate the sanctity of Allah, execute clerics and sell out the Palestinian cause – those who blasphemed in houses of worship, burned mosques, Korans and [Islamic] education facilities and executed jihad fighters? We will hold dialogue with these [people] only through the barrels of our guns."(1)
Concerns About Persecution of Christians in Gaza
The most serious manifestation of the Islamization of Gaza were the attacks on Christians during the Hamas takeover of Gaza. On June 19, 2007, masked gunmen looted and torched the Rosary Sisters convent and school.
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas condemned the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades and the Executive Force for looting and torching Christian facilities, describing these acts as crimes and as barbarism that may disastrously undermine the unity of the Palestinian people. "The torching of the convent," he said, "is one of the rotten fruits of this black coup perpetrated by the Hamas militias. Blinded by fanaticism... they broke the law and desecrated the holy places and houses of worship of our Christian Palestinian [brothers]." Abbas called on the Palestinians "to stand firm against those who wish to drown our people in an ocean of blood and darkness – [those who wish to] transform the conflict from a national-political confrontation into a religious-sectarian one, to destroy the unity among the [various] sectors and sects within the Palestinian people... and to impose a culture of hostility and takfir."(2)
Yousef Al-Qazzaz, a senior Palestinian Broadcasting Authority official, wrote: "The hands drenched in the blood of Fatah members and security forces members have [also] torched a library in a Gaza church."(3)
Following the attack on the Rosary Sisters convent, Christian citizens in Gaza expressed fear of being targeted as well. A citizen who asked to remain anonymous, said: "We are afraid of being attacked... If I get the chance to leave the country, I will not hesitate to do so. Someone from the [Hamas] Executive Force tore the crucifix from my neck, saying: 'That is forbidden.' Then he added: 'Islam is the solution.'"(4)
Fears of a Taliban-Style Emirate in Gaza
Fatah officials and columnists in the PA dailies were skeptical of the Hamas' declarations that it would not try to impose Islam upon the citizens in Gaza. They said that the acts and statements of Hamas – destruction of monuments, attacks on Christians and calls to establish an Islamic emirate – portended a Taliban-like reality. Yousef Al-Qazzaz said: "[Hamas] members destroyed the monument of the unknown soldier [in Gaza] just as the Taliban destroyed archeological sites and monuments in Afghanistan."(5)
Fatah official Samir Mashharawi said to the London daily Al-Hayat: "Hamas aims to establish a mini-state in the Gaza Strip modeled on the Taliban [state] in Afghanistan."(6)
Al-Ayyam columnist Hassan Khadhr wrote: "Countries in the region and in the world are now [concerned] that the Gaza Strip may become an Islamic emirate, especially since the Hamas spokesmen have not hesitated to feed these fears , for instance [by stating that] 'the era of justice and Islamic rule has arrived,' as a Hamas spokesman [recently] said."(7)
Another Al-Ayyam columnist, Abd Al-Nasser Al-Najjar, wrote: "How will the mini-state of the new Taliban [i.e. Hamas] manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip under a suffocating international siege?... Will they implement the laws of Islam?... An Islamic state [ruled by] the new Taliban has become a reality in Gaza, although most of the citizens [in Gaza] are not Hamas [supporters]... On the international level, [only] one or two countries [like] Syria and Iran will recognize this mini-state, and even if they do not recognize it, they will assist it as long as it serves their interests."(8)
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida columnist Omar Hilmi Al-Ghul wrote that Hamas' claim that it would not impose Islam on the citizens is nothing but an empty promise, since "those who want to preserve the social and national fabric and [to defend] the freedom of the citizens and the political [forces] do not destroy [national] monuments. The monument of the unknown soldier [that was destroyed by Hamas] was not a religious [monument] but a symbol of national struggle. Are there no monuments [of this sort] in Iran, Pakistan and other Arab and Muslim states? The destruction of this monument takes our people in the direction that Nizar Rayyan was heading towards [when he] expressed... a wish to establish an Islamic Emirate... Why did [Hamas members] torch a convent? Does that reflect a policy of preserving the social and national fabric?"(9)
Black Images of Islam
In an article titled "Black Images of Islam," Al-Hayat Al-Jadida columnist Bakr Abu Bakr described a series of incidents which, in his opinion, had severely damaged the image of Islam. The first of these was the Muslim reaction to the Danish cartoons, the second was the crowd shouting Shi'ite victory slogans at Saddam Hussein's execution, the third was the Afghan boy who laughed with glee as he beheaded a Westerner in Afghanistan, which was, Abu Bakr says, a striking demonstration of "glorious Islam" – and the fourth was the Gaza coup.
Abu Bakr characterized the coup as "the victory that the bloodthirsty Hamas movement tried to present on its TV channel after [Hamas members] murdered 18 innocent Muslims at the security headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, which they call 'the heretic and collaborating authority. They [even] held a prayer [at the headquarters]. I do not understand why they give thanks to Allah and why they are praying... The sight of the black-clad masked [men] – bloodthirsty [gunmen] who accuse others of heresy – praying at the headquarters of the Preventive Security Apparatus was such a disgraceful sight that one of my friends in Gaza said that it made him feel ashamed to be a Palestinian, an Arab and a Muslim like those [men]."(10)
Palestinian columnist Omar Hilmi Al-Ghul wrote: "The PA, the security forces and even Fatah have made mistakes and [have all been guilty of] corruption, but the question is how these phenomena should be dealt with. [Is it correct to respond by starting] conflicts, accusing fighters of heresy and spreading false accusations and internal strife? [Is it right to respond] with benighted incitement on the media, calling on Palestinians to kill Palestinians in the name of religion? Where is this Paradise that they talk about? Isn't it disgraceful that a Hamas MP said, 'We want the struggle between the Believers and those who have given their loyalty to the Jews to be decided by the force'? [The same MP] continued his benighted incitement, saying, 'We smell the fragrance of Paradise and victory.' Can there be victory in a criminal civil war?"(11)
Responding to Nizar Rayyan's statement that the secular era has ended, Abu Bakr wrote: "If all the Muslims and leaders were like you, religion would have expired long ago... Let the Hamas movement enjoy its leaders who level accusations of heresy and treason at their own people."(12)
Endnotes:
(1) Al-Ayyam (PA), June 15, 2007.
(2) Al-Ayyam (PA), June 18, 2007.
(3) Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), June 20, 2007.
(4) Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), June 20, 2007.
(5) Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), June 19, 2007.
(6) Al-Hayat (London), June 13, 2007.
(7) Al-Ayyam (PA), June 15, 2007.
(8) Al-Ayyam (PA), June 16, 2007.
(9) Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), June 19, 2007.
(10) www.amin.org, June 16, 2007.
(11) Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), June 13, 2007.
(12) Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), June 17, 2007.
08/09/2010 06:03 PM
Closure of Taiba Mosque
Hamburg Hate Preachers Lose Their Home
By Björn Hengst and Christoph Scheuermann in Hamburg
Islamic extremists in Germany have lost an important meeting place following Monday's move by Hamburg authorities to close the Taiba mosque and the society attached to it. Sept. 11 suicide pilot Mohammed Atta used to frequent the mosque, which investigators say has been supporting terrorism for years.
The name of the mosque is a striking exaggeration. Masjid Taiba, which means "beautiful mosque," is located in a plain building on a street in the seedy St. Georg district of Hamburg, right next door to a fitness studio. To get to the prayer rooms one has to walk into a poorly-lit foyer and up some stone steps. The carpet in the prayer room is worn and, in winter, condensation drips down the panes of the poorly insulated windows.
Nevertheless, 250 Muslims crowded into the mosque for Friday prayers -- Moroccans, Bosnians, Russians and many Germans. They included some elderly people, but most of them were young men. Many of them had converted to Islam or had returned to the religion after years away from it, and in a lot of cases, these men were radical in their beliefs.
At around 6 a.m. on Monday, the Hamburg police raided the mosque as well as the Arab-German Cultural Society attached to it, and the homes of society members. The mosque was closed with immediate effect, the society was banned and its assets and documents were confiscated.
Extremists Met in Mosque, Authorities Say
Hamburg Interior Minister Christoph Ahlhaus described the mosque as "a focal point for the jihadist scene." The Taiba society had "spread an ideology that was hostile to democracy" in sermons, courses, seminars and via the Internet, Ahlhaus said.
The mosque claimed to represent the original and only true form of Islam, unadulterated by the temptations of the modern world. That is why many worshippers who prayed there didn't mind being called Islamists and fundamentalists. After all, they argued, this was where the foundations of Islam were being taught.
Many of them are convinced that most Islamic countries are ruled by tyrants. A caliphate, like the one the Taliban had established in Afghanistan before 2001, is the only truly Islamic form of government, they said. Many visitors approved of the "Islamic resistance" now being waged against foreign forces, including German troops, in Afghanistan.
Under Close Scrutiny
Every Muslim visitor must have known that he was under close scrutiny from police authorities as soon as he set foot in the building. In fact, it proved quite helpful for the Hamburg intelligence service because all the city's Islamists would congregate here. That might explain why the deputy head of the service, Manfred Murck, didn't express delight at its closure at a news conference on Monday.
The mosque had been watched closely since immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks because some of the suicide pilots, including Mohammed Atta, had frequented it. It attracted heightened attention last year after a group of 10 Hamburg jihadists traveled to the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, apparently in order to gain terrorist training there. One of them, an Iranian called Shahab D., joined the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IBU) there and appeared in a video under the name Abu Askar in which he called on German Muslims to join the armed struggle.
Legal proceedings to ban the Taiba society lasted months until July 30, when the Hamburg senior administrative court ruled that the ban could go ahead. After Sept. 11, the mosque had become a "symbolic place for jihadists," Murck said on Monday.
Well Connected
Hamburg's intelligence service estimates that some 45 jihadists live in Hamburg. The scene has good contacts with like-minded Islamists in other German cities including Frankfurt, Berlin, Bonn and Bielefeld. Murck said there was a strong sense that the Hamburg members wanted to contribute to jihad. "They want to become heroes," he said. But he added that there were no concrete indications at present of any planned attacks.
Authorities say the Taiba society has 20 to 30 members and that between 200 and 250 people attended Friday prayers there. Occasionally, sermons were held by Mamoun Darkazanli, a German-Syrian businessman who has long been on the radar of German authorities because of his alleged association with the suicide pilots of Sept. 11.
But investigators never found evidence that he had provided support for al-Qaida. Darkazanli is on the European Union's terror list. He is not permitted to open a bank account or run a business.
Lothar Bergmann, departmental head for public safety in the Hamburg Interior Ministry, described him as a "hate preacher" on Monday. Spain has filed a request for his extradition on terrorism charges but Germany won't extradite him. Authorities say he lives off state benefits.
URL:
* http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,710952,00.html
No comments:
Post a Comment