Local attempts to tame the Army of Islam in Gaza

Solomon Bisharat

Islam Online - Gaza

Returned to talk again about a group "Army of Islam" in Gaza after the Israeli army carried out an air strike last week led to the martyrdom of two of its members, and then announced that the raid targeted a group in charge of Islam had been planning to kidnap Israelis in Sinai, according to Israeli claims.



The members of the group in the hundreds of young people under the age of thirty years .. Believe, thought armed action emanating from the Salafi doctrine, and indulge in Altiarac Islamic and specifically Hamas, to find the holy grail of alternative movements, secular, and that Hamas agreed to enter the political arena even gone to declare themselves separate groups, most notably "The Army of Islam."



In mid-January 2006, after Hamas won legislative elections and formed a new government for the first time, some youth groups enthusiastic to work armed running under the slogan says it derives its ideology from the approach the Salafist jihadist ideology, including "Gelgelt (AAS)" and "Warriors of God" and "supporters of Jerusalem," and "Monotheism and Jihad" and "Soldiers of Muhammad", but prominent among them was "the Army of Islam."

Army of Islam and the beginning of appearing



A victory of the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" in the Palestinian legislative elections in January 2006, a point of contention between the movement in its management approach to the conflict with the occupation and among those young people who Astazloa umbrella as an alternative to secular trends.



This difference in vision of the reality and deal with the political side, to pay a portion of the members of Hamas to form a group calling themselves Salafi groups and attributing thoughts to Ibn Taymiyyah and a number of Islamic scholars.



Dr. Adnan Abu Amer, a researcher specialized in the affairs of the Islamic movements of the "Islam Online" website: "First impressions real group Army of Islam was after Hamas won the elections, and the granting of group strength and there is more behavior armed after the participation process of the families of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in mid-2006 in conjunction with other resistance factions. "



Following the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, emerging some behaviors field resulting from differences of intellectual from these communities jihad, where kidnapping of some foreign journalists, and the implementation of some of the bombings targeting the cafes and wedding halls and other on the grounds that it places the spread of immorality, and Walker, of corruption, which led to the transformation of the relationship of ideological differences to the collision and clashes between the militant group in control of the sector and between those groups.



Abu Amer explains that "the period between 2007 and 2009 saw a lot of friction between these groups and between the Hamas movement, this period witnessed the emergence of many of the seeds of intellectual movement which made the living situation of the growing concern of these currents."



These frictions and concern spread payment of the Hamas movement, as seen Abu Amer, to seek to undermine these groups through two methods; the first through the "through dialogues, intellectual and theorizing, as entrusted for a number of intellectuals, the movement to sit down with members of these groups and reach a consensus of views, while the second method Thadjimanm was during the course of security and arrests, interrogation and then to reach a written or oral agreements to regulate the non-occurrence of any future collision. "



Think hard-line predecessor

The nature of the range the Army of Islam, and the short life time of its inception, as well as to highlight its members from the young people who came from factions and other groups, has made her thought is shrouded in a lot of ambiguity and lack of clarity, and sometimes he attributed some of the Salafi militant, and sometimes calculated on the al-Qaeda.



And know the same group as "a group of mujahideen who were brought up on Islam, and took from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His approach to them, and Nora on their way and their struggle confined to the Palestinian home, in order to purge this country of some of the merchants of blood and morality and immorality."



And links with al Qaeda Al-Ansari says that "the Army of Islam is generally associated with Muslims as part of the total, he could not get out of the Muslim community in support or protection, or jihad, against the enemies of the nation of Jews, Christians and Shiites, in Chechnya or Afghanistan or Iraq or Somalia , so-Fi Alliance does not add to Altnasser Try to reach an out of nothing. "



He adds, "The army of Islam link organizational independent group in the same entity and its approach and, with the process and mechanism to reach the desired goal, as well as Al Qaeda have a vision and policy, particularly with regard to the issues generally jihad and Palestine in particular."



However, the researcher Adnan Abu Amer believes that the group and through a lot of behaviors commends the al-Qaeda is Osama bin Laden inspired her, as evidenced by the through Menendyatea what comes out of their data, as well as pay tribute, including by Al Qaeda in other places in the world, and all this makes them more susceptible to ideas of al Qaeda, but the scope is narrower and without ties open with the outside, and thus may be considered a correlation rather than a regulatory or physical. "



Abu-Amer and adds that "its members are eager to armed action, and that's why the Chairman of the exit of other political organizations mired in political action."



The next challenge for Hamas



Do not see Abu-Amer, said that the Army of Islam, with an integrated organizational structure, as it is tens of individuals, the majority of young people under the age of thirty years, did not reach their case so far to configure the hierarchical organizational structure.



He adds, "It is true that there are senior leaders have such an excellent Dughmosh and Abu Omar al-Ansari, and others, but they have not yet reached the advanced level of organization."



On the future relationship of this group of Hamas and the moderate Islamic currents, indicating that Abu Amer, "the Army of Islam are trying to pull the rug out from the bottom of the feet of Hamas if they continue the undeclared truce with the occupation in the Gaza Strip following the Israeli war on the sector."



In the view of Abu Amer, that the "thirst for a lot of young people to resist occupation, and his desire to armed action, may make these groups go to the option of a clash with the Israeli occupation through the quality and thus make them more credible and open the door to hundreds of young people who wish to resist occupation."



As for the sources of its funding, sees Abu Amer they "still rely on domestic support, and expectations of the external methods of financing them because they do not remain in small groups and work on a small scale."



These groups form the bottom, according to Abu Amer, a challenge for a future Hamas in particular being the major moderate Islamist movements and grass-roots larger, since the possibility of a Hamas-long truce with the occupation or preoccupation with the political side may make a slice of wanting to work armed to engage in these groups .