dafka
06-13-2002, 10:28 AM
In the latest issue of the Jerusalem Report columnist Ehud Ya'ari reports that voices in the Arab world are beginning to publicly criticize the tactic of suicide bombing.
http://www.jrep.com/Columnists/Article-2.html
Central personalities within the PA security apparatuses, such as Jibril Rajoub, Amin al-Hindi and Samir Mashharawi, are taking an open stance against suicide attacks (without doing much to prevent them). Fatah published a statement distancing itself from the suicide operations in Rishon Lezion, after the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility for them. And the Brigades responded with a provocative assertion that nobody has a monopoly on membership in Arafat’s organization. In other words, an open controversy has broken out over the question of suicide attacks within the ranks of the Tanzim, the engine of the Arafat terror machine.
In the background, remember, is the beginning of a renewed debate in parts of the Arab world on this question. Lately, for example, several of the more popular talk shows on the satellite channels of Abu Dhabi, the London-based Syrian opposition ANN and the like have been dedicated to examining the religious aspects and the usefulness of suicide attacks. So instead of automatic applause for the attacks, there is now a readiness to allow expressions of doubtfulness and dissent.
A few of the Saudi papers have stopped using the term "martyrdom operations," replacing it with "suicide bombings" -- a most significant change, since suicide is forbidden in Islam as opposed to giving up one’s life in the context of holy war. And Jordan’s Foreign Minister Marwan al-Mu’ashar has stated that "no Arab state supports suicide bombings."
http://www.jrep.com/Columnists/Article-2.html
Central personalities within the PA security apparatuses, such as Jibril Rajoub, Amin al-Hindi and Samir Mashharawi, are taking an open stance against suicide attacks (without doing much to prevent them). Fatah published a statement distancing itself from the suicide operations in Rishon Lezion, after the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility for them. And the Brigades responded with a provocative assertion that nobody has a monopoly on membership in Arafat’s organization. In other words, an open controversy has broken out over the question of suicide attacks within the ranks of the Tanzim, the engine of the Arafat terror machine.
In the background, remember, is the beginning of a renewed debate in parts of the Arab world on this question. Lately, for example, several of the more popular talk shows on the satellite channels of Abu Dhabi, the London-based Syrian opposition ANN and the like have been dedicated to examining the religious aspects and the usefulness of suicide attacks. So instead of automatic applause for the attacks, there is now a readiness to allow expressions of doubtfulness and dissent.
A few of the Saudi papers have stopped using the term "martyrdom operations," replacing it with "suicide bombings" -- a most significant change, since suicide is forbidden in Islam as opposed to giving up one’s life in the context of holy war. And Jordan’s Foreign Minister Marwan al-Mu’ashar has stated that "no Arab state supports suicide bombings."