Press Release

April 9, 2004

PHRMG Condemns Inter-Palestinian Violence and

Expresses Concern about the Lack of Research into the Matter

The PHRMG is very concerned about the rise of internal violence among Palestinians. The al-Aqsa Intifada has not only been an uprising characterized by increasingly deadly force against the Israeli occupation – it has also resulted in an ever more acute ‘intra’fada.

Palestinians are torn between various political factions and traditional family values such as honor and pride. Secularism and religious militancy coexist among the population of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The political tasks and responsibilities of Chairman and Prime Minister remain unclear. These societal phenomena divide Palestinians internally. Much of Palestinian on Palestinian violence is related to these societal divisions.

The legal system of rights and duties is confused at best, and wrought by corruption and cronyism at worst. Generous interpretations of punishment make it possible for detainees, like Mohammed Lahloh, to be severely tortured by official PA criminal investigators. For suspected collaborators especially, treatment by vigilantes or PA forces is extremely violent, and often results in death. Sulayman ‘Awad Muhammad Abu ‘Amas is but one of many suspected collaborators who died during their detention and ‘interrogation’ period as a result of severe torture by PA military intelligence. Vigilante groups and gangs, among them the al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigades, are also active in bringing suspected traitors to justice. Nidal Kasem Dbeik was killed in February this year, after being forced to ‘confess’ his crimes in front of his family.

Internal violence also includes the widely unreported domestic abuse of women, and rape. The distinction between public and private sphere is still in place, and the traditional concept of honor pertaining to women makes it socially taboo to discuss abuse of any kind. A gruesome case of rape, which has stirred tempers in Gaza, occurred in the fall of last year. 16-year-old Mayyada Khalil Abu Lamda was abducted from school, forcibly violated by four men, strangled and left in a garbage bin. Although this case will be officially tried, there are plenty of unheard voices, especially since women are still seen as ‘possessions’ and lack economic independence.

The proliferation of small arms and other types of weapons in Palestinian society during the post-Oslo era has been accompanied by a proliferation of international violence as well. The availability of deadly firepower has not only resulted in accidents, such as when 13-year-old Nader Samiri killed his friend Ameed Akkad in Nablus while ‘playing’ with a gun. Weapons have also turned family feuds increasingly deadly, as was the case in January this year, when an argument between two Ramallah taxi drivers resulted in death and carnage. Not only was an innocent shot dead, family belongings were also burnt and destroyed in a spree of revenge and counter-revenge, involving whole family clans and Fatah members.

Internal violence has also resulted in aggression against members of the press, in an attempt to silence free speech and critique of the Palestinian condition. Journalists critical of the PA and its policies, such as Seifeddin Shahin (al-Arabiya Satellite Channel), have been continually subjected to violence, either at the hands of PA officials or by unknowns affiliated with a political splinter group. In March this year, Arafat confidante and editor Khalil al-Zebin was sprayed with bullets by unidentified assailants. His death is just the latest in a string of increasingly violent attacks on the press and free speech.

Drawing on a wide variety of sources, a new research paper published by the PHRMG attempts to put together case examples and provide both background to and analysis of this ‘intra’fada phenomenon. The research can be viewed on our website: www.phrmg.org

Since the beginning of the al-Aqsa uprising, 297 Palestinians have been killed by Palestinians. PHRMG believes it is necessary to address this internal violence, and urges both the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government to quell this phenomenon. We fear that otherwise a future Palestinian state will be born into civil war.