Exclusive: New Gaza Salafist faction numbers 11,000

Ma'an Exclusive - "We, the Salafists, count more than 11,000 members who carry with them jihadist teachings from both Ayman At-Thawahri and Osama Bin Laden," said Abu Al-Hareth, leader of the Jund Ansar Allah, during an interview in his poorly lit Gaza home.

"Of this number, 70 percent are members of the Jaljalat, a group made up of former Al-Qassam Brigades and Hamas affiliates," he explained.

The Salafist movement shot to public attention in the summer of 2009, when an Imam declared Gaza an "Islamic emirate" during a Friday sermon in southern Gaza. Fierce clashes ensued between Hamas security forces and Salafist affiliates, leaving 16 dead.

The group is widely considered an extremist militant bloc, extracting ideas and beliefs from Al-Qaida's call for Jihad and the implementation of Shariah (Islamic) law globally.

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http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=277513

Thousands of former Hamas members have switched their loyalties, and now belong to a Salafi terrorist group inspired by Al-Qaeda, a Gaza terrorist told the Palestinian Authority-based Maan news agency.

The terrorist, Abu Al-Hareth, is the founder of Jund Ansar Allah, a Salafi group that has clashed with Hamas and challenges its control of Gaza. There are more than 11,000 Salafists in Gaza today, Hareth claimed, 70 percent of them former members of Hamas.

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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137098

Since the late 1960s, Islamist movements arose as a response to the failure of nationalism, the pressures of Westernization, and social problems in the Arab World. They tried to demonstrate themselves as the most significant ideological, social, and political trend.

While most discussions about Islamism and Islamic extremism tend to paint Muslims with a broad brush, experts believe that there are deep and significant differences between the current Islamist groups.

The Case of Al-Qaeda and Hamas

Al- Qaeda and the Palestinian Islamist Resistance Movement -Hamas were established in the period of 1987-1989 as offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), a political party set up by Hassan Al Banna in Egypt in 1928. MB considered Islam to have an essential political and social character that needed to be reasserted in the face of the societal ills that had come to the Islamic world with secularism. (The Society of the Muslim Brothers in Egypt, p.28)

Despite the fact that Al-Qaeda and Hamas share common roots, the ideological differences between the two movements are acute. In its article “Four Shades of Green” published on August 2006, The Economist highlights the main differences between the two groups:

“Al-Qaeda is first and foremost a movement which sponsors and co-ordinates acts of violence, not just in the Islamic heartland but anywhere it can hit back at the western enemy. In the ideology of the Brotherhood, including Hamas, resort to violence is justified only in the exceptional circumstances of “self-defense” and “occupation”conditions which are deemed to exist in Israel, the West Bank and American-occupied Iraq.”

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http://middleeasternhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/al-qaeda-and-hamas-same-roots-different-goals

Excerpt:

Al-Ghazi did not hesitate to criticize popular movements in the Arab world, including Hezbollah. "It is a Shiite party, operating to spread Shia among Muslims by any means – and we oppose this line," he said, "But, at this point, we are only fighting the Jews, and will continue to fight them."

His organization, like Hamas, is affiliated with the Sunni stream, which includes many Muslims and almost all of the Palestinian Muslims.

He also slammed the Fatah movement and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, calling them "secular". He said, "They are our enemies, and we are fighting them." Of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas he said, "If it is proven that he is helping the Jews – we will slit his throat."

And what about Hamas and the Islamic Jihad? "Contact with them is limited to coordination in the field when necessary, so that our men can reach the posts and take part in the fighting against the Israeli occupation forces."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3875371,00.html