HEZBOLLAH HUNKERS DOWN
Hezbollah is fortifying 150 villages in Southern Lebanon in anticipation of another conflict with Israel, says Ehud Barak, Israel’s defense minister. Barak described Hezbollah’s relations with neighboring Syria as “intimate,” noting Syria was “in large part responsible for the transfer of weapons and supplies to Hezbollah.” Barak also warned that the calm on Israel’s border with Lebanon was tenuous. “[T]here are no delusions here. Israel Defense Forces officers… [are] primed and ready for any possibility.” (Tel Aviv Ha’aretz, June 3, 2008)
IN THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, A BOOST FOR RADICALS
An internal election within the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has strengthened the hand of conservative hardliners in movement’s Guidance Bureau, its chief decision-making body. Composed of 16 members, the Guidance Bureau hasn’t held an election in over a decade and the Brotherhood – banned in Egypt – has revealed little about the recent shake-up. What’s clear, however, is that the election highlighted a broader trend within the Egyptian Islamist group, in which radicals from the Brotherhood’s old “Special Organization,” or paramilitary wing, have cemented their foothold on the top positions of power in recent years. The secret ballot was both a surprise and a profound setback for the Brotherhood’s self-titled Reformist camp, which ironically has suffered the greatest from the government’s harsh crackdowns of recent years. (Cairo Al Ahram, June 12-18, 2008)
COMMON ENEMIES IN UZBEKISTAN
In a reversal of fortune, Uzbekistan – not long ago the scapegoat of American officials critical of its brutal tactics toward Islamist militants – has enlisted a powerful new ally in its campaign against homegrown militants: the U.S. Treasury department. The government agency has announced that bank accounts belonging to Najmiddin Jalolov, head of the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), as well as those of his deputy, would be frozen indefinitely. The IJU is recognized as an offshoot of the much larger and more active Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), an al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group active throughout Central and South Asia. Jalalov caught the attention of the international community and the U.S. government last year, when his group was linked to a plot to carry out attacks on U.S. targets in Germany. (eurasianet.org, June 19, 2008)
FATAH UNDER SIEGE IN GAZA
When Mahmoud Abbas abandoned the Gaza Strip as a result of a violent coup by Hamas militants in 2007, he fled to his West Bank stronghold, leaving throngs of followers from his Fatah party to fend for themselves. Now those followers are publicly appealing to Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, for relief from what they call “criminal and terrorist actions of the Hamas militias against the sons of Fatah.” The desperate plea chides Fatah for “sitting on the side” while its members undergo harassment, beatings, and torture. “Are you waiting until Hamas kills all of us,” the letter asks. In a separate letter, the families of 450 Palestinians killed in Hamas-Fatah fighting last year called on Abbas to bring justice to Hamas for its “atrocities.” (Jerusalem Post, June 15, 2008)
SOLIDARITY ACROSS THE ISLAMIST DIVIDE
Sectarian divisions have not prevented the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan from expressing its support for its Shi’ite Islamist brethren in Lebanon, as a new announcement of “solidarity” clearly demonstrates. Dozens of current and former government officials, academics, and party activists linked to the Brotherhood directed their letter to Hezbollah’s Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, and his top Christian and Sunni allies, General Michael Aoun and Emile Lahoud. The letter praises the opposition’s “historic role” in “resistance to the occupation in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and throughout the Arab lands.” For Jordan’s Brotherhood, “armed resistance is the strategic weapon of the Arab nation in the face of American-Zionist piracy, hooliganism and brutality.” (London Al-Hayat, May 13, 2008)
[Editor’s note: Sunni Islamists have been divided on their approach to Hezbollah for years. The heterogeneous “Salafist” faction, which includes hard-line Saudi Wahhabis, the Taliban, and much of al-Qaeda and its affiliates, have disavowed the Iranian-supported group, insisting that Shi’ites be recognized as heretics and apostates. But more politically-minded Sunni Islamists, like the Muslim Brotherhood’s various branches, have tended to express support for Hezbollah.]