PA fears loss of control in Hebron as violence rages

T. Belman. Remember that Hebron is designated as Area A in the Oslo Accords, over which the PA has full control. This clash is between rival Fatah clans and not Hamas v Fatah.

WIKIPEDIA: “The Israeli–Palestinian conflict in Hebron refers to an ongoing conflict between Palestinians and Jewish settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Hebron has a Palestinian majority, consisting of an estimated 208,750 citizens (2015)[1] and a small Jewish minority, variously numbered between 500 and 800.[2] The H1 sector of Hebron, home to around 170,000 Palestinians, is governed by the Palestinian Authority.[3] H2, which was inhabited by around 30,000 Palestinians is under Israeli military control with an entire brigade in place to protect some 800 Jewish residents living in the old Jewish quarter.[4][5] As of 2015, Israel has declared that a number of special areas of Old City of Hebron constitute a closed military zone. Palestinians shops have been forced to close; despite protests Palestinian women are reportedly frisked by men, and residents, who are subjected every day to repeated body searches, must register to obtain special permits to navigate through the 18 military checkpoints Israel has set up in the city center.[6]

By Baruch Yedid, TPS

Despite the cessation of violence between rival clans in Hebron following the murder of a member of the Jabari clan, there is a growing concern in the Palestinian Authority (PA) about the sharp increase in violent incidents, and especially shootings between clans in Hebron.

The PA is working to calm the spirits in the city of Hebron, which is mostly under its control, following the assassination of Basel Jabari by unknown individuals from the Abu Aisha clan. The city has been in turmoil since the murder and residents reported to TPS that dozens of armed groups are still roaming the city.

“Hundreds and thousands of weapons are now being carried across the city by masked youths,” a member of the Jabari clan told TPS.

Dozens of shops were set on fire, vehicles were vandalized and residents fear the city is spinning out of control.

“The Palestinian Authority shows great weakness in the face of the large clans,” said a senior Fatah official from Hebron told TPS.

He said more than a dozen murders had occurred recently in the city, mostly by members of the powerful Jabari clan, but the Authority preferred not to intervene, given fears of entanglement and clashes with the large clan, which controls neighborhoods in Hebron.

The Fatah man added that “the struggle between the clans is now becoming a conflict between rival Fatah groups that belong to the clans.” The Jabari clan publicly publishes the names of the murder suspects and demands that the Abu Aisha family turn them over.

Heads of families in Hebron are pointing the finger at the governor, Jabarin al-Bakri, as the number of shooting incidents in the city has significantly increased since he has taken office.

Meanwhile, tensions in the city are easing after the Palestinian Authority addressed the heads of the families and asked them to calm down, especially following the involvement of clerics from Jerusalem, including Sheikh Akrama Tsabari, head of the Supreme Muslim Council, and Sheikh Abd al-‘Azim Salhav, from the management of the Waqf, who headed a delegation of dignitaries to calm the situation in Hebron.

A delegation of experts on clan tribal law was organized in Jordan, but it was postponed due to signs of the rival clans’ willingness to stop the fire. The Mufti of Jerusalem warned the residents of Hebron and said that “a mobilized minority is lurking and trying to ignite conflicts among the Palestinian people.”

Public figures and family heads also arrived from Jenin and announced that they would stay there until a ceasefire was reached.

The rise in violent crime is worrying PA leaders, who have been facing an economic and political crisis for months. A number of violent incidents between clans have recently been reported in the PA-administered territories.

A ceasefire was reached in the city of Yatta after the murder of a member of the Abu Ali clan, in exchange for the payment of 177,000 dinars to his family by the clan to which the killer belonged. Shootings also occurred in the village of Khursa and Shuafat in the Jerusalem area.

Violent incidents were also recorded against senior members of the PA’s security services. A PA officer was recently killed due to a dispute over land in Tulkarm and sources report that acid was sprayed on the face of a senior police officer, following the harassment of a young woman from a village near Ramallah. The officer was burned in the face and was transferred to Jordan for treatment.

Since the beginning of the year, 22 murders have been reported in the Palestinian Authority, a 100% increase over last year. The Palestinian Authority has reported another 2,700 violent incidents since the beginning of the year, an increase of 10%.

Security officials at the PA claim that a large number of the killers, especially from Hebron and southern Judea and Samaria, fled to the Negev in Israel and found refuge.

The PA is blaming Hamas as well. A senior PA official said Hamas is behind the incitement and is working to stir up the various clans and exploit the incidents to portray the Palestinian Authority as incompetent.

Ismail Haniya, the leader of Hamas, spoke with clan leaders on Saturday and asked them to overcome disagreements and thwart “the occupation’s [Israel’s] plans to harm the Palestinian social fabric.”

A senior Fatah official said in recent months that Hamas has been operating openly, and does not shy away from the PA’s security forces, which have so far managed to prevent the organization from operating in the PA’s territories. According to him, in recent months, reception ceremonies for released Hamas prisoners and gatherings in villages, especially in northern Samaria, have been seen.

August 2, 2021 | 5 Comments »

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  1. A couple of Jabari’s people were slated to speak at my conference but backed out due to threats.

    Subsequently I met a couple of times with one of them.

  2. Thanks Adam. I knew none of that .

    A few years ago Mudar informed me about Ashraft Jabari:

    1-I have known Mr. Jabbari for more than two years now. Mr. Jabbari has very progressive ideas. His message is wroth being heard and spread as it represents what MOST Palestinians say behind closed doors.
    2-In the complicated Arab world, unfortunately, there are no black and white areas, mostly grey. Mr. Jabbari has a number of legal indictments and civil cases against him in relevance to money and people demanding funds. He has a a very bad reputation as a businessman. In Hebron, he is not liked, nor generally respected because of his irregular business practices.
    3-The fact that he may not be a kosher businessman does not rule out the advantage her provides all of us. His advantage is: His mere presence puts pressure on Abbas and the Palestinian Authority. His message ought to be promoted STRICTLY for the purpose of weakening Abbas. Nonetheless, any hope build up on him being the next Palestinian leader, etc. are nonfactual and simply unfeasible.
    4-Worth-noting, Jabbari has good ties to the Israeli security agencies. He is not hated by the Palestinians for those ties, but rather for the fact that he has conned several Palestinian businessmen out of their money. Jabbari is an ASSET, that could be used, but not for anything more than creating effects and carefully-calculated chess moves.
    5-Also, Jabbari is very close to Jordan’s regime. Jordan’s king is an enemy of Israel, this has become so apparant since 2017. Jabbari openly promoted the king and the “necessity” to keep Abdullah as controller of AlAqsa mosque.
    6-If a think tanks wants to make the best use of Jabbari, it would be by highlighting Jabbari’s grievances against the Palestinian Authority as well as the Palestinian’s desire for the return of the Israeli control over the West Bank. Venturing into anything further will end up embarrassing whoever does it.
    7-Jabbari’s phone number is 00972527284619
    8-On the other hand, there is another one of Jabbari’s associates who is the real deal and who is being considered for a serious future relgious job, his name is Sheikh Nasser Al-Tammimi. Nasser is open-minded, has a clean record, more accepted than Jabbari and has been on a tour to several places in Europe and North America where he’s met senior officials, including ones from the White House just last March. I suggest the communication with Al-Tammimi would be more fruitful and promising.

  3. The Jabari clan has a history going all the way back to 1967 of engaging with Israel in a friendly way. Members of the Jabari clan have often invited Jewish settlers, mainly from Kiryat Arba, to clan feasts on Muslim holidays. When Israel first occupied Hebron in 1967, the then clan patriarch asked the Israeli government to annex Hebron, but the Israel government declined to do this. During the last year of the Trump administration in 2020, a leading younger member of the clan sought to run against Abbas for president of the PA on a ticket of a negotiated two-state solution. He said he was willing consider the Kushner clan as a starting point for negotiations. He met with both Netanyahu and Pompeo, who was then visiting Israel, to push his peace plan. Both Netanyahu and Pompeo praised him highly and urged him to continue his campaign for the PA presidency.

    However, Abbas and Fatah publicly threatened any Arab, those from the Hebron area where the Jabaris had their base of support,had a base of support. with death. Leaflets were even dropped from aircraft warning Hebron residents that they would be considered traitors and killed if they continued to support Jabari. Threatened with death himself, this younger member of the Jabari clan withdrew his candidacy for the presidency of the PA and took refuge in the israeli-occupied zone of Hebron. As far as I know, that is where he still is living.

    The promised election for the PA presidency that was announced by Abbas in 2020 never happened.