Order without law: Hamas flexes its muscles to assert political authority

Gaza Palestinians welcome safer streets but Fatah rivalry is a volatile undercurrent Rory McCarthy in Gaza City Thursday August 16, 2007 Guardian Six guards from the Hamas Executive Force stood before the shopping crowds in Palestine Square. The men, who are what passes for a police force in Gaza, were dressed in black and armed with Kalashnikovs and wooden batons. In the pick-up truck behind them was an unhappy man arrested for carrying a knife. Ahead was their next target: dozens of cigarette sellers hawking under the flimsy shade of a few trees. Although it was not the most pressing security concern in the overcrowded Gaza Strip, it was still a mission that Munir Mohasin, 21, the thin, young patrol commander, took seriously. He said: "We want this place cleaned up. It's not legal for them to stop and sell here. We've had complaints from the shopkeepers and we had complaints that some of them are being rude to women. Some are selling drugs." His patrol then descended on the hawkers, shouting and shoving until they had confiscated several large boxes of cigarettes and loaded them into their pick-up. Two sellers were arrested; others escaped with a public telling-off. The sellers, all struggling to make a living, argued back. "There's nowhere else for us to go," Khader Abu Amjad shouted at Mr Mohasin. "Are we just going to play cat and mouse all day?" After several minutes in the midday heat and more shouting, the Executive Force moved on and the hawkers went back to selling their cigarettes. Later, back at his local station, Mr Mohasin said: "We're not just stopping people selling in the street; we're working for the security of our country." This has been the message from the Islamist Hamas movement since it seized full control of security in the Gaza Strip two months ago, the culmination of a six-month near-civil war with its rival, Fatah. Palestinians welcomed the return to safety on the streets and the chance to leave their homes without fear, a point Hamas is keen to highlight. The Hamas-led government was promptly sacked and has now been further isolated by Israel, the west, and Fatah leaders in the occupied West Bank. Now there is growing concern about steps taken by Hamas in recent weeks that appear to go well beyond maintaining order and suggest that it is trying to extend its authority. Two weeks ago Hamas took off air The Red Line, a weekly political chatshow that has been hosted for the past decade by Hassan al-Kashef. Although a secular leftist and a former head of the Palestinian Authority's information ministry, Mr Kashef, 63, had hosted several Hamas leaders on his show in the past year, including Ismail Haniyeh, the former prime minister, and, by satellite link from Damascus, Khaled Meshal, Hamas's leader in exile. Recently he broadcast a show about Gaza's economic woes and began by saying what he thought of Hamas. "I was clear that I am with one law, one authority, one legitimate government and that I am against the coup," he said. A few days later, an unsigned letter was received from the Hamas information ministry ordering the TV station not to broadcast The Red Line again. It has been off air ever since. "Hamas made a military coup and now it is making a political coup. But they don't have political experience," said Mr Kashef. "There isn't just one voice in Gaza." Last month Hamas organised a tour for foreign journalists, a rare foray into public relations to show off what it called "the new face of Gaza: safe, clean and green". But the same day the Executive Force detained several media distributors bringing in Palestinian newspapers from the West Bank. Sami al-Qishawi, director of Gaza's Al-Ayyam newspaper, said the guards were angry over a report of a press conference in Gaza City by a Hamas opponent. "It is a dangerous sign of control, of trying to have just one voice, of restricting our freedom," said Mr Qishawi. He said although his paper was close to Fatah it was independently financed and had not been alone in reporting the press conference. "We can't just report statistics and the number of people killed," he said. "To make any progress in solving our problems we need to talk about important issues, about freedoms." A week earlier, a group of armed men, some in masks, others in police uniforms, broke into the office of a Fatah MP in Rafah, southern Gaza. Ashraf Jumaa, one of only a handful of Fatah politicians who has stayed in Gaza, was beaten on the head with a rifle butt and an aide was shot in the leg in what appeared to be a warning. Mr Jumaa insists some of the attackers were members of the Hamas militia, the Izzedin al-Qassam Brigades. "We're in a very bad situation now," said Mr Jumaa. "Hamas says it wants to talk to Fatah but they have to prepare the ground for negotiations, not just say they want it." Other incidents underscore the continued volatility of factional rivalry here. Several Fatah security officials have been killed this month. Last week, the director of Gaza's main Shifa hospital was sacked and another senior doctor was sacked and arrested, apparently because they refused to take orders from Hamas ministries. On Saturday, 15 Fatah figures were arrested by Hamas men after clashes at a wedding where the guests sang Fatah songs. On Monday Hamas guards fired into the air to disperse a Fatah rally in the city and imposed restrictions on public rallies. Gazans are debating whether these incidents have been ordered by Hamas leaders or local commanders acting independently. Hamas is trying to exert its authority in a complex, politicised climate. The appointed government in the West Bank has told police and lawyers in Gaza to stay away from work or risk losing their salaries. As a result, courts are not working and Hamas is policing with its 6,000-strong Executive Force, a year-old paramilitary group which the West Bank government declared illegal. One prominent Palestinian businessman described it as "order without law". There is also an economic crisis and a collapse of private businesses unable to import or export goods since Israel closed Gaza's crossings to all but humanitarian aid after Hamas took over. In the West Bank, Hamas politicians have been harassed and arrested. Hamas says it is just trying to impose order in an increasingly chaotic Gaza. "People feel for the first time there is a full degree of freedom," said Ahmed Yusuf, an adviser to the former premier Mr Haniyeh. "There is a new look here in Gaza ... There is really a state of law." He downplayed recent incidents. There had been political problems with Palestine TV, which broadcast Mr Kashef's chatshow and is close to Fatah, he said. On the arrest of the newspaper distributors, he blamed an overzealous local commander. He insisted Hamas was not involved in the attack on Mr Jumaa, the Fatah MP. "We are not building an Islamic state in Gaza or anything that would be a separate entity," Mr Yusuf said. Apart from security, the public goal of Hamas now is to return to an agreement with Fatah and secure the elusive reform of the many Palestinian security forces. Although there is little sign of any rapprochement, he said secret talks were under way. "We want to bring them [Fatah] to the table to see how we salvage the problem." Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007