The outcome of the latest fighting in Ein el-Hilweh reflected the failure of more moderate factions to overpower Islamic fundamentalist rivals opposed to any resumption the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. The pro-peace sections, supported by the Palestinian Authority, failed to gain the upper hand over the various Islamic groups, which managed to overcome their differences in a bid to take over impose themselves as a driving force both inside and outside the camp.
| And all this while, we thought it was a shootout among Krazed Killers. I'll bet it was all the Jews' fault... |
A number of elements make the Ein el-Hilweh camp a difficult place to handle. As a high-ranking Lebanese official familiar with the latest events put it, Ein el-Hilweh is a stench and a pestilence âmajor lawless areaâ for all those wanted by the Lebanese authorities and not only a camp for the Palestinian refugees. There are dozens of men wanted by the authorities who are currently hiding in the camp, such as Abu Mehjan, the leader of Usbat al-Ansar, who has been sentenced in absentia to death by a Lebanese court, and his brother, Abu Tarek. Lebanese security officials asserted that the army was always ready to arrest any of the wanted men, but only if they leave the camp, as the military neither enters the camp nor requests any assistance from the Palestinian factions.
| The army's scared to go in there after them... |
The camp has its own âfinanciers,â who provide the necessary means for the rather costly battles. One of the campâs main financiers is Bilal Khazaal, a Lebanese living in Australia, who reportedly offers money to all factions, including antagonists.
| He's got lots of the color green, and he's found of the color red. He's not particular about who wins, as long as somebody loses... |
Security officials consider that the latest fighting was launched by the Fatah section, in line with a decision by the Palestinian Authority, in an attempt to take control of the camp. Fatahâs initial plan was to attack and eliminate the Usbat al-Nur faction, a fundamentalist group which split from the Usbat al-Ansar. Attacking the relatively small Usbat al-Nur faction and its leader, Abdullah Shreidi, seemed a relatively easy course of action for Fatah, but they did not take into consideration the possibility of al-Nur joining forces with the al-Ansar faction. The battle was intended to make the Palestinian Authority impress and appeal to international opinion, in particular the United States, which would undoubtedly like to see all fundamentalist factions eliminated.
| So, you see, it's really all our fault. Oh, damn us! How could we? |
However, the outcome was rather different, with Fatah deciding to stop all battles in the camp after underestimating the strength of the Islamist factions, and the conflict showing that Fatah does not possess the military capabilities to neutralize the fundamentalist sections if they were to unite. According to details made available to The Daily Star, the weekend battles were triggered by the assassination of Fatah member Ibrahim Shreidi by the head of Usbat al-Nur, Abdullah Shreidi, who is also the nephew of Ibrahim Shreidiâs wife.
| I'm still convinced that if these people weren't so inbred, they'd maybe be normal... |
But a series of previous incidents had paved the way for this killing, starting last February when a series of assassinations and shootings occurred between the two sides. These events prompted the secretary-general of the Fatah section in Lebanon, Sultan Abul-Ainain, to issue a decision calling for the assassination of Abdullah Shreidi, âwhatever the price would be.â
| That could be because Abdullah's a homicidal maniac and the Lebanese army is scared to go into the camp to extricate him... |
Accordingly, a number of armed men affiliated with Fatah opened fire during Ibrahim Shreidiâs funeral last Sunday on a car carrying Abdullah Shreidi, his two uncles and a fourth man, Fouad Farhoud.
| Shoulda used heavier weaponry. If you're gonna do a job, do it right... |
Yehia Shreidi and Farhoud were killed on the spot, while the two others were wounded. Abdullah Shreidi was transported to Al-Nidaa al-Insani Hospital near the camp, where the facility rapidly turned into a battle ground as Fatah men tried to kill Abdullah Shreidi.
| I think "Al-Nidaa al-Insani" is the Arabic translation of "Our Lady of the Insane"... |
At that point, George Habash, a senior official of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine at the camp, interceded, asking that the hospital should not be used for settling accounts between the two sides.
| Sweet Cheezix! George Habash is still around? Was he actually in the Hellhole? Or did he phone in from Damascus? (For those who've forgotten, George is the founder of the PFLP)... |
Abdullah Shreidi was taken early Monday morning to an Usbat al-Ansar clinic, the two Islamic factions providing assistance for one another, and as his condition deteriorated, so did the situation in the camp. Early on Monday, ferocious erupted between Fatah and Usbat al-Ansar and Usbat al-Nur. On Monday night, a meeting was held at the Usbat al-Nur mosque to reach a cease-fire, which gathered Maher Hammoud, Ali Sheikh Ammar, Jamal Khattab and Sharif Aql on the Islamic factionsâ side and Mounir Maqdah and Khaled Shayeb on the Fatah side. An agreement was reached to stop all fighting, remove armed men from the streets, and bury the victims. Usbat al-Ansar had constantly called for jihad during the fighting, and for the killing of âArafatâs treacherous faction under the direction of Sultan Abul-Ainain.â All Islamic and opposition groups, including Ansar Allah, presided over by Jamal Suleiman, supported Usbat al-Ansarâs side. |