Home > Al-Shaid Yasser Arafat Brigades

While the group initially vowed to target only Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and carried out guerrilla warfare against the Israeli military, in early 2002 it began a series of attacks against civilians in Israeli cities. Attacks targeting civilians consitute war crimes. In March 2002, after a deadly al-Aqsa Brigades suicide bombing in JerusalemCapitals in Asia For alternate uses see Jerusalem (disambiguation Jerusalem ( Modern Hebrew: Yerushalayim Biblical Hebrew: Arabic: al-Quds see also Names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christ, the US State Department added the group to the list of foreign terrorist organizations.

At that time, many Palestinian sources stated that the group was not officially backed by Arafat and Fatah, though brigade members tend also to be members of Fatah, the Palestinian leader's political faction.

Israel charges that neither Fatah nor the Palestinian Authority have made any attempt to prevent their attacks. On December 18December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 13 days remaining. Events 1352 Innocent VI is elected Pope. 1642 Abel Tasman lands at Mohua Golden Bay becoming the first European in New Zealand. 1776 Nor, 20032003 is a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar), and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Summary Perhaps the defining global event of the year 2003 was the Invasion of Iraq launched by the U, Fatah decided to ask the leaders of the Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades to join the Fatah Council , recognizing it officially as part of the organization.

Furthermore, Israel published documents allegedly found in Arafat's compound, claiming that they prove Arafat knowingly sponsored Al-Aqsa attacks; US president George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. His first four-year term as President began on January 20, 2001 following the controversial U. presidential election, 2000, where for the first time in American used these documents to justify calling for the replacement of Arafat.

1 Relationship with Arafat and Fatah

The group's relationship with Arafat is subject to conflicting information from leaders within the group. Maslama Thabet , one of the group’s leaders in the West Bank town of Tulkarm, told USA TodayUSA Today is a national American newspaper published by the Gannett Corporation. The paper has the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States (averaging over 2. 25 million copies every weekday), and comes second world-wide, just behind The T in MarchFor alternative meanings, see March (disambiguation). March is the third month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days. Named for Mars, the Roman god of war. In ancient Rome, March was called Martius. It was named after the war god ( Mars) and 2002. "We receive our instructions from Fatah. Our commander is Yasser Arafat himself." While another leader Naser Badawi , told the New York Times days later that while "we respect our leader," the decision "to carry out attacks remains with the Aqsa Brigades leadership." Badawi added that Arafat has never approached the group to ask it to stop its suicide bombings, which Arafat has publicly condemned.

In November 2003 BBC journalists uncovered a payment by Fatah of $50,000 a month to Al-Aqsa. (see link below) This investigation, combined with the documents allegedly found by the IDF, led Israel to draw the conclusion that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades have always been directly funded by Arafat. In June 2004 the current Palestinian Prime Minister openly stated this

"We have clearly declared that the Aksa Martyrs Brigades are part of Fatah. We are committed to them and Fatah bears full responsibility for the group."

(Sources: Interview in Asharq al-Awsat, a London Muslim newspaper. Reported in the Jerusalem Post, June 20, 2004, "Fatah committed to Aksa Martyrs")

Israel arrested Marwan Barghouti, a leader of the group in April 2002, and in August charged him with numerous counts of murder (including murder of civilians), conspiracy to murder and membership in a terrorist organization. In addition to his "shadow job" with the group, Barghouti had also served as the general secretary of Fatah in the West Bank. The executive commander of the group, Taufik Tirawi , is claimed (by Israel) to be hiding in Arafat's compund in Ramallah.

In July 2004, Ahmed Qurei, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority explicitly stated the relationship between Fatah and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades:

"The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, military wing of the Fatah movement will not be dissolved and Fatah will never relinquish its military wing."

Israeli intelligence officials claim that most of the al-Aqsa Brigades attacks in 2004 were guided and funded by Lebanese Islamist-Shiite group Hizbullah. Israeli security forces have arrested several al-Aqsa militants, admiting they have been backed by Hizbullah.