Al Aksa” Killers
Take Orders From Arafat
NEW YORK – In response to media reports that the State Department is considering adding the “Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade” —which has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist attacks against Israel— to the U.S. terror list, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) points out that this would be an important step in America’s fight against terrorism, if the State Department acknowledges that the Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade is part and parcel of Yasir Arafat’s Fatah movement.
The conection between the Al Aksa Brigade and Fatah has been confirmed by the Al Aksa Brigade leadership itself, as well as by Fatah, the Palestinian Authority, and the major international media:
“We Are an Integral Part of Fatah”: USA Today reported on March 14, 2002: “A leader of the largest Palestinian terrorist group spearheading suicide bombings and other attacks against Israel says he is following the orders of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. ‘Our group is an integral part of Fatah,’ Maslama Thabet, 33, a leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, said in an interview at a West Bank refugee camp. Fatah, headed by Arafat, is the largest group in the Palestinian Authority, the government of the autonomous Palestinian territories.”
Palestinian Authority: “Al-Aksa Brigade is Part of Fatah”: The Palestinian Authority’s official Voice of Palestine Radio, in a February 18, 2002 broadcast by anchorman Nizar al-Ghul, referred to “the Brigades of the Martyrs of Al Aksa that is part of the Fatah movement.” (Translation courtesy of Prof. Michael Widlanski of Hebrew University / The Media Line, Feb.18, 2002)
Fatah Commander: “We Control Al-Aksa Brigade”: In an interview with the Israeli news agency IMRA on March 6, 2002, Husseini a-Sheikh, a senior Fatah commander in Judea-Samaria, was asked, “You also control the members of the Al Aksa Brigade?” He replied: “Yes.” The interviewer then asked: “Completely?” A-Sheikh responded: “Not completely, but we control them to one extent or another.”
“Branch of Fatah”: The New York Times (March 11, 2002), has referred to it as “the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade, the branch of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement responsible for much of the violence of recent months.”
“Military Wing of Fatah”: The Jerusalem Post (March 1, 2002) describes the Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade as “a military wing of PA Chairman Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction.”
“Affiliated with Fatah”: The Washington Post (Jan.23, 2002) has referred to it as “the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed group affiliated with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah organization and (March 12, 2002) as “the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a Palestinian militia linked to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement that has repeatedly carried out lethal attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians.”
“Associated with Fatah”: The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (March 13, 2002) has described the Al-Aksa Brigades as “a group associated with Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement” and “is considered Fatah’s military wing.”
“Linked to Fatah”: The Israeli daily Ha’aretz (March 5, 2002) has referred to it as “the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militia linked to the Fatah party of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.”