Teheran-linked rebel forces in Lebanon undermine Palestinian unity
A Palestinian breakaway Sunni group named Ansarullah,
which is loyal to the Shi’te Iranian Revolutionary Guards, has stepped up its
confrontation to the Palestinian Fatah movement. Security reports also said
that using Ansarullah fighters as its claws, the IRGs has managed to expand its
strongholds in Lebanon.
Ansarullah was formed by a Palestinian rebel named
Jamal Soliman, who confessed in an interview with the Lebanese newspaper
Al-Nahar on Oct. 20, 2007 that he received logistic and military support from
the IRGs. About 1000 Palestinian fighters abandoned Fatah movement and joined
Soliman’s breakaway group.
Soliman, who was appointed the secretary-general of
Ansarullah, launched the first military paraded for his 1000 forces in the
Palestinian Ein el-Helwa Camp in Beirut in
2006. In addition to its headquarters in Ein el-Helwah, Ansarullah opened its
offices in Bourg el-Baragnah Camp and Miya Miya Camp.
Ansarullah stirred up fresh fears in Lebanon last week
after its forces attacked Fatah movement in the Miyah Miyah Camp in Beirut,
killing and wounding tens of Palestinian people. Efforts launched jointly by Lebanese
and Palestinian political powers failed to broker a ceasefire.
Iran’s expansionist policy in the Arab countries,
including Lebanon, was revealed in the 1980s of the last century after the rise
of Ayatollahs to power. Due to the presence of the Shi’ite resistance movement
of Hezbollah, the IRGs managed to influence a large number of Palestinians, who
were seduced into rebelling against Fatah, the mainstream of the Palestinian
resistance.
The first signs of cracks opened in the Palestinian
ranks—as a result of the influence of the IRGs—were visible during the civil
war in Lebanon in 1984 when Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat intervened to
support Shi’a Amal movement. Soliman mobilised his forces and joined the Shi’a
Hezbollah forces, which fought Arafat’s troops.
Unlike Hezbollah, Amal is a movement formed by
Lebanese Shi’a Arabs. Its chairman is Nabih Beri, Speaker of the Lebanese
Parliament.
Seeking to deepen the Palestinian divisions, Iran
invited Yasser Arafat’s opponents, including Soliman, to take part in a
conference in Teheran in December 1990.
Soliman revealed his movement’s alleged 2nd
Leap by forming a Shura council under his chairmanship. Haj Mahmoud Hamad was
selected Soliman’s deputy. Osama Abbas,
nicknamed Abu-Ayoub, was responsible for the media; and Maher Ouwid chaired the
military bureau.
Palestinian writer and researcher Ra’fat Fahd Murrah
revealed Ansarullah’s treacherous role against the Palestinians in Lebanon in his
book “Islamic Movement and Forces in the Palestinian Community: Birth, Goals
and Achievements”, which was published in Beirut by the Zaytouna Centre for
Studies and Consultation.
The Palestinian
author revealed that although his fighters
were Sunni, Soliman adopted the Shi’a doctrine. Ansarullah movement, the author
noted, is keen to celebrate the Day of Qods, which Khomeini proposed to
allegedly renew commitments and pledge to the Muslim holy sites and Aqsa Mosque
in Jerusalem.
In collaboration with Hezbollah, Soliman had
assassinated about 182 of Fatah fighters. Soliman is also accused of
assassinating Fatah’s leading members Rasem el-Ghul and Ahmed Rashid. Al-Nahar
said that Rashid, together with six brothers were killed in cold blood in Miyah
Miyah Camp in April 2014. “Soliman also seized the victims’ property,” the
paper said.
The leader of the breakaway group is also said to be
the chief suspect in the assassination of Fatah’s trustee Brig. Fathi Zeidan in
Miyah Miyah Camp on April 12, 2014.
Lebanese political researcher Makram Rabah said that
Iran was trying hard to weaken the Palestinian authority of President Mahmoud
Abbas Abu-Mazen to manipulate the Palestinian decision-making.
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