Has the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Become Islamic? Fatah, Islam, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades

Abstract

ABSTRACT Many indications in the latest round of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians suggest the Islamization of the conflict on the Palestinian side. How Fatah, the nationalist faction that has dominated the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and its principle fighting arm during the hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians since 2000, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, have related to Islam is a crucial dimension in answering the question of the extent to which the conflict has become Islamic. This article argues on the basis of an analysis of martyrs' obituaries published by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades that though they were often steeped in Islamic symbols, the considerable variation suggests that the use of Islamic symbols and allusions employed by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades are affective rather than programmatic, designed to mobilize the public against Israel and thwart the expansion of the Islamic movements internally rather than to impact on the character of Fatah and the larger Palestinian political entity. While mobilization employing Islamic symbols is effective domestically, it is costly in an international system committed to a society based on states where raison d'état subordinates religious beliefs and goals. In the international arena, the state-centered nationalist discourse provides an edge over the Palestinian fundamentalist competition.