Special to WorldTribune.com

LONDON — The Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad has been wracked by an internal feud.

Palestinian sources said the Jihad leadership has confronted increasing unrest among the rank-and-file. They said the rank-and-file, particularly the younger members, were clamoring for elections and transparency.

“For the younger members, it is inconceivable that after Arab Spring any country or even resistance movement could ignore its membership,” the source said.

The sources said the so-called young guard was demanding elections for the leadership as well as a debate over policy. They said Jihad has pointed to Hamas, which in 2012 conducted elections throughout the Middle East.

The feud comes amid the rise of Jihad in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Jihad, with the largest long-range rocket arsenal, has been bolstered by tens of millions of dollars from Iran and training by Hizbullah.

“Jihad now has enough supporters and money to present an alternative to Hamas,” the source said. “But the leadership is frittering away most of the money, and people are not receiving their salaries.”

Signs of unrest were detected as early as 2011 when members
demanded elections for the leadership. But Jihad leaders refused and instead
appointed a political bureau, the first formal body since the movement was
founded 35 years ago.

“The problem fundamentally lies in the mechanism of decision-making, and
in most cases decisions are made individually [due to] the lack of internal
regulations,” Jihad leader Abdullah Al Shami told the London-based Al
Monitor website.

The sources said the young guard has also protested promotions in
Jihdad’s military wing. They said the military wing was coordinating with
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps without input from the Gaza
membership.

Jihad leaders insisted that elections were being arranged and could take
place over the next year. They said the movement was planning a conference
that would encompass the membership throughout the Middle East, struck by
unrest in such countries as Egypt, Iraq, Libya and Syria.

“There is an agreement within the leadership and it was signed, and the
only thing delaying its implementation is what is happening in neighboring
countries,” Mohammed Shalah, the brother of Jihad secretary-general Ramadan
Shalah, said.

  Abdullah Al Shami, Gaza Strip, Inspired by Arab Spring, Islamic Jihad’s young guard demands transparency, policy shift, Ramadan Shalah