On July 4, Israeli authorities released an indictment against three
suspected Fatah militiamen in Shuafat, Middle East Newsline reported. The three were charged with
participation in a Fatah insurgency cell that sought to intimidate
Palestinians.
"The defendants were members of a terrorist organization," the
indictment, filed with the Jerusalem District Court, said.
Fatah's Tanzim has been classified as a terrorist organization since
2001. Officials said Fatah has sought to bolster its militia presence in
Jerusalem over the last year in an effort to counter Hamas.
In Shuafat, the Fatah militia has sought to become a virtual police
police with an arsenal of firearms. Officials said the three Fatah
defendants — identified as Nur Aladin Hader, Muhan Hamed and Mubarad Abu Hamdan, all in
their 20s — targeted suspected car thieves and drug dealers in Shuafat.
"They used to threaten drug dealers and expel them from Shuafat,
carrying clubs, knives and axes and firing in the air in an attempt to scare
them, as well as reconcile between people, act against car thieves, clean
and decorate streets in the camp during the holy [Muslim] month of Ramadan,"
the indictment said.
Officials said Fatah has drawn support from the Palestinian Authority in
the militia's efforts to expand in Jerusalem. They said the PA has sought to
train some of the Fatah members based in Jerusalem in cooperation with the
European Union.
The EU has financed a project to train Palestinians for security
assignments in Jerusalem. The EU project, which contracted a
British security firm, has envisioned the use of Fatah members to protect
diplomatic residences and offices in eastern Jerusalem and also conduct
patrols of Arab neighborhoods.
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