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The Palestianian Islamic Jihad's
History
Fathi Shikaki, Abdul Aziz Odeh and Bashir
Moussa, Palestinian militants studying in Egypt, founded the Palestinian
Islamic Jihad after they determined that other Islamic groups, especially
the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood, were not as devoted to the question
of Palestinian statehood as they were. They used the Islamic revolution
in Iran as a model despite the fact that the Iranians were Shiites
and they were Sunnis. They forged links with Egyptian radicals but
were expelled from the country after President Anwar Sadat's 1981
assassination.
They returned to Gaza where they began to assemble their organization,
and eventually made their first successful attack against and Israeli
soldier in August 1987. The Palestinian Intifada began shortly after
and PIJ's leadership was forced by the Israelis to relocate to Lebanon.
The Oslo Agreement between Israel and Yassir Arafat brought the PIJ
into direct conflict with Arafat's Fatah movement. The PIJ initiated
a series of attacks against Israeli targets in 1995 and 1996 in an
effort to undermine the fragile peace, and the group began to cooperate
with the radical HAMAS
movement. Mossad agents assassinated Fathi Shikaki in 1995 and leadership
of the PIJ passed into the hands of Ramadan Abdullah al-Shallah. The
change proved to be a setback for the group as al-Shallah proved to
be less effective than his predecessor.
The PIJ is facing a difficult test after a wave of suicide attacks
against Israelis in October 2001. The PIJ claimed credit for one of
the attacks, a suicide bombing outside a Jerusalem hotel that injured
at least three Israelis. The Palestinian Authority under Yassir Arafat
is facing intense pressure from Israel and the US to act against members
of militant groups such as HAMAS and the PIJ, and Arafat's Palestinian
Authority has arrested several PIJ leaders. At the same time, the
PIJ has garnered new support from the Palestinian population, who
increasingly see armed struggle as the only solution to their plight. |
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