Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Al-
AQSA MARTYRS BRIGADE, AL-
A Palestinian militia that emerged in the West Bank in October 2000, specifically in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, after the beginning of the al-Aqsa Intifada. Its members (numbers unknown) are believed to be mostly members of al-Fatah, and the group is assumed by some to be under its control, although neither al-Fatah nor Yasir Arafat has acknowledged it, and both have publicly opposed its actions. The group has taken responsibility for a number of attacks, including shootings and suicide bombings, against Israelis; at first the attacks were against soldiers and settlers in the occupied territories, but as the Intifada continued and Israeli tactics became more extreme and destructive (particularly in Jenin and Ramallah), civilians inside Israel were also targeted. The Israelis have accused the Fatah leader Marwan Barghuthi of being the Brigade's leader. They arrested him in 2002, and in May 2004 he was convicted for several killings. It has been speculated that the reason the Brigades are allowed to operate is to ensure that someone connected to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is seen by the public to be making a forceful response to Israeli repression, so that the PLO might not lose political support to HAMAS and Islamic Jihad, groups that wish to establish an Islamic state.
SEE ALSO Aqsa Intifada, al-;Barghuthi, Marwan Hussein al-;Fatah, al-;HAMAS;Islamic Jihad.