Lebanon: Role of Islamic Jihad in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp, and whether it forcibly recruits member: whether members of Bayt al-Maqdas who disobey Islamic Jihad orders would be penalized

The following information was provided during a 12 July 1999 telephone interview with a professor who is a specialist on Lebanon at the Centre des hautes études sur l'Afrique et l'Asie moderne in Paris, and the former editor of Arabies and Jeune Afrique magazine. The professor recently published an article in Les Cahiers de l'Orient on Islamic movements in Lebanon. He is currently finishing a book on Islamic movements.

The professor stated that he has never heard of, or come across information indicating, forced recruitment by the military wing of Islamic Jihad. The professor added that he very much doubted that such practice is conducted in the camp because the competition between the many Palestinian factions recruiting in the camp makes new recruits valuable and provides several choices for young Palestinian recruits. A group which used force or blackmail in its recruitment practices would not survive in the camp. Islamic Jihad is a small group in the Ein el-Hilweh camp and would not be strong enough, compared to other groups, to conduct forcible recruitment.

The professor stated that Bayt al-Maqdas was created in Hebron in the 1980s through a division of Islamic Jihad of Palestine by Sheikh Asaad Bayoud Tamimi who died four years ago. The group is based mainly in Amman, Jordan. This information is corroborated by  The Jerusalem Post which referred to the group as "Jihad Beit al-Maqdas" (9 Mar. 1994). The Washington Times described "Jihad Beit al-Maqdas (Islamic War of the Holy Temple)" founder, Sheikh Asaad Bayoud Tamimi, as a "radical Islamic fundamentalist" (20 Dec. 1990). According to the professor this description is accurate since Tamimi broke away from Islamic Jihad because the latter was not radical enough in its struggle to liberate Palestine, a position that, combined with his close relationship with Khomeiny, endeared him to the Islamic régime in Iran. Jihad Bait al-Maqdas is not subordinate to the Islamic Jihad and does not receive orders from it.

The following information was provided during a 5 July 1999 telephone interview with a research fellow specialist on Lebanon and Syria at the Moshe Dayan Centre for Middle Eastern and African Studies, Tel Aviv University, who is a lecturer in the Department of Middle Eastern and African History of the same university in Israel. He is the author of several studies on modern Syrian and Lebanese politics.

The Ein el-Hilweh camp is partly controlled by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) although other major Palestinian organizations have a presence there, including Islamic Jihad. There are also the Hamas and some leftist organizations such as the Front for the Liberation of Palestine (FLP) and the Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (FLP-GC). The researcher stated that since the camp is not controlled by one group, none of them can force persons to join them. The researcher added that in the unlikely event that a person is "forcibly recruited" he can always make a complaint to the PLO, Hamas, etc. They would provide the person with protection. Islamic Jihad is a small organization and do not have the ability to challenge any of the other Palestinian organizations in the camp. 

As other Islamic organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas, Islamic Jihad has many volunteers, and usually people approach it rather than the opposite. Recruitment of new members is conducted via family connections or through the organization's institutions, including volunteer centers or offices. Young persons  volunteers for many reasons, such as financial reward. There is no need for forced recruitment.

The following information was provided during a 8 July 1999 telephone interview with the Director of the Centre d'études et de recherche sur le Moyen-Orient contemporain (CERMOC) in Beirut, who is the author of several articles and books on Lebanon and Syria.

The Director stated that it would be very doubtful that Islamic Jihad forcibly recruited Ein el-Hilweh young men into their organization. Not only are there several competing groups trying to recruit, but Islamic Jihad provides a monthly salary that is very often the only financial revenue available to young Palestinian men and their families living in the camp.

In an article on Islamic movements in Lebanon published in the Middle East Review of International Affairs (also called Journal), a publication of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, Nizar Hamzeh stated that Islamic Jihad Movement of Palestine (Harakat al-Jihad al-Islami fi Filastin) has almost 1,000 members (1997). Its spiritual guide, Abd al-Aziz Awda, was expelled to Lebanon by Israel in 1988 (ibid.).

According to a 16 February 1995 report from Intelligence Newsletter, an Indigo publication,

The Islamic Jihad movement, ... is increasingly digging in its heels in Palestinian camps in Lebanon. The alliance it forged in recent months with Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas movement has enabled it to extend its influence, particularly in the Bedaoui and Nahr al-Bared camps in northern Lebanon, Ain-Helouje and Richidiye in the southern part of the country and at al-Jalil near Baalbeck. The three fundamentalist movements have set up a coordinating committee to see to logistic problems and the training of youths enrolled in the "Jihad." The panel is made up of Ziad Nakhal (Abu Tarek), member of the Islamic Jihad's consultative council (Majlis al-Choura) and the movement's representative in Lebanon; Mustapha al-Liddaoui, Hamas' man in Lebanon, who makes his headquarters at the Ain-Heloue camp; sheik Abib Haidar, guide of the Believers' Resistance movement, a wing of Hezbollah; sheik Nabil Kaouk, head of Hezbollah's security and intelligence service in southern Lebanon; and Col. Munir Makdah, chief of anti-Arafat forces in Palestinian camps in the south. 

Islamic Jihad and Hamas, which enjoy the backing of Syria's intelligence service and financial support from Iran, have considerably stepped up their recruitment in traditionally secular Palestinian circles such as Nayef Hawatmeh's Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, George Habache's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Abu Mussa's Fatah-Intifada. New recruits follow an initial, three-month training course in camps located west of Bekaa near the city of Maghara, Hezbollah's bastion, before moving on to other training sites. Their final destination is the occupied West Bank. In mid-January an explosion that occurred when recruits were being trained in handling explosives killed 20 persons at the Bedaoui camp. Since then, more skilled Pakistani instructors have been called in. 

The increase in activity is also evident in a flourishing of Jihad emblems and flags in Lebanon, including in Beirut, the Shi'ite suburbs of the capital and the Palestinian camp of Bour Barjaneh. The head of Islamic Jihad in Lebanon, Ziad Nakhal, answers on the operational level to the movement's high command which is based in the Syrian city of Daraa, 30 km from the Jordanian border. Jihad's secretary-general, Fathi Chakaki, also usually lives there. He turns up in Damascus only to meet with foreign newsmen. 

According to the Terrorist Group Profiles of the Naval Postgraduate School, Islamic Jihad has branches in Lebanon.

According to the Associated Press, Ein el-Hilweh means "sweet fountain" (21 Mar. 1999). The same article indicates that Shakib Abu Obeida is "a leader of the Muslim extremist Islamic Jihad group in the Ein el-Hilweh camp" (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Associated Press (AP). Laura King. "Angry Refugees from Palestine Lose Confidence in Yasser Arafat." Reproduced by Staronline Website on 21 March 1999. < fttp://www.staronline.com/032199/news/176816.htm > [Accessed on 22 July 1999]

Centre d'études et de recherches sur le Moyen-Orient contemporain (CERMOC), Beirut, Lebanon. 8 July 1999. Telephone interview with the Director.

Intelligence Newsletter. 16 February 1995. "Islamic Jihad Recruiting in Lebanon." (NEXIS)

The Jerusalem Post. 9 March 1994. Michael Widlanski. "Local Views Push Arafat on Settlement Demands." (NEXIS)

Middle East Review of International Affairs [Tel Aviv] (also called Journal). September 1997. No. 3. Nizar Hamzeh. "Islamism in Lebanon: A Guide."

Naval Postgraduate School, Dudley Knox Library. Terrorist Group Profile.                      < http://web.navy.mil/~library/tgp/pij.htm > [Accessed on 4 June 1999]

Professor, Centre des hautes études sur l'Afrique et l'Asie moderne, and former editor of Arabies and Jeune Afrique magazine, Paris, France. 12 July 1999. Telephone interview.

Research Fellow, Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, and Lecturer in the Department of Middle Eastern and African History, Tel Aviv University, Israel. 5 July 1999. Telephone interview. The Moshe Dayan Center is the oldest and largest institution of its kind in Israel. Over the years, it has played a renowned role in illuminating the Middle East, through research, publications, conferences, documentary collections, and public service. Its mission has been to bring scholarly objectivity to the analysis of subjects that often stir passions. The Moshe Dayan Center does not take positions or recommend policies. It seeks to inform the academic community, policy makers, journalists, and the general public about the complexities of the Middle East, and so advance peace through understanding.

The Washington Post. 20 December 1990. Peter Sisler. "Sheik's Followers Terrorize Israel." (NEXIS)