Home          Archives           Jerusalem Center Homepage       View the current issue           Jerusalem Center Videos           
Back

Palestinian Militants Police West Bank


(Reuters) Dan Williams and Wael al-Ahmad - Discovering his mobile telephone franchise burgled, Abu Sameh secured an audience with Zekariya Zubeidi, chief of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Jenin. "Twenty-four hours later the police called to say two men had been caught and my phones returned," recalled Abu Sameh. A bigger surprise followed when one of the thieves became a Zubeidi lieutenant. "When we catch a crook, we let him off with a warning that next time he'll get hurt. And then we try to recruit him," Zubeidi said. "These guys are felons who committed theft, arms sales, and extortion, and were untouchable once they joined the Brigades," said Bassem Eid, director of Palestinian Human Rights Watch. Zubeidi says that several Jenin police officers double as gunmen in his group, receiving a stipend to supplement police wages.
2003-12-04 00:00:00
Full Article

Subscribe to
Daily Alert

Name:  
Email:  

Subscribe to Jerusalem Issue Briefs

Name:  
Email: