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ABSTRACT
In this article, the argument is offered that securitization of the Palestinian zakat committees became a weapon in the counter-terror arsenal of Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) as each sought to exert hegemony over what became framed as a ‘common enemy.’ The article extends the debate as it relates to the increasingly hostile response by state actors and the international community to the work of non- and semi-governmental Muslim charitable actors evidenced by proscription regimes, financial investigation, and prosecutions. Focusing on the example of Israel and the PA, it is contended that the securitization of Palestinian zakat committees was part of a wider policy to inhibit Palestinian autonomy and portray Islamic faith agency as terroristic. Both Israel and the PA, as governing powers, have engaged in attempts to undermine Palestinian zakat committees and their contribution to welfare and humanitarian support in the complex and enduring environment of conflict.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Beverley Milton-Edwards is a professor of Politics and International Studies at the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1PA, Northern Ireland.
Notes
1 See Richard Jackson, Writing the War on Terrorism: Language, Politics and Counter-terrorism (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2005), Barry Buzan, ‘Will the “Global War on Terrorism” Be the New Cold War?’, International Affairs 82, no. 6 (2006): 1101–18. David Keen, ‘War and Peace: What’s the Difference?’, International Peacekeeping 7, no. 4 (2000): 1–22. Bezen Balamir Coskun, ‘Regionalism and Securitization: The Case of the Middle East’, in Beyond Regionalism? Regional Cooperation, Regionalism and Regionalization in the Middle East, eds. Cilja Harders and Matteo Legrenzi (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008), 89–106.
2 See Report, Netanyahu Says 9/11 Terror Attacks Good for Israel, Haaretz, 16 April 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/news/report-netanyahu-says-9-11-terror-attacks-good-for-israel-1.244044 (accessed June 1, 2011).
3 See Marieke De Goede, Speculative Security: The Politics of Pursuing Terrorist Monies (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012).
4 Barry Buzan, Ole Waever, and Jaapde Wilde, Security: A New Framework for Analysis (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1998), 123.
5 Jonathan Benthall, ‘Humanitarianism and Islam after 11 September’, in Humanitarian Action and the Global War on Terror: A Review of Trends and Issues, ed. J. Macrae and A. Harmer, HPG Report 14 (London: Overseas Development Institute, 2003).
6 Matthew Levitt, Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad (Yale: Yale University Press, 2008).
7 See Steven Erlanger, ‘Militant Zeal’, New York Times, June 25, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/25/books/review/25erlanger.html (accessed June 1, 2011).
8 See Emanuel Schäublin, The West Bank Zakat Committees (1977–2009) in the Local Context (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies-CCDP, 2009); Emanuel Schaeublin, Gaza Zakat Organizations (1973–2011) in the Local Context (No. 9. Working Paper, 2011); Jonathan Benthall, The Palestinian Zakat Committees 1993-2007 and Their Contested Interpretations (Graduate Institute, 2008); Nathan J. Brown, ‘Palestinian Civil Society in Theory and Practice’ (paper for annual meeting of Structure of Government Section, International Political Science Association, Washington, DC, 2003); Jeroen Gunning, Hamas in Politics: Democracy, Religion, Violence (London: Hurst, 2008); Sara Roy, Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza: Engaging the Islamist Social Sector (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013).
9 Emanuel Schaeublin, ‘Gaza Zakat Organizations (1973–2011) in the Local Context’ (No. 9, Working Paper, Geneva, Graduate Institute, 2011).
10 Ethics approval granted from Queen’s University Belfast, School of Philosophy, International Studies and Politics Research Ethics Committee. All subjects quoted provided informed consent.
11 From 2000 to 2006, during field-visits data were collected in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Lebanon. From 2006 to 2007, data and interviews were collected and conducted on a number of zakat committees and charitable societies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. From 2010 to 2014, zakat committees and Islamic charitable societies in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were the site of data collection, including interviews, funding and disbursement records, beneficiaries, and project overview.
12 House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee. ‘Roots of Violent Radicalisation; Nineteenth Report of Session 2010–12’ (London: The Stationery Office, 2012).
13 Emanuel Schaeublin, The West Bank Zakat Committees (1977–2009) in the Local Context (Geneva: Graduate Institute, 2009), 40.
14 Carlos Branco, ‘Non-governmental Organizations in the Mediation of Violent Intra-state Conflict: The Confrontation Between Theory and Practice in the Mozambique Peace Process’, E-Journal of International Relations 2, no. 2 (2011): 79.
15 Omer Faruk Senturk, Charity in Islam, a Comprehensive Guide to Zakat (Clifton, NJ: The Light Inc., 2007).
16 Ibid.
17 Building License, IDF Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, 1 October 1991.
18 The Jenin Zakat committee founded and approved registration with Israeli authorities in 1984. Correspondence regarding Licensing for Jenin zakat committee including Al Razi Hospital, IDF Civil Administration, 24 November 1993.
19 Jamal Nassar and Roger Heacock, eds., Intifada, Palestine at the Crossroads (New York: Praeger, 1991); Don Peretz, Intifada, the Palestinian Uprising (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1990).
20 Emanuel Schaublin, The West Bank Zakat Committees (1977–2009) in the Local Context (Geneva: Graduate Institute, 2009), 16.
21 Sergio Catignani, Israeli Counter-insurgency and the Intifadas: Dilemmas of a Conventional Army (Abingdon: Routledge, 2008), 79–80.
22 Mr Adli Ya’ish, former treasurer of the Nablus zakat committee, Nablus, author interview, April 8, 2010.
23 EU, EC-FAO Food Security Information for Action Programme, Strengthening resilience: food insecurity and local responses to fragmentation of the West Bank (Jerusalem: OCHA, 2007), 40. http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/StrengtheningResilienceFAOAugust2007.pdf (accessed June 1, 2011).
24 For example, ‘Important Announcement’, Nablus Zakat Committee, Al Quds, March 2, 2001.
25 Hebron Zakat committee, for example, appointments to the 10-member zakat committee, founded in 1986, were selected and approved for many years by the Jordanian Ministry of Religious Affairs. An undated document on the letterhead of the PA Ministry of Interior lists the names of the board members of the Islamic Charitable Society in Hebron and states they were elected on 15 September 1995 and a letter from the PA Ministry of Interior, dated 2 June 1997, lists the same board members. In 2000, the PA sent a representative to monitor and approve zakat committee elections in 2000.
26 Dr Bashar al-Karmi former Board Director and member, Tulkarem zakat committee, Ramallah, author interview, 25 November 2010.
27 EU EC-FAO Food Security Information for Action Programme, ‘Strengthening Resilience: Food Insecurity and Local Responses to Fragmentation of the West Bank (OCHA, 2007), 40.
28 According to Islamic tradition, an orphan is defined as a child who has lost their male head of house. PA Ministry of Waqf and Religious Affairs, Report, 25 July 2005.
29 OCHA, Special Focus, November 2006. Dr Najib Ja’bari, founder and former Chairman of the Hebron zakat committee, Hebron, author interview, July 6, 2004.
30 See Special Information Bulletin of Meir Amit Centre on the Union of Good, February 2005, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/pdf/PDF1/FEB22_05_680981780.pdf, 34/99 (accessed December 10, 2010).
31 Mr Adli Ya’ish, former treasurer of the Nablus zakat committee, Nablus, author interview, April 8, 2010.
32 MOPIC/UNDP/DFID, National Report on Participatory Poverty Assessment, 2002.
33 MOPIC/UNDP/DFID, Participatory Poverty Assessment, Governorate of Jenin, MOPIC/UNDP, 2002, 15.
34 MOPIC/UNDP/DFID, National Report on Participatory Poverty Assessment, 2002.
35 Palestinian Authority document, Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, ‘Activities of Zakat Committees in Northern Governorate’, June, July, November, 2003 A.D.
36 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Quarterly Economic and Social Monitor 1 (April 2005), 13.
37 Al-Quds, ‘Salama – Zakat Committees Managed a Huge Aid Campaign to Needy Families During the Holy Month of Ramadan’, Al Quds, 2003.
38 Emanuel Schaublin, The West Bank Zakat Committees (1977–2009) in the Local Context (Geneva: Graduate Institute, 2009); Lars Gunnar Lundblad, ‘Islamic Welfare, Discourse and Practice. The Institutionalization of Zakat in Palestine’, in Interpreting Welfare and Relief in the Middle East, eds Nefissa Naguib and Inger Marie Okkenhaug (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 195–216.
39 Thomas Neu, Community and Rural Services Program for the Jordan Valley and Gaza Middle Area, Completion Report (October 1999–September 2002), USAID West Bank and Gaza Mission, by ANERA, March 14, 2003, 78–81.
40 Ann Le More, International Assistance to the Palestinian after Oslo, Political Guilt, Wasted Money (London: Routledge, 2008), 69–75.
41 Nathan J. Brown, Palestinian Politics after the Oslo Accords, Resuming Arab Palestine (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 160.
42 See DSP, Priorities under a Palestinian State, Survey Results, Birzeit University, September 2000, http://home.birzeit.edu/cds/survey/results.html (accessed June 1, 2011) and Jonathan Benthall, The Palestinian Zakat Committees 1993–2007 and Their Contested Interpretations (PSIO Occasional Paper 1/2008, Geneva: Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, 2008).
43 MOPIC/UNDP, Participatory Poverty Assessment, Governorate of Hebron, MOPIC/UNDP, 2002, 43.
44 MOPIC/UNDP, Participatory Poverty Assessment, MOPIC/UNDP, 2002.
45 Fred Halliday, Two Hours That Shook The World: September 11, 2001: Causes and Consequences (London: Saqi, 2013).
46 Lene Hansen, ‘Reconstructing Desecuritization: The Normative-Political in the Copenhagen School and Direction for How to Apply It’, Review of International Studies 38 (2011): 525–46.
47 American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ‘Blocking Faith, Freezing Charity: Chilling Muslim Charitable Giving in the War on Terrorism Financing’ (New York, 2009), 1–164.
48 Sergio Catignani, Israeli Counter-insurgency and the Intifadas: Dilemmas of a Conventional Army (London: Routledge, 2008), Sergio Catignani, ‘The Strategic Impasse in Low-Intensity Conflicts: The Gap Between Israeli Counter-insurgency Strategy and Tactics During the Al-Aqsa Intifada’, Journal of Strategic Studies 28, no. 1 (2005): 57–75.
49 Sara Roy, Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2011).
50 Barry Buzan, Ole Waever, and Jaapde Wilde, Security: A New Framework for Analysis (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1998).
51 Ibrahim Warde, The Price of Fear, the Truth Behind the Financial War on Terror (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007); M. De Goede, Speculative Security: The Politics of Pursuing Terrorist Monies (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012).
52 Israel Ministry of Defence, Unlawful Association Order, 25 February 2002.
53 John Picarelli and Louise Shelley, ‘Organized Crime and Terrorism’, in Terrorist Financing and State Responses: A Comparative Perspective, ed. Jeanne Giraldo and Harold Trinkunas (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007).
54 Ibrahim Warde, The Price of Fear, the Truth Behind the Financial War on Terror (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007), 128.
55 E. Aydinli, ‘From Finances to Transnational Mobility: Searching for the Global Jihadists Achilles Heel’, Terrorism and Political Violence 18, no. 3 (2006): 301–13; J. Giraldo and H. Trinukunas, Terrorist Financing and State Responses: A Comparative Perspective (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007); Victor Comras, Al Qaeda Finances and Funding to Affiliated Groups, Strategic Insights, IV, no. 1 (January 2005).
56 Richard Jackson, ‘Constructing Enemies: “Islamic Terrorism” in Political and Academic Discourse’, Government and Opposition 42, no. 3 (2007): 394–426.
57 Efraim Inbar and Eitan Shamir, ‘“Mowing the Grass”: Israel’s Strategy for Protracted Intractable Conflict’, Journal of Strategic Studies 37, no. 1 (2014): 65–90.
58 M. De Goede, Speculative Security: The Politics of Pursuing Terrorist Monies (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012), 129.
59 Israel Military Intelligence, UNCLASSIFIED, ‘Islamic Charitable Associations in the “Territories” and Their Connection to “HAMAS”’, 19 October 2001.
60 Ibrahim Warde, The Price of Fear, the Truth Behind the Financial War on Terror (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007), 130.
61 Yossi Melman, ‘The Terrorist Kills, and the Bank Pays’, Haaretz, December 13, 2008.
62 See MAITIC reports 24 July 2004, 11 June 2004, and 7 July 2004.
63 See Special Information Bulletin of Meir Amit Centre on The Union of Good ‘Appendix C (4) Defining Tulkarm Charity Committee Needs to the Union of Good, Including Terrorism-Related Needs (Financial Aid to Families of Shaeeds, Prisoners and the Wounded’, February 2005.
64 See Matthew Levitt, ‘Hamas from Cradle to Grave’, Middle East Quarterly (Winter 2004), http://www.meforum.org/582/hamas-from-cradle-to-grave.
65 M. De Goede, Speculative Security: The Politics of Pursuing Terrorist Monies (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012).
66 See FATF-GAFI, FATF IX Special Recommendations, FATF-GAFI, February 2012, http://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/documents/reports/FATF%20Standards%20-%20IX%20Special%20Recommendations%20and%20IN%20rc.pdf (accessed November 10, 2016).
67 Jonathan Benthall, ‘The Overreaction Against Islamic Charities’, Isim Review 20 (2007): 2 (6–7).
68 See Matthew Levitt, ‘Better Late than Never: Keeping USAID Funds Out of Terrorist Hands’, WINEP Policywatch 1277, August 2007.
69 Sara Roy, Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza, 141–2, Agreement, Islamic Society – Nusseriate and ANERA, Grant Agreement Provision Renovation of El Sedeek Pre-School, ANERA and Nusseriate Islamic Society, 4 June 2000. Jim Tankersley, Audit: Terrorists Got U.S. Aid; Agency’s Screening Called Inadequate, Chicago Tribune, November 16, 2007.
70 See 2005 Congressional Record Sets Forth Vetting Protocols for West Bank and Gaza,
Prior to the obligation of funds appropriated by this Act under the heading ‘Economic Support Fund’ for assistance for the West Bank and Gaza, the Secretary of State shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that such assistance is not provided to or through any individual, private or government entity, or educational institution that the Secretary knows or has reason to believe advocates, plans, sponsors, engages in, or has engaged in, terrorist activity nor, with respect to private entities or educational institutions, those that have as a principal officer of the entity’s governing board or governing board of trustees any individual that has been determined to be involved in, or advocating terrorist activity or determined to be a member of a designated foreign terrorist organization: Provided, That the Secretary of State shall, as appropriate, establish procedures specifying the steps to be taken in carrying out this subsection and shall terminate assistance to any individual, entity, or educational institution which the Secretary has determined to be involved in or advocating terrorist activity. Congressional Record – House, vol. 151, pt 18, 24467 (2005), 352
71 See https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1883/2007-WBG-26.pdf (accessed December 10, 2010).
72 See US Patriot Act (18 U.S.C. 2339B), Providing material support to terrorists, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2339A.
73 M. De Goede, Speculative Security: The Politics of Pursuing Terrorist Monies (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012).
74 David Cole and James X. Dempsey, Terrorism and the Constitution: Sacrificing Civil Liberties in the Name of National Security (New York: New Press 2006).
75 Daneil Estrin, ‘Helping Palestinians Was an Uphill Battle for USAID Chief’, Associated Press, July 15, 2016, http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4d0a6af7fefd41abb582c13b021b6765/helping-palestinians-was-uphill-battle-us-aid-chief (accessed November 10, 2016).
76 Mkhaimar Abusada, ‘Islam Versus Secularism in Palestine: Hamas vs. Fatah’ (Berlin, March 8, 2010), https://www.boell.de/sites/default/files/assets/boell.de/images/download_de/worldwide/2010-03-12_Dossier_Palaestine_Conference_Paper_islam_vs_secularism_Abusada_0803201.pdf. Bader Araj and Robert J. Brym, ‘Opportunity, Culture and Agency Influences on Fatah and Hamas Strategic Action During the Second Intifada’, International Sociology 25, no. 6 (2010): 842–68.
77 Ole Waever, ‘Securitization and Desecuritization’, in On Security, ed. Ronnie Lipschuz (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995), 46–87.
78 Jef Huysmans, ‘What Is in an Act? Dispersing Politics of Insecurity’, CAST, September 2010, 13.
79 Milton-Edwards and Farrell, Hamas.
80 Jamal Hilal, ‘Polarization of the Palestinian Political Field’, Journal of Palestine Studies 39, no. 3 (2010): 26. Graham Usher, ‘The Democratic Resistance: Hamas, Fatah, and the Palestinian Elections’, Journal of Palestine Studies 35, no. 3 (2006): 20–36.
81 Azzam Tammimi, Hamas, Unwritten Chapters (London: Hurst, 2007) and Khaled Hroub, Hamas, a Beginners Guide (London: Pluto Press, 2006).
82 Milton-Edwards and Farrell, Hamas.
83 S. Samuel and C. Rajiv, ‘The Hamas Takeover and Its Aftermath’, Strategic Analysis 31, no. 5 (2007): 843–51; Beverley Milton-Edwards, ‘The Ascendance of Political Islam: Hamas and Consolidation in the Gaza Strip’, Third World Quarterly 29, no. 8 (2008): 1585–99.
84 See Reuters, ‘PA Closes All Charities in West Bank, Gaza’, http://www.palestinechronicle.com/2007/12?print=pdf-page, November 2007 (accessed December 2, 2007).
85 Sheikh Abdel-Rahman Hanbali, founder of Nablus zakat committee, Nablus, author interview, September 14, 2010.
86 Mr Ahmad Abd-El-Fattah, Safa dairy Nablus, Nablus, author interview, April 29, 2010.
87 Mr Wasef M’alla, Nablus zakat committee, Nablus, author interview, April 28, 2010.
88 Announcement of the Palestinian Authority, December 5, 2007, Al-Ayyam newspaper.
89 Wikileaks cable, ‘US Consulate Jerusalem, DOJ Attorneys Discuss Zakat Committees with Awqaf Ministry’, August 7, 2008, http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=08JERUSALEM1451&q=bank%20hamas%20west%20zakat (accessed November 9, 2016).
90 Sheikh Aref, Nablus, author interview, April 28, 2010.
91 Deepti Ameta, ‘Social Protection and Safety Nets in Palestine’, Institute of Development Studies, December 2015, https://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dmfile/SocialprotectionandsafetynetsinPalestine.pdf (accessed November 9, 2016).
92 International Crisis Group, ‘Islamic Social Welfare Activism in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: A Legitimate Target?’ Middle East Report, no. 13, April 2, 2003, http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/israel-palestine/013-islamic-social-welfare-activism-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territories-a-legitimate-target.aspx (accessed November 9, 2016).
93 Khaled Amaryeh, ‘Still Struggling’, al-Ahram, September 11–17, 2008, issue 194.
94 Mr Nael Abdel Rahman Director of Bethlehem Orphan Care Society, Bethlehem, author interview, April 29, 2010.
95 Mr Wasef Mallah, Nablus, author interview, April 28, 2010.
96 Emanuel Schaublin, The West Bank Zakat Committees (1977–2009) in the Local Context (Geneva: Graduate Institute, 2009).
97 See AMAN Annual Report 2015, https://www.aman-palestine.org/en/activities/5958.html (accessed November 9, 2016).
98 Ann Le More, International Assistance to the Palestinian after Oslo, Political Guilt, Wasted Money (London: Routledge, 2008).
99 Hassan Tahboub, ‘The Restructuring of the Zakat Committees Aims at Rectifying Their Legal Status’, Humanity Voice, April 21, 2008, http://www.humanityvoice.net/news_details.php?id=166&PageNo=251 (accessed December 9, 2010).
100 Tariq Dana, Corruption in Palestine: A Self-enforcing System, Shabaka, August 18, 2015, https://al-shabaka.org/briefs/corruption-in-palestine/ (accessed November 10, 2016).
101 Emanuel Schaeublin, ‘Role and Governance of Islamic Charitable Institutions: Gaza Zakat Organizations (1973–2011) in the Local Context’ (Geneva: CCDP Working Paper, 2011), 79–83.
102 Michelle I. Gawerc and Ned Lazarus, ‘Doing No Harm? Donor Policies and Power Asymmetry in Israeli/Palestinian Peacebuilding’, Peace & Change 41, no. 3 (2016): 386–97. Erling Hess Johnsen, ‘Whose Civil Society? A Critical Discourse Analysis of USAID and Palestinian NGOs’ (University of Oslo, 2014).