Ghassan Mohammed Salim Du‘ar’s authoritative biography of the eponymous Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operative and commander, Imad ‘Aql: The Legend of Jihad and Resistance (Imād ʿAql: Ustūrat al-Jihād wa-l-Muqāwamah) was originally printed in 1994 by the London-based publisher, Filastin al-Muslimah. Now defunct, it was known for publishing book- and treatise-length texts by political figures within the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and for issuing a magazine concerning Palestine- and resistance-related affairs (many of which included interviews with leading resistance figures ranging from ‘Abdul ‘Aziz al-Rantisi to Imad al-Alami and Sheikh Ahmad Yassin). In turn, it has, alongside al-Risalah and al-Ra’y—two publications affiliated with Hamas—been considered a pivotal primary source for scholars researching the history of the resistance, its communiqués, and its concomitant foreign policy positions. As critical terrorism studies scholar Jeroen Gunning observes in his PhD dissertation, Filastin al-Muslimah’s close relationship with Hamas earned the publisher the reputation of “faithfully reflecting the IM’s [viz. the Islamic Movement’s] positions.”[i] Indeed, scholars like Tareq Baconi have gone as far as claiming that “Filastin al-Muslima (Muslim Palestine)” is “one of the [Hamas] movement’s main mouthpieces.”[ii] However, this is a claim that the publication’s editors adamantly denied.
Du‘ar, unlike many of the writers published by Filastin al-Muslimah, does not belong to the resistance movement. Nevertheless, having chronicled the movement’s annals with great breadth and precision, Du‘ar is broadly considered, alongside Khaled Hroub, Azzam Tamimi, and Mohsen Saleh, to be one of the leading scholarly experts on Hamas’ history. His work is frequently cited by the three aforementioned writers. However, aside from my own efforts, published on Substack,[iii] Du‘ar’s writing has not been translated from the original Arabic into English. Indeed, this review is the first piece of English-language expository writing dedicated to Du‘ar. Additionally, Du‘ar’s 1994 book, like much of Filastin al-Muslimah’s texts, was limited in its international circulation; consequently, it has received little attention outside of a small circle of Hamas scholars. Thus, it is worth elaborating on who Du‘ar is before turning to the ‘Aql text.
Du‘ar, who was based in Jordan and 67 years old at the time of this review, is a Palestinian civil engineer by trade and a historian of the resistance; he is also an activist for the Palestinian liberation cause, who has faced persecution by the Jordanian government for his political work and Palestinian activism. In 2014, Du‘ar and his son, al-Baraa, were, alongside dozens of political activists and Islamic intellectuals, some of whom were associated with Palestinian political figures, arrested by Jordanian security agencies. Middle East Monitor’s article adumbrating Jordan’s arrests speculated that the Jordanian security services had been working closely and coordinating with the Shin Bet (also known as “Shabak”), the intelligence and security arm of the occupation whose so-called “Arab Department” is dedicated to monitoring and planning intelligence and counter-intelligence operations targeting resistance actors in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. As the article describes, the interrogations that were conducted homed in on the arrestees’ putative support for “resistance inside Palestine.”[iv]
On 29 July 2015, following what were later found to be confessions extracted under torture, Du‘ar was sentenced to a five-year term of imprisonment by the Jordanian state. The means by which Du‘ar’s confessions were elicited were in contravention of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 16 December 1966 and entered into force on 23 March 1976 (as UNGA Resolution 2200A (XXI)); and which Jordan ratified in 1975 and has been a party since 1976. Consequently, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) declared that Du‘ar’s detention was arbitrary and called on the Jordanian authorities to immediately release him and to provide him with compensation and reparation.[v] Du‘ar was released on 29 July 2018 and has, since then, continued his scholarly writing. Shortly after his release, he completed his most recent book, published by the Beirut-based Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations, Qawāʿid al-Shuyūkh: Muqāwamat al-Ikhwān al-Muslimīn ḍidd al-Mashrūʿ al-Ṣuhyūnī, 1968–1970 (The Rules of the Elders: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Resistance to the Zionist Project, 1968–1970).
As Du‘ar’s bibliography (see appendix below) evinces, although it was the first biographical text he authored, the ‘Aql book under review here is not Du‘ar’s only work dedicated to reconstructing a figurehead of the Palestinian resistance. Having read Du‘ar’s biographies of Yahya Ayyash and Shaykh Salah Shehadeh, I can attest to the methodically researched nature of each project. In every one of his projects, Du‘ar supplies us with witness testimonies and thorough reconstructions of operations that go far beyond what contemporaneous media—including resistance outlets—have included. One might go so far as to speculate that, in fact, it is the exhaustive nature of his texts that (falsely) earned Du‘ar a reputation of a resistance insider, paving the way for his subsequent arrest by the Jordanian authorities.
Turning now to Du‘ar’s ‘Aql biography, the text contains a prologue, six chapters, and a conclusion. With the exception of the final two chapters, which are dedicated to ‘Aql’s martyrdom and legacy, the text diligently reconstructs the full scope of ‘Aql’s life, with its primary focus being on ‘Aql’s resistance operations. The biography is, amongst scholars of Hamas, broadly considered to be the authoritative text on his life due to its comprehensive nature. For academics interested in the history of the Palestinian resistance, the book is simply indispensable. Given the book’s approachable prose and its chronological rendering of ‘Aql’s resistance operations, it will surely also interest those non-specialists interested in this monumental resistance figure.
Although Du‘ar does not reveal the scope of his sources and methodology, the final chapter includes a collation of various international journals and publications with Du‘ar reproducing important quotes that betray the reception history of ‘Aql’s passing/martyrdom. However, Du‘ar’s text also includes revelatory details and quotations by members of ‘Aql’s family that go far beyond any details contained in extant secondary sources. Thus, one can only assume that, in addition to his scouring and poring over the extant record, Du‘ar conducted numerous interviews with knowledgeable sources—including, one might speculate, sources close to (or perhaps even members of) the resistance itself.
Du‘ar’s preface begins by detailing the ambit of the project in a telling passage worth quoting at length:
[…] The commander Imad ‘Aql was martyred, just as Muhammad Abu Nadda, Ghassan Abu Nadda, Tariq Dahan, Yasir al-Namruti, and Muhammad Qadri, Maher Abu Surur, Adnan Mar‘i, Muhammad ‘Aziz, Ridhwan al-Tammam, and others from among the heroes of the Brigades of the Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam were martyred [….] Their operations and actions became legendary, their attacks bold and distinguished, until the Zionists began to use the phrase “Go to Gaza” as a substitute for the expression “Go to Hell” […] for Gaza had become a fiery furnace capable of devouring its enemies.
The media and the press have spoken much about him [viz., ‘Aql]; his name became a terror to the Zionists and the Israelis […] For this reason, I find myself compelled to write about him with eloquence and accuracy, for this writing is not meant to boast or exaggerate, but to trace the steps of a man who has passed — one of those martyrs and heroes whose pure blood has delineated the path that the coming generations of our people shall follow.
If I have chosen to write about Imad Aql, it is because of his heroism in his achievements and his execution of operations against the forces of occupation, and his steadfastness upon the path of Izz al-Din al-Qassam, and the martyrdom of his brothers who fought beside him upon the same path.
[….] Thus, I present in this booklet the biography of the hero Imad ‘Aql—may God have mercy upon him—hoping that it will strengthen our understanding in the near future as part of a continuous series of biographies of the heroes of the Brigades of the Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
[…] It will be an example for future generations to study and take as guidance in both their religion and their struggle.[vi]
The text then goes on to provide an overview of ‘Aql’s rearing. Imad Hassan Ibrahim ‘Aql, who was known by the nom de guerre Abu Hussein, was born on 19 June 1971 into a devout family in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. ‘Aql’s family sought refuge in Gaza after being displaced during the 1948 Nakba; in the period between United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 (viz., “the General Assembly Partition Plan for the British Mandate of Palestine”) adopted on 29 November 1947 and the Egypt–Israel General Armistice Agreement signed on 24 February 1949, approximately 200,000 Palestinian refugees found refuge in Gaza (which previously had a population of about 68,000).[vii] In turn, the ‘Aql family’s story is, in a sense, archetypal of Palestinians. The family had fled from the village of Burayr, located near al-Majdal. His father, who was employed as a muezzin (caller to prayer) at the Martyrs’ Mosque in Jabalia, gave him the name Imad in reference to Imad al-Din Zangi, the Muslim commander who defeated the Crusaders. ‘Aql completed his elementary and preparatory education in the Jabalia camp, where he distinguished himself through academic diligence and quickly placed among the top five students in his class. He later enrolled at al-Falujah Secondary School, from which he graduated in 1988 with top honours. ‘Aql achieved first place within his school and ranked as the top student in the Beit Hanoun area. He opted to pursue studies in pharmacy and submitted the required documentation to al-Amal Institute in Gaza City; however, after finalizing his registration and paying the necessary fees, the Zionist occupation forces arrested him on 23 September 1988. Imad, the youngest of three brothers, was arrested together with his brother ʿAdel on 23 September 1988. Imad was charged with membership in Hamas and participation in the First Intifada. As Du‘ar underscores, this was a formative experience for the young ‘Aql, who, like many in the Qassam leadership, forged lasting bonds within the occupation’s prison system.
The occupation forces held ‘Aql in detention for a year and a half, bringing his university education to a halt; he spent eighteen months in prison and was released in March 1990. Following his release, ‘Aql submitted an application to the Hattin College in Amman. He was admitted to study in the Department of Sharia for the 1991–1992 academic year. However, the occupation authorities once again obstructed his plans by prohibiting him from traveling to Jordan on the grounds of his prior participation in political activity and the “Intifada of the Stones.” While this is somewhat true, and while Du‘ar’s biography notes that ‘Aql was sympathetic to Hamas during this period, his political participation prior to his imprisonment had been limited to participating in peaceful marches and painting anti-occupation slogans on walls.
Throughout the next two chapters, Du‘ar’s biography pellucidly delineates how, during the First Intifada/Intifada of Stones, ‘Aql laid the groundwork for the resistance infrastructure to come over the subsequent decades. Chapters two and three review the various operations ‘Aql spearheaded and assisted; these include those that were successful and those in which the resistance, which was still undergoing a training phase, faltered. In 1990, ‘Aql joined what would later be known as the al-Qassam Brigades, assuming responsibility for communications between the leadership and the “Martyrs’ Group,” the first Hamas cell to operate in the northern Gaza Strip. The “Martyrs’ Group” initially focused on assassinating collaborators while acquiring weapons to arm themselves for later military operations against occupation patrols and soldiers. By early 1991, ‘Aql had demonstrated exceptional ability in his role as liaison officer between the “Martyrs’ Group” and the central command leadership. Once the “Martyrs’ Group” began engaging in resistance operations proper, ‘Aql undertook a leadership role. The “Martyrs’ Group” conducted direct, face-to-face military operations against the occupation’s patrols, at times from point-blank range (“zero point”). The group also targeted collaborators, confiscating their weapons for use in subsequent attacks. Among their boldest operations was the May 1992 attack on the convoy of the Gaza Strip’s occupation police chief, Yosef Avni.
After spending a period being pursued across Gaza’s districts—and in order to shield his fellow al-Qassam members and other fugitives—‘Aql relocated to the occupied West Bank on 23 May 1992, seeking secure refuge while aiming to establish new al-Qassam military cells there. This further frustrated the occupation’s attempts to locate ‘Aql; presuming that ‘Aql still lived in Gaza, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin commented: “I wish I could wake up one day and find that Gaza has sunk into the sea.”[viii] ‘Aql remained in the West Bank for approximately six months. Before long, he assumed leadership of the al-Qassam Brigades in Hebron, inaugurating a new phase of military activity in the West Bank and consolidating the tactic of close-range assaults.
Following the arrest of numerous al-Qassam fighters in the West Bank, ‘Aql departed Hebron on 13 November 1992 to return to Gaza, despite the occupation intensifying its crackdown in response to the rising frequency of resistance operations. Over the course of the following year, ‘Aql and his comrades carried out numerous successful operations against occupation soldiers and settlers. In March 1993, ‘Aql assassinated three occupation soldiers in Jabalia and in an area west of Sheikh Radwan.
On the morning of 12 September 1993, ‘Aql led the notorious “Mosab bin Umair Mosque operation” in the al-Zaytoun neighbourhood east of Gaza City, eliminating three occupation soldiers, including an officer, and seizing their weapons. Du‘ar presents this operation, which he details in a blow-by-blow manner, as a direct rejoinder to the Oslo process. Notably, this operation marked the first al-Qassam action to be captured on camera; indeed, as Du‘ar reminds us, ‘Aql catalysed a novel approach to Palestinian resistance media as the camera became the companion of the rifle. As the tempo of his attacks increased and the number of eliminated occupation soldiers attributed to him rose, ‘Aql became the foremost target of the occupation, which apparently began harassing and stopping every youth bearing the name “Imad.” Despite this escalating pursuit, ‘Aql rejected repeated appeals from friends and comrades, who, throughout the following year, urged him to flee Gaza for a neighbouring country. After the Shin Bet failed to locate and assassinate ‘Aql, the authorities proposed a negotiation process. Rabin instructed the intelligence service to contact ‘Aql’s family and offer him safe passage to Egypt or Jordan. Rabin even pledged that Imad would be allowed to return safely after three years, without trial. ‘Aql firmly rejected this offer.
On 24 November 1993, Imad ‘Aql was located in the home of Maryam Muhaisen (Umm Nidal)—known by the honorific epithets “Palestine’s Khansa”[ix] and “the mother of martyrs”—who regarded ‘Aql with deep affection. A collaborator, Walid Hamdaieh, had identified him to the Shin Bet. Acting with great celerity, the Zionist occupation soldiers encircled the house and the surrounding area. Although he only possessed a pistol and a small number of bullets, ‘Aql initiated an infamous final stand against the occupation soldiers surrounding him, eliminating and wounding several of them until his ammunition was completely depleted. It appears that Du‘ar had access to the Nidal family and others who witnessed this affair, as the scene is described in perspicuous detail. Du‘ar recounts how the occupation forces responded by firing heavily at him. Although ‘Aql was eventually struck, he continued to resist until the occupation soldiers fired a shell from an anti-tank that resulted in his martyrdom. According to an unnamed witness whose testimony Du‘ar recounts, “[a]fter Imad fell as a martyr, for an hour and a half, the soldiers of the undercover (mistaʿarvīm) unit did not dare approach him, fearing that he was booby-trapped, so they asked a neighbour of ours to drag him into the street, where they fired even more bullets at him… a large number of bullets.”[x]
‘Aql’s martyrdom was widely celebrated by the occupation. As Du‘ar observes:
There was great satisfaction in Israeli political, security, and military circles following the killing of the heroic commander Imad ‘Aql in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood. Israeli officials expressed their happiness at the death of the fugitive, who was described by Israeli intelligence circles as the most dangerous Palestinian wanted by the army.[xi]
The final chapters summarize ‘Aql’s accomplishments and then review his prominent symbolic role within Palestinian resistance history. On the one hand, ‘Aql figured as a remarkable military commander, founding the “Martyrs’ Group,” which preceded and prefigured al-Qassam’s subsequent formation. On the other, ‘Aql, wielding the camera as a guerrilla instrument in its own right, inaugurated al-Qassam’s practice of filming its resistance operations. He also honed the resistance’s intelligence practices and perfected clandestine military techniques (including targeting and trailing occupation combatants whom he and his comrades eliminated at short range/“point-blank distance”). He also, as Du‘ar notes, “managed to escape the clutches of the Israelis several times by disguising himself as a settler, wearing a kippah on his head and carrying a rifle on his shoulder.”[xii] Thus, ‘Aql’s lasting and legendary reputation has, as Du‘ar impresses upon the reader at the biography’s conclusion, served as a beacon for successive generations of Palestinians. ‘Aql, whose iconographic marker included a crimson kuffiyeh wrapped around his face, galvanized Abu Obeida, the moniker donned by al-Qassam’s spokesman, to similarly style himself and thereby continue ‘Aql’s legacy. During the early 1990s, ‘Aql was also close to Sheikh Salah al-‘Arouri, who oversaw the West Bank branch of the military wing of Hamas, and collaborated with Mohammed al-Deif. Du‘ar’s text vividly enumerates why ‘Aql, a leader among the resistance, enjoyed such magnetism. Recounting the full breadth of these relationships, as Du‘ar does, would require more space than this review permits.
The last chapter contains some of the most significant passages for contemporary readers, as they bespeak the pronounced nature of Palestinian inter-factional consolidation during the First Intifada. This fraternization has gone frequently overlooked by the extant scholarship. It is highly noteworthy that, even in his death, ‘Aql was a unifying figure for myriad resistance factions, be they Islamic, nationalist, or leftist. Indeed, as Du‘ar recounts, ‘Aql’s martyrdom was a rallying affair. Upon his martyrdom:
[l]oudspeakers in mosques blared verses from the Holy Quran and revolutionary Islamic chants, while the city of Rafah and its camps were paralyzed by a general strike in mourning for the martyred commander. Young people closed the streets with barricades, stone barriers, and burning tires, and black flags were raised. Dozens of masked men marched through the streets of the city, but the occupation soldiers chose not to intervene. A group of Fatah ‘Hawks’ in the northern West Bank, also appeared in the city and fired their rifles violently and provocatively into the air in protest against the killing of the martyr Imad ‘Aql. The Hawks wrote slogans on the walls extolling the virtues and operations of the martyr, vowing to avenge him and announcing a three-day general strike in the city to mourn the soul of the heroic leader. The next day, masked men belonging to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) wrote slogans on the walls demanding that Yasser Arafat condemn the killing of Imad ‘Aql, commander of the Al-Quds Brigades. On November 28, Hamas activists organized protest demonstrations, which were dispersed by enemy occupation forces using rubber bullets and tear gas. The demonstrations and clashes spread to cities, villages, and camps in the West Bank, with the most intense clashes occurring in the city of Hebron, which was home to the martyred commander during his time in the West Bank. The city, its villages, and its camps witnessed a national mourning […][xiii]
In the subsequent days, from al-Bureij Camp near Deir al-Balah to Jabalia Camp, and from Rafah to Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, and Jenin, Palestinian activists organized demonstrations and strikes that lasted from 28 November until 4 December 1993. These protests not only protested the martyrdom of ‘Aql at the hands of the occupation but also protested Yasser Arafat’s unwillingness to condemn it. Du‘ar details the nature of the various protests, which soon transmogrified into a consolidating event. It is again worth quoting Du‘ar at length:
During the years of the blessed intifada, numerous West Bank and Gaza Strip cities that bore witness to the protests, where our people in Umm al-Fahm, Nazareth, Kafr Qasim, Rahat, Shefa-ʿAmr, and other cities steadfastly stood at the forefront. They extended aid and assistance to the families of martyrs, the wounded, and detainees, caring for their orphans and meeting the needs of the destitute. In parallel, the Galilee, the Triangle, and the Negev joined their brothers in numbers and marches. Accordingly, the grave event that befell the West Bank and Gaza Strip with the martyrdom of the heroic leader Imad ʿAql did not pass without Nazareth, Umm al-Fahm, and the Negev playing a role through which the masses expressed their pain and anger via their symbols and leaders. […] the Qassam feats carried out by Imad ʿAql attracted political currents of diverse orientations and intellectual backgrounds. Perhaps the delegation formed by our people in the areas occupied in 1948 to offer condolences to the family of our dear martyr best illustrates this reality. A delegation of political figures and personalities from the Palestinian areas occupied in 1948, including Knesset member ʿAbd al-Wahhab Darawsheh and Talab al-Sana, accompanied by Dr. Zakaria al-Agha, the senior official of the Fatah movement in the Gaza Strip, visited the home of the martyr Imad ʿAql in Jabalia Camp on Saturday, December 11, and offered their condolences to his family, expressing their admiration for Imad, his operations, and his resistance to the Israeli occupation. […]
The martyrdom of the heroic commander Imad ʿAql sparked widespread reactions, especially within Lebanon. The Lebanese press prominently featured on its front pages the news of the martyrdom of the commander of the northern region of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and the angry public reactions it provoked in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Palestinian organizations, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF), the Palestinian Revolutionary Communist Party, and Fatah – The Intifada and the Popular Front – General Command, also sent statements of condolence that expressed their feelings of pride and honor at the heroic martyrdom of commanders Imad ʿAql and Khaled al-Zir.[xiv]
Du‘ar’s final chapter reproduces numerous short essays mourning ‘Aql, including: “Imad said his word” by Hamas co-founder Dr. ʿAbd al-ʿAziz al-Rantisi; “Imad ʿAql. Farewell, Khaled al-Zir” by Egyptian politician and physician Dr. ʿIssam al-ʿIryan (who later held the post of vice chairman for Egypt’s Freedom and Justice Party); and “The Great Mirrors” by political scientist Kanaan Abdullah, amongst others. A number of lines are quite telling, including Rantisi’s remarks that “alas, Rabin congratulates his soldiers on the killing of Imad, and Abu Ammar (Yasir Arafat), unfortunately, rebukes the Palestinian people for treating those settlers as perpetrators of massacres.”[xv] Relatedly, al-ʿIryan states that “O sons of Fatah and all the organizations…rally around one single goal… the end of the occupation… direct your bullets toward the chests of the enemies…”[xvi] Abdullah’s text, authored in a poetic and metaphorical mode, castigates collaboration: “Leave betrayal to the mud of the maelstrom./Restore to the sun its radiance—tomorrow./Restore my mother’s right from the tongues.” It should be highlighted that “tongues” is the translation of al-alsina, which metonymically refers to those who speak without acting; Abdullah here rebukes hollow political speech about the right of return (i.e., his “mother’s right”) and exhorts his fellow compatriots to take it back from the occupier without delay (i.e., restoring “radiance” “to the sun” “tomorrow”). The proverbial “tongues” producing empty rhetoric here pick out those Fatah figures and factions who have abandoned armed resistance.
The background to this set of remarks includes the Palestine Liberation Organization’s 9 September 1993 recognition of “the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security”[xvii] and its concomitant acceptance of UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. This initial “betrayal,” as Abdullah terms it, was compounded by Arafat’s signing of the first Oslo Accords (viz., the “Declaration of Principles”) with Rabin on 13 September 1993. Then, on 13 November 1993 (less than two weeks before ‘Aql was killed on 24 November 1993), Arafat issued a public condemnation of the abduction and assassination of a settler, Haim Mizrahi.[xviii] Many of the other essays, some of which were initially published in other venues, such as the Palestinian newspaper Sawt al-Shaʿb (Voice of the People), similarly dichotomize the path of resistance symbolized by ‘Aql and Arafat’s then-recent concessions.
Furthermore, due to the contiguity of the two events, ‘Aql’s martyrdom is often also framed in relation to the occupation’s expulsion of 415 Palestinian Islamic leaders (including Imad ‘Aql’s brother, Adel Hasan Ibrahim ʿAql) to Marj al-Zuhūr in South Lebanon, in December 1992. This highly significant event was precipitated by the 12 December 1992 kidnapping of Border Police officer Sergeant Nissim Toledano by an al-Qassam cell (viz., “Unit 101”) consisting of Mahmoud Issa, Majid Abu Qatish, Mahmoud Atwan, and Musa al-Akari, who were seeking to exchange him for their imprisoned figurehead and spiritual leader, Ahmed Yassin. After Rabin refused to comply, Toledano was assassinated, prompting, in the words of Hamas scholar Mohsen Mohammad Saleh, “Rabin to declare a full war on Hamas in the Knesset.”[xix] As part of this “war,” Rabin, on 17 December 1992, arrested 1,300 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members and ordered the expulsion of 415 other figures (most of whom were civilian/political leaders associated with the two movements) to South Lebanon. The banishment proved critical for the emergence of the Axis of Resistance, with Palestinian resistance figures forming important contacts with Hizbu’llah, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the Syrian Arab Army. Additionally, with myriad scholars present at Marj al-Zuhūr, the deportees also established a provisional “university,” where lectures were regularly held and covered by local media. The event soon garnered significant attention from a group of Italian academics who visited the camp, as well as the international press, including CNN presenter Larry King, who interviewed Hamas leader Aziz Dweik on Christmas night in 1992.[xx]
A number of the aforementioned eulogistic essays included in the final chapter of Du‘ar’s book were, in fact, authored from Marj al-Zuhūr. Du‘ar, shortly before concluding his text, alludes to Robert Fisk’s 29 November 1993 article, “Hamas mourns its greatest martyr,” published in The Independent, where the journalist recalls his trip to Marj al-Zuhūr and the funeral held for ‘Aql, writing that:
On the tents, on cardboard boxes, on the wall of their makeshift mosque, even on the rocks, the Palestinians of Marj al-Zohour have pasted portraits of their most prestigious ‘martyr’, a picture which was transmitted to the camp’s fax machine by colleagues in Gaza. The deportees have crayoned in a few features, shading Imad Akel’s eyebrows and moustache and thickening his beard. But you can still tell the likeness between the 24-year-old Gazan, the leader of Hamas’s Ezzedin al-Qassem brigade shot dead by the Israelis at a road-block five days ago, and his older brother Adel.
[…] ‘I heard about his death at eight on Wednesday evening, just an hour-and-a- half after he was shot,’ Adel Akel said. ‘I was in my tent – number 13 – listening to the Israeli radio news in Hebrew and they said that Imad had been killed. How do I explain what I felt? It was like thunder in my mind. But I was expecting this news each and every moment of the day and night. So I cried because I missed him, and the brothers (deportees) arrived at my tent to give me their condolences.’ [….] Adel Akel’s memories of his brother, while necessarily adulatory – first in the class at elementary school, assistant to his own teacher in preparatory school – reveal something of the nature of Israel’s remaining enemies in the West Bank and Gaza, of the young men who will go on opposing the Palestine Liberation Organisation-Israeli accord.[xxi]
The political significance of ‘Aql thus dovetailed with the broader persecution of the Palestinian resistance, transforming him into a hallmark of steadfastness. As Du‘ar’s text demonstrates, in the wake of his assassination, ‘Aql not only became emblematic of the path of resistance but also became a catalyst for factionalization within Fatah and for Hamas’ overtaking of Fatah as the leading resistance party, given the Fatah political leadership’s increasingly conciliatory responses to the occupation’s demands during the period of the signing of the first Oslo Accords. This was already coming to the fore with a younger generation of Fatah leaders who decried the so-called “peace process” and exhorted the movement to return to armed resistance, but was compounded by the symbolic significance of resistance figures who enjoyed cross-factional veneration such as ‘Aql. These internal contradictions would reach a boiling point during the course of the Second Intifada (viz., “the al-Aqsa Intifada”) of 2000–2005 and precipitate Fatah breakaway and splinter resistance formations like the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and the Popular Resistance Committees (and their armed wing, al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades), both of which were led by disaffected young Fatah members who broke with the party’s placatory wing (which is today associated with the Palestinian National Authority and spearheaded by figures such as Mahmoud Abbas, Mohammad Mustafa, and Hussein al-Sheikh). These groups not only enjoy good relations with Islamic resistance movements like Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas but are part of the so-called “Joint Operations Room” (al-ghurfa al-mushtarika li-l-faṣāʾil al-filasṭīniyya), which was initially created in May 2006, revitalized in 2018 during the Great March of Return, and remained operational throughout Operation al-Aqsa Flood (viz., “Tufan al-Aqsa”).
In short, appreciating the conditions shaping these historical developments over the last three decades is essential to understanding the contemporary Palestinian political landscape. There is no better biographical text for understanding this inflection point during the First Intifada than Du‘ar’s book.
Mujamma Haraket is a translator and researcher in the history of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), political Islam, and political philosophy. Mujamma’s scholarly writing has been published in academic forums and in international newspapers like Orinoco Tribune.
Appendix: Ghassan Du‘ar’s Bibliography
• 1993:
Ḥarb al-Ayyām al-Sabʿah: Usūd Ḥamās (vol. I)
The Seven Days War: The Lions of Hamas (vol. I)
(London: Filastin al-Muslima)
- 1994:
Imād ʿAql: Ustūrat al-Jihād wa-l-Muqāwamah
Imad ‘Aql: The Legend of Jihad and Resistance
(London and Amman: Filastin al-Muslima) - 1995:
Mawʿid maʿa al-Shābāk: Dirāsah fī al-Nashāṭ al-ʿAskarī li-Ḥarakat Ḥamās wa-Katāʾib ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Qassām khilāl ʿām 1993
An Appointment with the Shin Bet: A Study of the Military Activity of Hamas and the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades During 1993
(London and Amman: Filastin al-Muslima) - 1997:
al-Muhandis: al-Shahīd Yaḥyā ʿAyyāsh, Ramz al-Jihād wa-Qāʾid al-Muqāwamah fī Filasṭīn
The Engineer: The Martyr Yahya ‘Ayyash, Symbol of Jihad and Leader of the Resistance in Palestine
(London: Filastin al-Muslima) - 2003:
Amīr al-Fidāʾiyyīn: al-Shaykh Ṣalāḥ Shaḥādah
The Commander of the Fedayeen: Shaykh Salah Shehadeh
(London and Amman: Filastin al-Muslima) - 2004:
al-Mustaʿribūn: Firaq al-Mawt al-Isrāʾīliyyah
The Mistaʿarvim: Israel’s Death Squads
(London and Amman: Dār al-Shurūq) - 2008:
Khansāʾ fī Filasṭīn
Khansāʾ in Palestine
(Cairo: Arab Media Center) - 2012:
al-Mustawṭinūn al-Ṣuhyūniyyūn fī al-Ḍiffah al-Gharbiyyah: al-Iʿtidāʾ ʿalā al Arḍ wa-l-Insān
Zionist Settlers in the West Bank: Assault on Land and People
(Beirut: Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations) - 2013:
Dirāsah: al-Sujūn al-Sirriyyah al-Isrāʾīliyyah… Ṣūrah Ḥayyah li-l-Irhāb al-Insānī
Study: Israel’s Secret Prisons… A Living Image of Human Terror
(Beirut: Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations) - 2018:
Qawāʿid al-Shuyūkh: Muqāwamat al-Ikhwān al-Muslimīn ḍidd al-Mashrūʿ al-Ṣuhyūnī (1968–1970)
The Sheikhs’ Bases: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Resistance to the Zionist Project (1968–1970)
(Beirut: Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations)
[i] Jeroen Gunning, “Re-thinking Western constructs of Islamism: pluralism, democracy and the theory and praxis of the Islamic movement in the Gaza Strip”, Doctoral thesis, Durham University (Durham, England: 2000), p. 96.
[ii] Tareq Baconi, Hamas Contained (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2018, p. xxi
[iii] I have translated the open-source text from its original Arabic to English; these translations are spread out in four parts and can be accessed via the following links:
Mujamma Haraket, “PART ONE: A Preview of the First English Translation of Ghassan Du‘ar, “Imad ‘Aql, legend of jihad and resistance” (London, Filastin al-Muslimah, 1994), https://substack.com/home/post/p-176114568 ; PART TWO: Ghassan Du‘ar, “Imad ‘Aql, legend of jihad and resistance” (London, Filastin al-Muslimah, 1994), https://substack.com/home/post/p-177246653 ; PART THREE: Ghassan Du‘ar, “Imad ‘Aql, Legend of Jihad and Resistance” (London, Filastin al-Muslimah, 1994), https://mujammaharaket.substack.com/p/part-three-ghassan-duar-imad-aql ; PART FOUR: Ghassan Du‘ar, “Imad ‘Aql, Legend of Jihad and Resistance” (London, Filastin al-Muslimah, 1994), https://mujammaharaket.substack.com/p/part-four-ghassan-duar-imad-aql-legend .
[iv] “Is Jordan coordinating with Israel to detain activists?,” Middle East Monitor, 3 December 2014; retrieved online (19 January 2026): https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20141204-is-jordan-coordinating-with-israel-to-detain-activists/
[v] This case was documented in: “Jordan: Civil Engineer Ghassan Duar Detained Arbitrarily According to UN Experts”, Alkarama, 11 July 2017; retrieved online (18 October 2018): https://www.alkarama.org/en/articles/jordan-civil-engineer-ghassan-duar-detained-arbitrarily-according-un-experts
[vi] Ghassan Du‘ar, Imad ‘Aql, Legend of Jihad and Resistance, Filastin al-Muslimah, 1994. 3. All translations from Arabic my own.
[vii] These figures come from United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP), Replies of the Arab Delegations to the Questionnaire of 19 May 1949, General Committee (Lausanne: United Nations, 1949); retrieved online (2 February 2026): https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/588005A302BF685A852575000055C34F.pdf; Cheal Beryl, “Refugees in the Gaza Strip, December 1948-May 1950,” Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 138-157 ; Jean-Pierre Filiu. Gaza: A History (London: Hurst, 2014), p. 78.
[viii] Quoted in “Will Rabin’s dream of Gaza being swallowed by the sea come true?”, Middle East Monitor, 21 September 2015; retrieved online (19 January 2026): https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20150921-will-rabins-dream-of-gaza-being-swallowed-by-the-sea-come-true/
[ix] “Palestine’s Khansāʾ” (خنساء فلسطين) is invokes al-Khansa (Tamāḍur bint ʿAmr), the famous pre-Islamic and early Islamic poet who became emblematic in Arab memory for her stoic endurance and pride after the deaths of her sons in battle. It was applied to Maryam Muhaisen (Umm Nidal), as she lost several sons in armed struggle (or is prepared to do so). For more on Umm NIdal, see: “The Women of the Islamic Resistance Movement: Umm Nidal and Jamila Al-Shanti ,” Substack, 15 November 2025; retrieved online (2 February 2026): https://mujammaharaket.substack.com/p/the-women-of-the-islamic-resistance
[x] Ghassan Du‘ar, Imad ‘Aql, Legend of Jihad and Resistance, op. cit. 73.
[xi] Ibid, 57.
[xii] Ibid., 70.
[xiii] Ibid., 83. Note that Fatah ‘Hawks’ (Suqūr Fataḥ) refers to a Fatah-aligned resistance current that, in parallel with the Fatah-associated ‘Black Panthers’ (al-Fahd al-Aswad) in the northern West Bank, emerged during the First Intifada and functioned semi-autonomously from the external PLO/Fatah leadership (then based in exile in Tunis) and prefigured the contemporary al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade) also appeared in the city and fired their rifles violently.
[xiv] Ibid., 87; note that Khaled al-Zir was also a member of the Qassam brigades who had been martyred by the occupation soon after ‘Aql.
[xv] Ibid., 83.
[xvi] Ibid. Ellipses in original.
[xvii] For the texts of the letters of recognition between the occupation and the PLO, see the New York Times, September 10, 1993, p. A 12.
[xviii] Mizrahi was a resident of the Beit El B settlement who was targeted by a group of masked resistance members. The operation was initially attributed to Hamas but Fatah members later took responsibility for it. See: “Tension in Territories Mounts After Killing of Jewish Settler,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 1 November 1993; retrieved online (2 February 2026): https://www.jta.org/archive/tension-in-territories-mounts-after-killing-of-jewish-settler , which attributes the operation to “gunmen of the Islamic fundamentalist Hamas movement.” A 14 November 1993 Los Angeles Times report attributes the 29 October 1993 operation to “five Palestinians, who were officially identified Friday as members of the PLO’s Fatah faction”; the article also explicitly mentions underscores Arafat’s condemnation of members of his own political faction following President Clinton’s demands; see: Carey Goldberg, “Arafat Yields, Decries Killing of Israel Settler,” Los Angeles Times, 14 November 1993; retrieved online (2 February 2026): https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-14-mn-56939-story.html.
[xix] Mohsen Mohammad Saleh, “Hamas: An Overview of Its Experience & History” in Mohsen Mohammad Saleh (Ed.), Islamic Resistance Movement-Hamas: Studies of Thought and Experience (Beirut: Institute for Palestine Studies, 2017), p.41
[xx] For a full scholarly account of the Marj al-Zuhūr expulsion see: Hani Borin, Marj al-Zuhūr: Maḥaṭṭa fī Tārīkh al-Ḥaraka al-Islāmiyya fī Filasṭīn (Beirut: Al-Zaytouna Centre, 2012); Daud Abdullah, Chapter 3, “Opportunities from Marj az Zuhūr” in Engaging the World: The Making of Hamas’ Foreign Policy (Johannesburg: Afro-Middle East Centre, 2020), pp. 67-87; also see Khaled Hroub, Hamas: Political Thought and Practice (Beirut: Institute for Palestine Studies, 2000), pp. 130-132, which references and paraphrases the oral history reports comprising Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) political scientist ‘Atif ‘Adwan’s unpublished manuscript, Al-Fikr al-siyasi lil haraka al-Islamiyya bi filastin [Political thought of the Islamic movement in Palestine], which includes numerous interviews conducted in 1993 with Hamas leaders who had been exiled to Marj al-Zuhūr in December 1992.
[xxi] Robert Fisk, “Hamas mourns its greatest martyr: Robert Fisk in Marj al-Zohour, southern Lebanon, hears how a Palestinian came to die for the Islamic ‘revolution’ in Israel,” The Independent, 29 November 1993, reproduced in Du‘ar, Imad ‘Aql, Legend of Jihad and Resistance, op. cit., 90.
