Great news Alan’s release. His composure and professionalism live on air just minutes after his release were remarkable. The decisive factor seems certainly to have been Hamas’ very credible threats to use force against the Dagmush clan. It’s a definite PR coup for the Islamists. It’s a concrete accomplishment and an irrefutable contrast between the way it was under Fatah (Alan was captive) and the way it is under Hamas (Alan is free). Secular independent Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti had this to say to the BBC:
It shows two things. It shows Hamas has restored law and order and it shows they were able to get Johnston released.
In Gaza there are rumors and speculation about the terms of Alan’s release. Some are saying the Dagmush got money, weapons, etc, but the word all along was that BBC was dead against any sort of ransom being paid and I think the rumors are just that. Most likely, the extent of the deal was some sort of Hamas-guaranteed amnesty for the Army of Islam and the Dagmush. Hamas has already said there would be no crackdown on the group.
Publicly, the reason the Army of Islam decided to release Alan was because of a fatwa from Sheikh Suleiman al Wadia, some sort of cleric who I know nothing about whose name was suggested by the Popular Resistance Committees, the umbrella faction that stepped in to mediate an end to the crisis in the last few days.
And finally, here’s Alan, ever modest, to the BBC:
You have to keep it in perspective. This was four months, people like Terry Waite were four years in Beirut.
26 responses so far ↓
1 Lama Mi Met // Jul 4, 2007 at 9:11 am
In March Hamas had the de-facto control in Gaza.
2 Charles Levinson // Jul 4, 2007 at 10:37 am
Lama Mi Met — Hamas didn’t have de facto control. It had control on paper. In reality, the means of controlling Gaza, the security services, remained in the hands of their political rivals.
3 Duncan // Jul 4, 2007 at 10:58 am
Things are really going Hamas’ way at the moment - the release of Alan and your report of cash being allowed into Gaza. Is there a sense right now in the strip that Hamas might be able to pull it off? By which I mean law and order imposed (in their own rather dubious fashion) and a long term modus vivendi established of getting round the embargo? How are the non-Hamas supporters reacting? Of course, today could very well be the high water mark.
4 Linda Grant // Jul 4, 2007 at 11:26 am
What do you make of Abbed Rabbo’s claims currently running in the Israeli press that the whole release was staged?
5 Duncan // Jul 4, 2007 at 12:31 pm
There is a fine line between negotiation and a staged event in the sense that Hamas always knew they could do it, but did Hamas order the original kidnap and put up phony roadblocks etc? I really doubt it, and we’ll never know.
I am no fan of Hamas, but Yasser Abd Rabbo is telling the Israelis what they want to hear, which is that Hamas is always devious and never positive. Hamas is good and evil at the same time, which is always hard for either side to accept.
6 Duncan // Jul 4, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Love your books by the way, Linda.
7 Ahmad Masri // Jul 4, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Charles, you state that Mustafa Bargouti is an “independent Palestinian politician” he is nothing of the kind! A quick Google or Wikipedia check would show that “Barghouti has consistently criticized the PLO and Palestinian Authority for corruption and terrorism. ” Abu Bashar’s (Yasser Abed Rabbo) comments today ” “We’re watching a movie where the thieves in Gaza fall out and one of them claims to be honest and brave and other is the bad guy,” and Khairallah Khairallah’s (respected Palestinian Jourbnalist) claims that the entire affair has been staged are true and known amongst informed Palestinian Circles. ” Hamas has been advised to carry this operation out through its front operations Jaish Al Islam & PRC to break the political embargo on it since its violent seizure of power in June. Jaish Al Islam /PRC being the same front organisations used to capture Shalit who is now openly being held by Hamas. So its hard to believe that Hamas was only a honest broker in this affair.
8 Linda Grant // Jul 4, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Thanks Duncan. I just heard they’re on sale at Rafik Hariri Airport, Beirut.
9 lisoosh // Jul 4, 2007 at 1:37 pm
It has significant repercussions in their dealings with Israel.
In the past, when Qassams have fallen on Sderot, or in the case of the holding of Shalit, Hamas has had the security blanket of insisting that they had little or no control over different militant factions. It has allowed them to absolve themselves of responsibility.
Now, in attempting to show that they can control things on the ground, they have negated that. When militants fire on Israel or engage in operations over the fence/border if they are not quickly and effectively handled that is a defacto act of war.
I would also be a lot more impressed if they had “rescued” Shalit and at least placed him in official POW status with appropriate medical treatment and a visit from the Red Cross.
If Hamas wants to be a true international player and the representative of the Palestinians, at least in Gaza, there is a right way to do it.
10 Carl // Jul 4, 2007 at 2:30 pm
I’m disappointed with Johnston’s sense of “perspective”. USMC Col. William R. Higgins, kidnapped in Beirut around the same time as Terry Waite, was tortured and brutally murdered by his captors.
11 Anonymous // Jul 4, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Lisoosh: Keep one thing in mind, Hamas is very specifically *not* about impressing Israel merely for the sake of impressing Israel. One of their key arguments is that trying to impress Israel has turned Fatah into grovelling Quislings. They’ll worry about Israelis’ feelings about Shalit the day that the Israelis have something concrete to offer instead of breadcrumbs or gilded cages. Until then, they are primarily about showing the locals they have sufficient control to provide personal security and looking reasonable enough to the outside world to whittle away as much as possible at the siege imposed on Gaza.
12 joe90 // Jul 4, 2007 at 6:36 pm
What about the 18,000 or so Palestinians that the Israeli government has kidnapped and has illegally imprisoned ?
Or how about the Israeli Warsaw ghetto of Gaza itself - a million or so imprisoned and subjected to all kinds of on-going collective punishment just becuase they aren’t the correct race or reliligion?
At least Alan is now free and could get out - what about the rest locked up illegally inside the Israeli racist dungeon of horrors?
13 Kebz // Jul 4, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Ahmad Masri,
Since when did criticising the PLO and the PA for corruption disqualify somebody from being independent? Bargouti is not a member of any party and has been a consistent advocate of peaceful protest and human rights. For these reasons he has been beaten, abducted and imprisoned by Israel at various times. He is a far more credible politician than any in Fatah or Hamas.
14 Charles Levinson // Jul 4, 2007 at 8:27 pm
I don’t lend much credence to claims that the whole kidnapping and release was staged. And it should be known that Hamas has made identical claims, alleging that the Army of Islam is in reality controlled by Dahlan who urged the group not to release Alan in order to make life more difficult for Hamas and to withhold from them this significant victory. I don’t lend much credence to that accusation either.
I think Kebz said all that needs to be said re Barghouti’s independence, but there is also the simple fact that he ran for parliament on the Independent List.
I think Alan’s perspective was just that — a real sense that others have had it a lot wose then he did, Col Higgins chief among them.
There’s one thing that I meant to blog in my post on Gaza yesterday that relates to Hamas’ bid to control Gaza. We heard reports/rumors that Hamas actually detained two Islamic Jihad militants caught firing rockets at Israel at some point in the past days. Both Jihad and Hamas have denied it.
15 wm. tyroler // Jul 4, 2007 at 8:28 pm
lisoosh makes an excellent point: Gaza is now Hamastan; Hamas is answerable for Gaza’s violent effluence. They’ve got the nerve and (more important) the werewithal to free Johnston. No reason they can’t stop rocket launches on Sderot and Ashkelon. Well, no reason behind their fevered, genocidal intent, but that’s something else.
16 Ahmed Masri // Jul 5, 2007 at 1:54 am
I find it hard to believe the naive almost child like outlook of Westerners who after having been exposed to a whole day of well orchestrated Hamas propaganda still choose to believe that Hamas had nothing to do with the kidnapping of Johnston. These are the same analysts who have lead us to believe that Hamas simply stumbled into a large operation to drive Fatah out of Gaza. That for instance the explosives that destroyed one of Fatah’s more important bases just “happened” to have been buried underneath the building. That the attack on the Eretz crossing by a Jeep disguised as a TV reporters vehicle was a “random coincidence”, … its clear that many Western correspondants while in awe of Hamas or sympathetic to Hamas, have no understanding of Hamas’ modus operandi, planning ability, and cunning.
The hostage taking and release of Johnston was an integral part of Hamas’ media planning. Hamas has to fight an asymmetrical as it has no access to advanced weaponry . It is therefore primarily waging a psychological war using sympathetic media outlets, principally Al Jazeera and the BBC.
http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark/2007/06/al-jazeera-chal.html
These are facts long ignored by many Westerners who report on the region, but have little understanding of it.
Its clearer by the day why Santa Claus is a Western phenomenon, Middle Eastern children are too wily and canny to believe in him.
Still its hard to be critical of Westerners when Fatah from top to bottom consistently underestimated Hamas.
17 lisoosh // Jul 5, 2007 at 2:09 am
Anon @3:51
I’m under absolutely no illusion that Hamas wants to “impress” Israel at all.
I do however think that they want to be taken seriously on the world stage. Unfortunately the habits of a lifetime are hard to break and that is doubly true for organizations. Their entire existance has been as opposition and as a terror group, they have never been in a position of formal responsibility for any constituents. A lot depends on how Israel and the rest of the world chooses to interpret their actions, however there is lots of room for Hamas to screw up royally and to the detriment of their “people” in Gaza.
I have absolutely no predictions for the future, I think making any is impossible. It is a very interesting drama to watch though.
18 Mark Elf // Jul 5, 2007 at 6:14 am
Aside from the specifics of the Alan Johnston case, on the anti-boycott site, Engage, one of the contributors, John Strawson, says this in a comment to an article by Joseph Massad on the recent power struggle in Gaza, “Since the elections Hamas has tried to play at being both government and opposition in Gaza; in June it opted for opposition.” You (Charles Levinson) seem to flatly contradict this in your comment above. Are you saying that prior to June 07, Hamas were elected but not ruling in Gaza and that therefore, again prior to June, Hamas were opposition and not government until they forced the issue last month?
Also, again aside from the Johnston case, where does this leave the West Bank in terms of governance and security?
19 Danidin // Jul 5, 2007 at 6:17 am
Ahmed Masri - I think your comment is spot on. The media went nuts about how great Hamas is for releasing Johnston – but neglected to mention that as in the case of Shalit this was most likely a joint Hamas – ‘Army of Islam’ operation. I’m no Fatah fan – indeed they way they have handled themselves over the years has been a disgrace- but one just needs to listen to the rhetoric coming from Hamas (and there is no doubt that we are witnessing the strengthening of the more ‘radical’ jihadi elements within Hamas at the moment) to understand that they are no friends of the west
20 Linda Grant // Jul 5, 2007 at 9:39 am
Charles, I heard a few weeks ago from two sources (one Palestinian, the other someone involved in the negotiations for Alan’s release) that they had the impression that Dahlan could have sprung Alan any time he liked, but chose not to for reasons of personal power games inside Gaza. This seems to be borne out by Alan’s statement when he came out. What do you think?
And what does the future hold for Dahlan, now that his villa is being ‘remodelled.’
21 Kebz // Jul 5, 2007 at 11:03 am
You Mr Masri appear to be an agent for Fatah, who want to discredit Hamas and accuse them of anything and everything. I think Westerners are a lot less gullible than you think and can see for themselves what happened without the aid of your overarching conspiracy theory of wicked Hamas masterminding it all for PR reasons. Obviously it has done them no harm PR wise, but it would have also hurt them PR wise if they had not done what was in their power to do, to get Alan released. Hamas are not as extreme as you make them out to be and have shown consistent pragmatism in maintaining a ceasefire against Israel and offering a long term Hudna. Even if they were involved in the detention of Shalit, that makes a no worse than Israel who has detained hundreds if not thousands of ordinary Palestinians in the name of ’security’. What about the Hamas operatives that have been arrested or killed by Dahlan’s US backed security thugs? Security is a two-way street and all parties are entitled to it. They have offered to talk peace but have been constantly rebuffed by Fathah and Israel. That is an unsustainable position. You forget they were elected and got more votes than Fatah in Gaza and the West Bank together. If you think the BBC are sympathetic to Hamas then you live in parallel universe to the real one.
22 Ahmed Masri // Jul 5, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Kebz, there is no point getting into a online slanging match with you, although from your comments its perfectly clear that you are a Hamas agent.
You state: “Hamas are not as extreme as you make them out to be and have shown consistent pragmatism in maintaining a ceasefire against Israel and offering a long term Hudna. ”
“Not Extreame?!” So what do you call tieing someone up and throwing them off the 15th floor of a building - within Hamas is that called playing a proctical joke or imposing “law and order”
“Even if they were involved in the detention of Shalit, ”
This coment beggers belief ! Hamas openly admits to holding Shalit. They took him in an operation using PRC(Army of Islam).
The Israelis are not fooled by Hamas, nor are the Egyptians, and Saudis. Its only the gullibe Westerners who watch the English version of Al Jazeera that belive that Hamas are anything more than a bunch of mafia like killers. Hamas are nothing more than Iranian agents. They have destroyed the Palestinan cause. They have murdered 100s of innocent Palestinians.
Hamas and Iran will have to be confronted and defeated before any Peace will come to the region. Anyone who believes otherwise is simply deluding himself.
23 Kebz // Jul 5, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Me a Hamas agent? lol. There are plenty of Fatah collaborators with zionists who are the mafia like killers. I do not deny that members of Hamas have committed crimes. FYI, I am not a supporter, merely an independent western observer. Fatah have killed as many and probably tortured more. What were the torture cells exposed by Hamas used for? Having a picnic? Your rhetoric and propagandizing for Fatah and Israel shows that you are as deluded as anybody and a traitor to the Palestinian people. Unlike you I am prepared to condemn ALL parties who use murder, torture and repression as a political tool. Peace will only come when Fatah stop selling their people, stop being corrupt out for a shilling and develop enough backbone to stand up to Israel instead of brown-nosing them.
24 Ahmad Masri // Jul 6, 2007 at 1:08 am
“corrupt out for a shilling and develop enough backbone to stand up to Israel instead of brown-nosing them.” For a Westerner you sound like a bit of a anti-semite. Your pro-Hamas views coincide with the propaganda that the BBC constantly churns out in favour of Hamas who are nothing more than a bunch of killer thugs set up by Iran to spread mayham amongst teh Palestinians.
Here is a typical example of teh shoddy propaganda that the BBC puts out in favour of Hamas. Hamas have been in on the kidnapping of Johnston from day one.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6274980.stm
25 Kebz // Jul 6, 2007 at 7:32 am
Complaining about Israels occupation or the persecution of Palestinians is not anti-semitic except in the book of rabid mad zionist trolls. That shows the extent of your genuine concern for Arabs. You are a zionist Troll who has had his arguments destroyed and now resort to insulting propaganda against anybody and everybody. If I am anti-semitic then so are B’Tsalem, HRW and Amnesty International. For your information Palestinians are semitic people too, so I can hardly be anti-semitic.
26 Ahmad Masri // Jul 6, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Beware of Kebz he is a British agent of Hamas, his aim is to destroy the Palestnian movement.
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