The Assassination of Mazen Faqha and Palestinian Security Fortification

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

Years ago I wrote a booklet titled “The Concerns of Palestinian Security,” and distributed thousands of copies free of charge, allocating a large number of copies to sensitive locations and communities. No one ever came back to me about what I had written, I received no comment, and no one volunteered an opinion or an idea I might have overlooked or forgotten to mention. Someone once told me they saw a person throwing copies into a trash bin. I was not surprised by what this person told me, because there is a certain hostility between us and books, and between us and reading in general — even though the booklet discussed vital and dangerous security matters, and clarified many security issues that touch the security of every one of us.

The booklet is available online for anyone who wants to look at it. And my assessment, ever since I wrote it, has been that if it reached ten readers, that would already be a great achievement.

Martyr Mazen Faqha

is the latest victim of Israeli intelligence in the Gaza Strip, and will not be the last on the Palestinian, Lebanese, or Syrian scene. The reason is that pursuing those who harm Israeli security, or even think of harming it, keeps them on Israel’s list for revenge. Assassinating resistance fighters, or striking at them, constitutes an Israeli security principle branching from a larger principle: preserving the prestige of the Israeli army and the prestige of Israeli intelligence. For Israel, its intelligence apparatus must remain extremely strong, planting the impression among enemies that it knows everything and can reach any target it wishes across the Arab homeland, and perhaps in Islamic states as well. This apparatus has reached many Palestinian and Lebanese resistance fighters, and has reached into Iran, assassinating nuclear scientists. In return we have heard Arab and Iranian threats of revenge, but we have seen no actual response except from Hezbollah, and even its response did not match the scale of the Israeli crime.

Over the years, Israel has managed to strike at and assassinate many Arab, Palestinian, and Lebanese strugglers and fighters. It has killed faction leaders and released prisoners, and people who were not prominent in the media or in the field, whom people only learned of after their assassination. It is clear from its intelligence capabilities that it never rests and never sleeps, but constantly tracks, out of concern for its own security, and strikes at those it suspects of threatening it. Historically, Israel has focused on two important things in gathering information about Arabs and non-Arabs: modern technologies for monitoring, reconnaissance, and information-gathering, and the recruitment of spies and agents.

On the technical side, Israel keeps pace with the various technical developments used globally, and in most cases obtains these technologies before they even reach the market, either through states sympathetic to it or through its spies, who are spread across the globe, especially in scientific research centers and industrial facilities, and so on. It uses these technologies intensively in gathering information about the activities of the Arab resistance, and the activity of individuals belonging to resistance organizations. In many cases, it plants technical devices in the offices of state and organization leaders, in the offices of ministers and heads of institutions, and in intelligence and police departments and general staff bodies, and so on.

Israel has previously planted eavesdropping and reconnaissance devices in Arab states such as Lebanon and Jordan, and has planted devices in government buildings, as happened in Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza, and so on. It is always searching for serious intelligence means and advanced methods so that it does not remain blind, without information.

On the other hand, Israel focuses on recruiting agents from all segments of society to obtain precise details about people, institutions, and various activities. It has been very active in Arab countries and has managed to recruit many spies from among ordinary people and from officials in ministries and leaders of the army, police, and intelligence services. This is not to mention its agents and spies in various countries of the world, foremost among them the United States.

In our own country, Israel has managed to penetrate us with great force — it has penetrated the PLO and the Palestinian factions across their various spectrums, and has managed to foil many military plans before they could be carried out. It has penetrated us so deeply that our institutions and factions have become an open hand before its intelligence. Israel has only failed to grasp the individual operations carried out by individuals who are not organized.

Israel has exploited the weak points of Arab men to recruit agents and spies — namely, positions, women, and money. We Arab men are very weak before these worldly blessings, and it is easy for us to fall before them. Israel and those working with it usually prepare the appropriate media atmosphere for people they wish to see installed in their countries in order to take up sensitive positions, and they also tempt them with money and women. Everyone knows how Tzipi Livni obtained a religious permit for adultery in order to win over Arab and Palestinian officials and recruit them into Israel’s service.

We also suffer from social ailments that weaken us before Israeli security, such as boasting, showing off, love of appearing prominent, love of watching people, indulging in gossip and rumor, and passing on news, and so on. There are many social ailments through which Israel manages to obtain a great deal of information.

In short, we need security fortification. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have tried to develop their security capabilities, working to track down spies and agents, and improving their performance in monitoring, tracking, and reconnaissance, and there is no doubt they have achieved important things and made good progress in reducing the numbers of spies and agents.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “اغتيال مازن فقهاء والتحصين الأمني الفلسطيني” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.