“[The death of Yasser Abu Shabab] marks the tip of a darkish chapter – one which didn’t mirror our tribe’s historical past and ideas …The Tarabin tribe stands with the Palestinian resistance in all its factions … it refuses to let our tribe’s title or members be exploited to type militias that work for the advantage of the occupation.”
That is what Gaza’s Tarabin tribe stated in a press release following the killing of its member Yasser Abu Shabab on December 4. There have been conflicting stories about how he died and who killed him. Some have stated it was Hamas fighters who shot him, others that members of his personal tribe did. Reportedly, he was taken to an Israeli hospital, the place he died of his wounds.
Israel framed the killing as a “tribal dispute” relatively than retribution for his collaboration; this was additionally the place of the Widespread Forces militia, which Abu Shabab commanded. This narrative, after all, ignores the truth that his personal tribe noticed him as a collaborator and welcomed his demise.
All through the conflict, Abu Shabab’s title was synonymous with collaboration with Israel. He was a key accomplice in Gaza in securing secure passage for Israeli troops, looking for Israeli captives, killing Palestinian resistance members, and, most infamously, looting support vans. Earlier than he was killed, Abu Shabab was reportedly being thought of for the place of governor of Rafah to be appointed by Israel.
His demise offers an enormous blow to Israel’s efforts to determine a brand new Palestinian administration in Gaza that responds to its needs and oppresses the Palestinians. It’s one more proof that the Palestinian folks won’t ever settle for colonial rule.
For many years, Israel has used collaborators to undermine Palestinian unity and governance. Within the early Nineteen Eighties, it spearheaded the creation of so-called “village leagues” within the occupied West Financial institution. These represented establishments of native rule headed by people funded and guarded by Israel in trade for his or her loyalty. The goal was to decrease the affect of the Palestine Liberation Group and unfold disunity. Nonetheless, the leagues have been rejected by the Palestinians as illegitimate, and the entire initiative collapsed inside just a few years.
Now Israel is attempting to duplicate the identical mannequin in Gaza. Funding and arming Abu Shabab was imagined to create a centre of coercive energy in Gaza, which might have been absolutely loyal to Israel. It could have allowed the Israeli occupation to return after the resistance, exterminating its fighters, with out having to get its troopers concerned any extra or bearing the diplomatic price of doing so.
Even when Abu Shabab had not succeeded in establishing management over Rafah or the entire of Gaza, sowing inner battle would have been useful sufficient for Israel. It could have undermined inner safety in Gaza, damaging the cohesion of the Palestinian society and inspiring folks to go away.
However identical to up to now, Israel’s plan was doomed to fail.
Though Abu Shabab had vital monetary and navy help from the occupation, he couldn’t persuade his tribe to comply with him or the folks of Rafah to hitch him. He was solely capable of recruit takfiri extremists, criminals and previously imprisoned collaborators.
The overwhelming majority of Palestinians noticed him as a collaborator. Abu Shabab couldn’t recruit even amongst those that oppose or dislike the resistance factions as a result of they too wouldn’t promote out their ideas and work for the genocidal energy killing Palestinians daily.
Whereas Abu Shabab offered Israel with safety and technical companies on the bottom, his energy was constructed fully on crimes and theft, which made him only a hated traitor, not a pacesetter. Regardless of bragging in movies about gifting away stolen support to the poor or constructing tent camps with looted tents, he was unable to rally folks behind himself.
The Israeli plan to make Abu Shabab right into a governor failed as a result of it did not take note of that one can’t construct reputable governance on crimes.
As a lot as Israel tried to guard him, his demise was inevitable. His tribe and others in Rafah couldn’t settle for his collaboration with the occupation, which damage their honour and longstanding ethical floor.
When information of Abu Shabab’s demise unfold, folks in Gaza celebrated, going out into the streets and distributing sweets. Palestinians who had totally different views about Hamas’s actions have been united of their pleasure. Israel’s try and put its hand on Gaza’s future was severed.
Abu Shabab’s demise, ultimately, despatched a robust message: that any collaborator is a goal and no collaborator can obtain legitimacy. After greater than two years of genocide, the Palestinian folks’s spirit has not damaged; they haven’t given up on their land and on their simply trigger.
The views expressed on this article are the creator’s personal and don’t essentially mirror Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
