Gazans going to Syria for jihad

Palestine Press Agency reports that Salafi jihadists from Gaza are doing everything they can to sneak out and fight in Syria - and Hamas is trying to stop them.

A 37-year old dentist and father of four told his family he was going to a conference in Turkey. In September, the family found out that he had blown himself up in a suicide bombing in Syria - by watching his "martyrdom" farewell video.

Muhannad Nizar Habash, 27, also left his pregnant wife, and two year old daughter to fight in Syria. He was killed in an armed clash. His video told his family to rejoice because this is what he wanted.

Some 27 Gazans are known to have gone to Syria to fight this year. Seven have been killed, three of them in suicide attacks.

The family of Mohammed Za'anin (22 years old) from Beit Hanoun who was killed in a suicide attack in Syria in September last that the internal security prevented him from traveling three times, and he traveled the last time on 13 June last in order to perform Umrah.

Hamas is trying to stop the jihadists from leaving Gaza, putting severe restrictions on Salafis. The family of Mohammed Za'anin, 22, from Beit Hanoun who was killed in a suicide attack in Latakia in September said that the Hamas internal security prevented him from traveling three times, but he managed to leave on June 13th by pretending he was going on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Za'anin had refused to attend his sister's wedding because he felt that the music was forbidden. In his farewell video on YouTube he said "people live life as a path to death, I choose death to a way to life."

The Salafis are attracting members from the more "moderate" Islamists in Hamas and Islamic Jihad. One jihadist said that his colleagues went to Syria because Hamaa was preventing him from shooting rockets at Israel. His logic was that he would help build an Islamic caliphate in Syria which could then "liberate Palestine."

Hamas is trying to establish dialogue with members of the Salafi Jihad in Gaza in order to moderate them! A Hamas official said "The problem that we face that these simple people think that these extremist ideas are the true religion."

How exactly this differs from Hamas and all the other Muslim Brotherhood offshoots is beyond me. But we can be certain that before too long, the media will be referring to Hamas as "moderate."