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Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades are a group of West Bank militias affiliated with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's al-Fatah faction and have been one of the driving forces behind the al-Aqsa Intifada, emerging shortly afterwards. It is named after the Al-Aqsa Mosque, probably in memory of Ariel Sharon's controversial visit to the Mountain at the beginning of the intifada, or simply because the Mosque is an icon for the Palestinian movement.

While the group initially vowed to target only Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in early 2002 it began a spree of terrorist attacks against civilians in Israeli cities. In March 2002, after a deadly al-Aqsa Brigades suicide bombing in Jerusalem, the State Department added the group to the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations.

The brigade was neither officially recognised nor openly backed by Arafat and Fatah, though brigade members tend also to be members of Fatah, the Palestinian leader's political faction, and Israel charges that neither Fatah nor the PA have made any attempt to prevent their attacks. Furthermore, Israel published documents found in Arafat's compund, claiming that they prove Arafat knowingly sponsored Al-Aqsa terrorist attacks; these documents led in part to US president George W Bush's decision to call for the replacement of Arafat. On December 18, 2003, Fatah decided to ask the leaders of the Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades to join the Fatah Council, recognizing it officialy as part of the organization.

Israel arrested Marwan Barghouti, the leader of the Brigades in April 2002, and in August charged him with numerous accounts of manslaughter, conspiracy to manslaughter and membership in a terrorist organization. In addition to his "shadow job" at the brigades, Barghouti had also served as the general secretary of Fatah in the West Bank.

Al-Asqa, like many Palestinian militia groups, is noted for the use of promotional posters in the main cities of Palestine. These are done in a style very similar to modern hip hop album covers (especially as made by the labels No Limit Records and Cash Money Records).

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades terrorize also Palestinians. They kill people who opposes Yasser Arafat's policy and shooting on houses of Palestinian politicians they don't agree with. Al-Aqsa activists were involved in many lynches and street-executions of suspected collaberators and opposers to Arafat. In November and December, 2003 they murdered the brother of Bassam Shaqawa (the mayor of Nablus) and tried to assasinate him serveral times.

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