Muhammad Abu Tir
Encyclopedia
Muhammad Hassan Abu Tir is a member of Hamas
and a representative on the Palestinian Legislative Council
(PLC) for his East Jerusalem
constituency. He was elected to the position in the Palestinian legislative elections
that were held on January 25, 2006. Abu Tir is known for his bright orange henna
-dyed beard which separates him from most other politicians and members of his community. He tended to keep a low media profile before he was placed in Israeli prison for four years: On June 29, 2006, Abu Tir was arrested by Israeli military authorities in the 2006 Israel-Gaza conflict
. He was held until June 2010, after which Israel ordered him to leave the country because he refused to resign from the Hamas legislature.
, a present neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Abu Tir joined Fatah
some time in the early 1970s. Around this time, he was convicted of terror-related activities in Israel
and subsequently joined the Muslim Brotherhood
. He spent nearly 25 years in Israeli prisons, on and off, for directing terror activities against Israel, including the attempted poisoning in the early 1990s of Israel's water supplies and for directing the activities of Hamas's military arm, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades
. In 2005, prior to the elections, he was released after serving a term of nearly seven years in prisons. After his release, he was recruited by Hamas to head its national list following its Gaza leader, Ismail Haniyeh. He was most recently arrested and later detained for campaigning near Jerusalem's Damascus Gate
after violating a ban that forbade the practice. He was interrogated and later released. The incident transformed Tir into a minor celebrity among the public in his constituency. This incident, in the end, contributed positively to his overall campaign.
Abu Tir recently told the Globe and Mail that his primary objective would be to "...take Sharia
[Islamic law] as a source for legislation" but at the same time told Newsweek International he "...will [would] not [directly] impose Sharia". He also told the Globe and Mail that he plans to reform the Palestinian public education system by introducing a more Islamic curriculum, and also plans on separating male and female students. However Tir did clarify that alcohol would not be banned and it would not be mandatory for women to wear the hijab
, or head-cover.
Abu Tir also told the paper that as long as Israel continues its occupation of Palestinian land Hamas would continue its armed struggle against them. In an enigmatic statement in an interview prior to his getting elected, he stated that he would "negotiate [with Israel] better than the others [previous administrations], who negotiated for 10 years and achieved nothing." He explained that "We [Hamas] are not against the Jews. We are against occupation and oppression". On the other hand, he has said that Jews control Christianity: "Even the churches where the Americans pray are led by Jews who were converted to Christianity, but they were converted to keep controlling the Americans."
He noted further that Hamas had removed significant sections of their constitution which called for Israel's destruction, though the basic idea remains the same: Israel cannot be allowed to remain as a Jewish state in the Middle East. "In the past," he said, "it was said that we don't understand politics, only force, but we are a broad, well-grounded movement that is active in all areas of life. Now we are proving that we also understand politics better than the others." Abu Tir's final thought on Israeli negotiation was to leave it to the new parliament "as with every matter, to be discussed and decided upon in a rational manner". After Hamas's landslide victory in January 2006 many countries decided to back Israel's decision to cut foreign aid to The Palestinian Authority. After being asked what Hamas planned to do in light of this Abu Tir stated that Hamas "would not go to foreign donors on [a] bended knee". In a February 6, 2006 open letter to Newsweek International Tir stated that "The European Union and America should cooperate with us. We have ways of creating understanding among our people. We are facilitators, helpers, aides. The presence of Hamas is a guarantee of safety and stability in the region. Any money that is given to us will be channelled to the correct path." As he tried to address Western fears that donations would go to buy arms Tir told the West to "...[not] be afraid...we can always find arms on the black market. It is obvious that we have built our military infrastructure in that way. Our weapons are the only guarantee of our existence. If a proper Palestinian state were established, then all the militias would melt inside the Palestinian Army. Summing up his letter Tir attempted to ease western anxiety about Hamas by stating that "The West has nothing to fear from Hamas. We're not going to force people to do anything. We will not impose Sharia. Hamas is contained. Hamas deals only with the Israeli occupation. We are not Al Qaeda."
was captured by Hamas, which touched off the 2006 Israel–Gaza conflict. A few days after the incident, on June 29, Israel arrested 64 Hamas officials in the West Bank, including Palestinian Authority cabinet ministers and members of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Abu Tir was among them and was held in jail for four years.
Abu Tir was freed on May 20, 2010. He was subsequently stripped of his Israeli citizenship, and told by the Israeli Shin Bet intelligence service that he was banned from Jerusalem.
, a natural dyestuff, which needs to be applied periodically in order to maintain its lustrous colour. In an interview with the Israeli Channel 10 television Abu Tir stated that he had decided to dye his beard with henna because the prophet Muhammad
had done so and also because it was a remedy for headaches and dandruff. Islam bans the use of black hair dyes; however, there is no mention of a ban on the use of other colours. Residents in his native village of Umm Tuba say that his signature beard does help him stand out when he is out campaigning at public events and functions.
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
and a representative on the Palestinian Legislative Council
Palestinian Legislative Council
The Palestinian Legislative Council, the legislature of the Palestinian Authority, is a unicameral body with 132 members, elected from 16 electoral districts in the West Bank and Gaza...
(PLC) for his East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War...
constituency. He was elected to the position in the Palestinian legislative elections
Palestinian legislative election, 2006
On January 25, 2006, elections were held for the Palestinian Legislative Council , the legislature of the Palestinian National Authority . Notwithstanding the 2005 municipal elections and the January 9, 2005 presidential election, this was the first election to the PLC since 1996; subsequent...
that were held on January 25, 2006. Abu Tir is known for his bright orange henna
Henna
Henna is a flowering plant used since antiquity to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather and wool. The name is also used for dye preparations derived from the plant, and for the art of temporary tattooing based on those dyes...
-dyed beard which separates him from most other politicians and members of his community. He tended to keep a low media profile before he was placed in Israeli prison for four years: On June 29, 2006, Abu Tir was arrested by Israeli military authorities in the 2006 Israel-Gaza conflict
2006 Israel-Gaza conflict
The 2006 Israel–Gaza conflict refers to the series of battles between Palestinian militants and the Israel Defense Forces . Large-scale conventional warfare beyond the peripheries of the Gaza Strip began when Israel launched Operation Summer Rains , the codename for an IDF military operation in the...
. He was held until June 2010, after which Israel ordered him to leave the country because he refused to resign from the Hamas legislature.
Early life
Abu Tir was born in Umm TubaUmm Tuba
Umm Tuba is an Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem near Sur Baher, northeast of Bethlehem, with a population of 4,000. After the 1967 Six-Day War, Umm Tuba was incorporated into the municipal district of Jerusalem...
, a present neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Abu Tir joined Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
some time in the early 1970s. Around this time, he was convicted of terror-related activities in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and subsequently joined the Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
. He spent nearly 25 years in Israeli prisons, on and off, for directing terror activities against Israel, including the attempted poisoning in the early 1990s of Israel's water supplies and for directing the activities of Hamas's military arm, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades
Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades
The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades is the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist fundamentalist socio-political organisation Hamas. Created in 1992, under the direction of Yahya Ayyash, the primary objective of the group was to build a coherent military organisation to support the goals of...
. In 2005, prior to the elections, he was released after serving a term of nearly seven years in prisons. After his release, he was recruited by Hamas to head its national list following its Gaza leader, Ismail Haniyeh. He was most recently arrested and later detained for campaigning near Jerusalem's Damascus Gate
Damascus Gate
Damascus Gate is the main entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located in the wall on the city's northwest side where the highway leads out to Nablus, and from there, in times past, to the capital of Syria, Damascus; as such, its modern English name is Damascus Gate, and its modern Hebrew...
after violating a ban that forbade the practice. He was interrogated and later released. The incident transformed Tir into a minor celebrity among the public in his constituency. This incident, in the end, contributed positively to his overall campaign.
Political stance
As for his stance politically, he told Newsweek in 2006: "Stop your support for Israel...[s]top calling us terrorists. This policy creates a feeling of oppression. The feeling of oppression can lead to disaster."Abu Tir recently told the Globe and Mail that his primary objective would be to "...take Sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
[Islamic law] as a source for legislation" but at the same time told Newsweek International he "...will [would] not [directly] impose Sharia". He also told the Globe and Mail that he plans to reform the Palestinian public education system by introducing a more Islamic curriculum, and also plans on separating male and female students. However Tir did clarify that alcohol would not be banned and it would not be mandatory for women to wear the hijab
Hijab
The word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....
, or head-cover.
Abu Tir also told the paper that as long as Israel continues its occupation of Palestinian land Hamas would continue its armed struggle against them. In an enigmatic statement in an interview prior to his getting elected, he stated that he would "negotiate [with Israel] better than the others [previous administrations], who negotiated for 10 years and achieved nothing." He explained that "We [Hamas] are not against the Jews. We are against occupation and oppression". On the other hand, he has said that Jews control Christianity: "Even the churches where the Americans pray are led by Jews who were converted to Christianity, but they were converted to keep controlling the Americans."
He noted further that Hamas had removed significant sections of their constitution which called for Israel's destruction, though the basic idea remains the same: Israel cannot be allowed to remain as a Jewish state in the Middle East. "In the past," he said, "it was said that we don't understand politics, only force, but we are a broad, well-grounded movement that is active in all areas of life. Now we are proving that we also understand politics better than the others." Abu Tir's final thought on Israeli negotiation was to leave it to the new parliament "as with every matter, to be discussed and decided upon in a rational manner". After Hamas's landslide victory in January 2006 many countries decided to back Israel's decision to cut foreign aid to The Palestinian Authority. After being asked what Hamas planned to do in light of this Abu Tir stated that Hamas "would not go to foreign donors on [a] bended knee". In a February 6, 2006 open letter to Newsweek International Tir stated that "The European Union and America should cooperate with us. We have ways of creating understanding among our people. We are facilitators, helpers, aides. The presence of Hamas is a guarantee of safety and stability in the region. Any money that is given to us will be channelled to the correct path." As he tried to address Western fears that donations would go to buy arms Tir told the West to "...[not] be afraid...we can always find arms on the black market. It is obvious that we have built our military infrastructure in that way. Our weapons are the only guarantee of our existence. If a proper Palestinian state were established, then all the militias would melt inside the Palestinian Army. Summing up his letter Tir attempted to ease western anxiety about Hamas by stating that "The West has nothing to fear from Hamas. We're not going to force people to do anything. We will not impose Sharia. Hamas is contained. Hamas deals only with the Israeli occupation. We are not Al Qaeda."
2006 Arrest
On June 25, 2006, Israeli soldier Gilad ShalitGilad Shalit
Gilad Shalit is an Israeli – French citizen and Israel Defense Forces soldier. On 25 June 2006, he was captured inside Israel by Hamas militants in a cross-border raid via underground tunnels near the border with Gaza. The Hamas militants held him for over five years, until he was released on...
was captured by Hamas, which touched off the 2006 Israel–Gaza conflict. A few days after the incident, on June 29, Israel arrested 64 Hamas officials in the West Bank, including Palestinian Authority cabinet ministers and members of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Abu Tir was among them and was held in jail for four years.
Abu Tir was freed on May 20, 2010. He was subsequently stripped of his Israeli citizenship, and told by the Israeli Shin Bet intelligence service that he was banned from Jerusalem.
Orange beard
One of Abu Tir's most noticeable physical attributes and trademarks is his bright orange beard. The orange is actually dyed substance called hennaHenna
Henna is a flowering plant used since antiquity to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather and wool. The name is also used for dye preparations derived from the plant, and for the art of temporary tattooing based on those dyes...
, a natural dyestuff, which needs to be applied periodically in order to maintain its lustrous colour. In an interview with the Israeli Channel 10 television Abu Tir stated that he had decided to dye his beard with henna because the prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
had done so and also because it was a remedy for headaches and dandruff. Islam bans the use of black hair dyes; however, there is no mention of a ban on the use of other colours. Residents in his native village of Umm Tuba say that his signature beard does help him stand out when he is out campaigning at public events and functions.