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Last update - 08:48 15/10/2008 'The war is over,' jailed Fatah activists tell Haaretz journalists By Avi Issacharoff Tags: Palestinians, Fatah, prison  JUNAID PRISON, NABLUS - "For five years, I was a wanted man, but we had enough," says Sufian Qandil of the Tigers, an organization associated with Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. It's noon, and Qandil woke up only a few minutes ago in the prison cell where according to an agreement with Israel he must now spend his nights. "We keep our agreements, even those signed with the Jews," he says, placing his hand on his pillow with a Mickey Mouse pillowcase. The Al-Aqsa brigades were dissolved. Some members joined the security forces of the Palestinian Authority after receiving amnesty from Israel, while others are being held in PA prisons. A rare look inside Junaid Prison reveals a new era in relations between Israel and Fatah activists. They were involved in dozens of terror attacks, but now they say the era of war is over. They want normal lives. There is another expression of the winds of change blowing through Israel-PA relations: The PA arrests men wanted by Israel on request. Take Mahdi Abu Ghazale, 35, once considered the commander of the Night Riders, a rival to the Tigers. Like Qandil, Abu Ghazale received partial amnesty from Israel, with the same conditions. About a year ago, he met with a group from Haaretz in a safe house in the casbah of Nablus. He described his daily routine, and mentioned that he was still single. A few days ago he became engaged to a local woman. His fiancee's family made full amnesty from Israel a precondition for the marriage. Abu Ghazale, who fought against Israel for years, now finds himself having to prove his renunciation of terror in order to get married. "I'm being tested not only vis-a-vis Israel but also vis-a-vis my future wife," he explains. Advertisement The guard at the gate is unaccustomed to visitors to the prison, especially Israeli ones, and lets us in only after consulting with a superior. The prison was once used by Israeli security forces, and Ghassan, our escort, recalls being detained here by the Shin Bet security service. In addition to the Fatah detainees, divided into full-time wards and those who return to sleep here each night, are 54 Hamas members awaiting trial. The conditions they are held in are much worse. Abu Nidal, a PA military intelligence official who is in charge of the cellblocks, says that just a few days ago the partial-amnesty recipients signed their agreement with Israel renouncing arms and all anti-Israel activities. For three months they will be prohibited from leaving Nablus and from contact with other wanted men. "Their current status is 'not on the wanted list,'" Abu Nidal says. The partially amnestied spend their nights mainly watching television. Abu Ghazale says they've already handed in their weapons and are no longer involved in terrorism. "There are no games, the situation has changed. We're no longer waiting only for amnesty, but rather for a comprehensive Israeli withdrawal. This group has met all the conditions placed on it. At night [we] are in prison and during the day all we do is see our families." Night rider Omar Aqub has one leg in a cast, due to a motorcycle accident and not from his days of fighting the Israel Defense Forces. "The military activities are over, enough of that. We want a normal life, not trouble," Aqub says. He also expresses a desire to join one of the PA's security forces. "Either that or I'll go back to being an automotive mechanic," he says. Qandil, the ex-Tiger, was nearly killed by the IDF last year. On October 10, 2007 an IDF force operating in the Nablus casbah fired at him and fellow Tiger Omar al-Inbusi. Inbusi was killed, Qandil was badly wounded in the leg and abdomen but nevertheless managed to escape. He has been incarcerated at Junaid for nearly 10 months, as a result of Israeli pressure on the PA. He escaped twice, but returned of his own free will. The great escape One of the escapes was in January, and it lasted a few hours. "I said I was going to the canteen and simply kept walking," Qandil says. "About three hours later I returned because the Israelis started operating in the city and I was afraid they'd hurt me." Three months later, the whole group escaped, after a tussle with the guards. "We broke the exit door, which wasn't particularly reinforced," Abu Ghazale related. "You have to understand, our conditions were very tough then. We couldn't leave our cells even to go into the corridor and there was no progress in our talks with Israel regarding our situation. So we took advantage of the fact that the guards were putting down another confrontation in the next wing and approached the gate. Punches were thrown, the guards there fired into the air. We returned after receiving assurances that our conditions would be improved," Abu Ghazale said. The Tigers and Night Riders sit in a cell and smile as they reminisce about the joint escape. In the past the two groups fought for control of the casbah, but now they're all good friends. "Once there were battles between our groups," Qandil recalls. During the first intifada, if the member of one group entered the other group's territory, even by mistake, his fate would be like that of an IDF soldier. Abu Nidal says that various measures have since been taken to prevent future escapes. The door the prisoners broke is now bricked in, an additional fence was installed and the number of perimeter patrols has been doubled. In Cellblock Four, the last of the Al-Aqsa brigades' men wanted by Israel, 13 in all, are being held in full-time detention. Ghanan Subuh, who has been imprisoned since April, says he received amnesty from Israel in November 2007 but four months later IDF soldiers went to his house to arrest him. He found refuge at Junaid. "During the day we can go into the prison yard, but at 8 P.M. the wing is locked up for the night. Family visits are permitted once a week," Subuh explains. Mohammed Mansour, Mohammed Milhim and Saeb Mahmoud, all in their early twenties, have been cellmates for nine months. "It's a prison for all intents and purposes," one says. "Relations with the guards are good but at the end of the day it's still prison. There's television, bathrooms, even two cell phones in every cellblock." Qa'id al-Misri, 15, the youngest of the 13, makes coffee. He was also arrested on Israel's request. He has been here for 40 days, apparently on suspicion of aiding wanted activists. Most of the men say Palestinian prison is preferable to Israeli prison. "Maybe the conditions in Israeli prisons are better, but here I'm with people from my own city," Subuh says. "The relations with the guards and the wardens is better." The 13 wanted men expect to receive partial, if not full, amnesty from Israel. Abulafia ambitions A few isolated members of the Al-Aqsa brigades continue their anti-Israel activities. Qandil, whose name was once known to every Shin Bet coordinator and every officer in the IDF special forces, says he is already dreaming of the moment he'll receive amnesty from the Shin Bet. "As soon as I can, I want to travel to Israel. I'll visit Jaffa. I have a lot of cousins on my mother's side who live there. They live really close to the Abulafia Bakery," Qandil says, referring to the legendary Arab bakery on Yefet Street that every Israeli from the center of the country, and most from beyond, knows for its fresh specialty pitas. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Plumber for president Forget Obama and McCain in the presidential election, vote for Joe the plumber. High tech spies New book explores: Is Israel's booming high-tech industry a branch of the Mossad?   1.   RIDERS, TIGERS, BEARS......THE WAR IS OVER.....Really? 04:58  |  dp 15/10/08   2.   Paradise on Earth! Dino, where are you? 05:46  |  MR 15/10/08   3.   The Arabs should also make concessions! 06:53  |  Jean Van Daem 15/10/08   4.   Harang away, Hamas! 07:01  |  Jim 15/10/08   5.   Israeli sport - hunting or is it fishing? 08:33  |  Maureen Ann 15/10/08   6.   I think you mean "Palestinians", Jean van Daem # 3 09:21  |  Clickfool 15/10/08   7.   Chinese Sports Section 09:24  |  Jasper 15/10/08   8.   Stupidest War On Earth Should Be Over 09:35  |  Yosemite 15/10/08   9.   hopeful news 09:41  |  Eva 15/10/08   10.   Palestinian sport - killing Jews and Aussies and anybody else 09:58  |  Joe Sittizen 15/10/08   11.   israel has always bought collaborators... 10:05  |  raymond deane 15/10/08   12.   # 2 MR, I don`t know what you mean with "paradise on earth"..... 10:07  |  Swiss (Dino) 15/10/08   13.   "The war is over..." 10:27  |  Esther 15/10/08   14.   let`s hear this from hamas - then we can really do business 10:32  |  michelle 15/10/08   15.   #6:Would those "palestinians" be the Jews of the British Mandate? 10:41  |  Yaakov K. 15/10/08   16.   #13: Actually, it`s called deception ("taqqiyeh" in Arabic) 10:44  |  Yaakov K. 15/10/08   17.   facts 11:26  |  Rab Burns 15/10/08   18.   mercenary 11:52  |  Native 15/10/08   19.   Clickfool - the Arab Israeli crisis has never gone away 12:13  |  Avi 15/10/08   20.   Arab world to change all textbooks accordingly 12:15  |  Avi 15/10/08   21.   #5 on "interesting but sad" 12:16  |  Joe Moer 15/10/08   22.   Read between the lines 12:24  |  Michael 15/10/08   23.   Howzabout an Ha`Aretz reporter visiting Gilad Shalit? 12:54  |  Ari ben Yisrael 15/10/08   24.   Maureen Ann - About those "fishing boats" 12:55  |  Ibn Musa 15/10/08   25.   Oh no... not Clickfool again... 13:56  |  Edit 15/10/08   26.   THE COLLOR OF MONEY 14:02  |  indrajaya 15/10/08   27.   Prisons are all the same, its the loss of liberty. 14:05  |  Stephen. 15/10/08   28.   End of war 14:22  |  Comedian 15/10/08   29.   War on the Mind 14:55  |  khairi janbek 15/10/08   30.   Haaretz and the tunnel in Hebron 14:58  |  Gilad 15/10/08   31.   Great, now Israel must also give something 15:22  |  Reuben 15/10/08   32.   Isreal mistake; Underestimate Palestian`s intelligence 15:28  |  Simon 15/10/08   33.   indrajaya about the color of money (in capitals!) 15:33  |  S 15/10/08   34.   #26 "THE COLLOR OF MONEY" 16:30  |  Stefan 15/10/08   35.   # 32, S 16:34  |  indrajaya 15/10/08   36.   Swiss (Dino) Most probably does not provide security 16:59  |  David Israel 15/10/08   37.   #32 simon and not just israel beware of where you live 17:59  |  victor hardman 15/10/08   38.   #31 reuben reallay believes writing to talkback is effective 18:02  |  victor hardman 15/10/08   39.   # 36 David Israel 18:16  |  Swiss (Dino) 15/10/08   40.   Be wary of a reformed criminal 18:42  |  Gregor 15/10/08   41.   A marriage today does last for how long? 19:21  |  Jew- and Bookburner 15/10/08   42.   Indrajaya#35, thanks for the smile you gave me! 20:02  |  S 15/10/08   43.   Raymond Deane 21:33  |  Miransky 15/10/08   44.   To Clickfool # 6 - Palestinians or Arabs they are the same 22:05  |  Dagma 15/10/08   45.   Swiss (Dino) #39 second try 22:17  |  David Israel 15/10/08   46.   # 45 David Israel 22:52  |  Swiss (Dino) 15/10/08   47.   #11 Raymond Deane 23:50  |  Moshe 15/10/08   48.   Swiss (dino) # 46 - you make my point 23:55  |  David Israel 15/10/08   49.   Right A New Leaf 08:33  |  Baruch Gold 16/10/08   50.   Northern Ireland 08:54  |  Joseph 16/10/08   51.   # 26 to indrajaya re: the sunnis in iraq 10:56  |  eric 16/10/08   52.   [Second time] Their War may be over....... 12:24  |  Dagma 16/10/08   53.   Clickfool re: Arabs - Qa`id al-Misri 02:09  |  Free Gilad Shalit 17/10/08   54.   Joseph - Northern Ireland 02:14  |  Free Gilad Shalit 17/10/08   55.   # 1 to dp re: growing up (2nd try) 06:31  |  eric 17/10/08   56.   # 13 to esther re: war`s end ? (2nd try) 06:33  |  eric 17/10/08

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