Word: islamist
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...security forces in Rafah swiftly, and brutally, destroyed an al-Qaeda-inspired group that had proclaimed the southern Gaza town an "Islamic emirate." After all, Hamas is listed by the U.S. and the European Union as a terrorist organization, and many in the West don't expect an avowedly Islamist political organization to forcefully suppress jihadist groups...
Still, there was little surprise about the Rafah confrontation for longtime observers of Palestinian politics. Hamas, in fact, has always been at odds with al-Qaeda. Despite its Islamist ideology, Hamas is first and foremost a nationalist movement, taking its cue from Palestinian public opinion and framing its goals and strategies on the basis of national objectives, rather than the "global" jihadist ideology of al-Qaeda. For example, Hamas has periodically debated the question of whether to attack American targets in its midst, and each time has reiterated the insistence of the movement's founders that it confine its resistance...
...conference has allowed him to regain control over Fatah and oust a few rebellious party rivals who were a liability and an embarrassment. But it is doubtful, say party delegates, that the new members of the influential Central Committee will assist Abbas in patching up with Hamas, the Islamist rival movement that beat Fatah in the elections of January 2006 and forcibly ejected Fatah militias from Gaza the following year. Arab and Western leaders have emphasized reconciliation between the rival Palestinian power centers as a key condition for moving forward with the peace process. (See pictures of Israel's assault...
...unlikely that al-Qaeda will install one of its own members in the leadership slot. "All Taliban groups have links with al-Qaeda," says Amir Rana, an expert on Islamist militancy. "But at the same time, they want to keep their identity independent. They don't mix in the structure of the Taliban. They want to avoid any confrontation with them. They want to stay there, use their facilities for training while providing ideological leadership." The Pashtun-dominated Taliban are also unlikely to accept an Arab jihadist as their leader...
...site as well as residents of both Sunni and Shi'ite neighborhoods. Despite the mayhem, Baghdad's citizens aren't so sure that al-Qaeda has the strength to bring the country to near civil chaos, as it did in 2006-07. Iraqis are beginning to believe that the Islamist radicals of al-Qaeda are too weak to coordinate the massive attacks of the past, and certainly not in Baghdad. But others appear to be picking up the slack. The Sunni Ahdamiya neighborhood used to see Shi'ite reprisal attacks for al-Qaeda killings. Nowadays, violence is constant though relatively...