“Global March to Jerusalem” Meets With Militant Islamic Group in Lebanon

GMJ Meeting at Ain Al-Hilwa

The Lebanon Committee of the Global March to Jerusalem held a meeting last week at Ain Al-Hilwa Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon with representatives of various Palestinian factions, including members of militant group Anssarullah, according to the Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon website.

Anssarullah, reportedly a “religious radical group” with a few hundred fighters in its membership, has been described by some observers as a Palestinian faction loyal to Hezbollah inside Ain Al-Hilwa. Its first reported attack took place in 2003 when two of its members, Hassan Suleiman and Ayman Zaidan, were reportedly killed in a suicide raid on an American convoy in Iraq.

The Global March to Jerusalem campaign seeks to coordinate efforts by international activists to cross Israel’s borders on March 30, 2012, and enter Jerusalem to “demand [its] freedom.” The campaign’s North American chapter, which is accepting tax-exempt donations through the California-based Free Palestine Movement, stated on its website that their “legal advisers in US have determined that it is better for them to operate separately from the main coalition.”

The Ain Al-Hilwa meeting was also attended by leaders representing the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Islamic Brigades and the Palestinian Alliance. During the meeting, Isam Halabi, Secretary General of the Gathering of Palestinian Martyrs, said “it is important to hold activities in support of our people inside the homeland who are facing an extermination war.”