Controversy surrounds Ahmed Tabouk, the leader of a popular militia, the Fatah Hawks. The group effectively ruled the streets of the West Banks' largest and toughest city during and after the Intifada, a 1987 Palestinian uprising against Israeli forces. We were there to protect the Palestinian people. The Hawks want to be part of the new Palestinian rule here but fear that they could be left out.
Critics say that the self-declared enforcer was judge, jury, and executioner.
But Ahmed Tabouk's supporters see him as a champion, a Robin Hood figure who cares for the purity of the Palestinian revolution and the needs of the city's less fortunate. Now the Hawks seek respectability. After the Israelis pull out, the Hawks worry whether there will be a place for them in the ranks of Arafat's forces. But soon after posing with his new bride, he was back in his usual guerrilla garb to join his commander in appealing to Yasser Arafat for a new sort of job. The challenge for Arafat is how to retain the absolute loyalty of the young men who fought the battles of the Intifada.