Police chief promises change in Nablus

By Katya Adler
BBC News, Nablus, West Bank

Nablus police are squeezed between the Israelis and the gunmen

It is late morning in Nablus. The market is busy as usual. All around are wooden carts piled high with strawberries, tomatoes and fresh green almonds.

Youngsters scamper about carrying copper trays laden with cups of sweet, steaming Arabic coffee. Then suddenly... gunfire and panic.

Like everyone else, my cameraman and I run for cover. Inside a bakery along with a nervous crowd of shoppers, we watch as policemen fire seemingly at random around the square, as bullets rain down on them from the surrounding buildings.

Luckily no-one was seriously hurt. It was the latest spat between local gunmen and the Nablus police.

I can't be like the chief of police in London, Berlin or New York, you know. They have everything. We have nothing Yousef Uzreel Nablus police chief

The West Bank town of Nablus has often been likened to the Wild West. It has been run for years by armed factions and gangs.

But there's a new police chief in town now who wants to change all that.

Uprising legacy

At the police headquarters, dozens of policemen lounged about the yard, smoking, chatting, idly toying with their weapons.

Traditionally policemen here have not been too active. Stymied, they say, by Israeli security restrictions and the corrosive power of local armed gangs. The two factors are linked.

As the second Palestinian uprising got into full swing five years ago, Israel cracked down on policemen in the occupied Palestinian territories, confiscating their arms supplies and destroying many of their stations and training grounds.

The reason for this, said the Israelis, was so the policemen could not attack them. Palestinian armed factions did that instead.

As a result, they won power and respect in the Palestinian territories. The situation in Nablus is a legacy of those years.

Changing sides

"I can't be like the chief of police in London, Berlin or New York, you know," says Yousef Uzreel, the city's new police chief.

What you see here on the streets on Nablus are criminals, troublemakers. They complicate and depress the Palestinian existence even further than the difficult reality we already live under Israeli occupation Professor Abdul Sattar Qassem

"They have everything. We have nothing. Still, it's time for us to take up our role.

"We used to be weak. Now we are determined. That, is why we now have a 'touch' [clashes] between us and the armed factions."

Mr Uzreel says he has a secret weapon from his past to overcome the gunmen.

"I used to be one of them. I fought the Israelis with them. I went to an Israeli jail with them. I know how they think, how they feel, what they need," he says.

But dealing with the armed gangs isn't so straightforward. No faction is in a hurry to give up its power.

Mr Uzreel's life is in danger now that he has changed sides. A van-load of heavily armed police follows him wherever he goes.

Little Faith

We met Fahdi Abu Sharekh, the leader of a splinter faction of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. His gang is among those staging street battles with the Nablus police.

"The police have failed to protect Palestinians," he said. "We're the ones looking after them, including fighting Israel. We call on the Nablus police to get off the streets. Leave things to us instead."

Gunmen dominate the streets of the West Bank's most populated city

It's quite a challenge for the Nablus police. They do not just have to conquer or win over the gunmen but also Palestinian public opinion. People feel the police have been emasculated.

It's Israel that decides how many police cars they have, how many guns they carry, and even how many bullets they're allowed.

We found little faith in the police amongst the shoppers in the Nablus market. Few believed the new police chief really could take on the gunmen.

"The police are useless," one stallholder said dismissively. "They can just about patrol the streets. They do little of importance. If I had a serious problem, I wouldn't call them."

"We long for law and order here," a student said, "but the police are weak. The gunmen have all the power here."

Abdul Sattar Qassem is a professor at Nablus University. He hopes but doubts that the gunmen can be beaten.

"They are everywhere," he said in exasperation. "You go to the grocer's, they're there. At the university, they're there, with their guns. They're all over the marketplace. I wish the new police chief good luck. He's going to need it."

Professor Qassem says the real problem is that the gunmen don't act alone.

"They've infiltrated the security services, all official Palestinian institutions. Even the police force," he said.

"Some of them leave their shift as a policeman, go home, change their clothes and head back on to the streets as a gunman. Many are supported by powerful people in the Palestinian Authority."

"Also one has to make the distinction between Palestinian freedom fighters and these criminal gangs," he said.

"The Israelis are clever at catching and imprisoning those who really pose a danger to them.

"What you see here on the streets on Nablus are criminals, troublemakers. They complicate and depress the Palestinian existence even further than the difficult reality we already live under Israeli occupation."

Nablus' new police chief says he is taking a step-by-step approach. Ending the rule of gunmen will not be easy.

Behind them is a powerful and explosive mix of crime, war and politics.