Rivalry to Control Uprising Grows : Islamic Hard-Liners Impose Strike in Challenge to PLO

Hard-line Islamic fundamentalists Friday imposed a labor and commercial strike on much of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in a direct challenge to the Palestine Liberation Organization’s control of the anti-Israeli Arab uprising.

Shopkeepers in numerous towns and villages kept their doors closed past the customary 9 a.m. opening time, in line with a call from the fundamentalist group, known as Islamic Resistance, or HAMAS, an acronym that means “zeal” in Arabic. Shops that did open closed soon afterward after being visited by young HAMAS militants who threatened to destroy them.

“They said it would be better for solidarity if my shop closed,” a newsstand operator in Ramallah said. “They also said that paper burns easily.”

In Hebron, shops opened as usual, but the arrival at 9:45 a.m. of a column of brawny youths shouting Islamic slogans brought shutters down on street after street. In Nablus, HAMAS supporters threw stones at patrolling Israeli troops, setting off chases that prompted cautious merchants to suspend business for the day.

Shops Open in Jerusalem

The most notable failure of the strike occurred in the Arab-populated east section of Jerusalem, where merchants remained open until noon and then closed for the weekend.

A budding rivalry between HAMAS and the PLO is beginning to bewilder Palestinians who have been pleased by the unusual display of Arab unity during nine months of rebellion against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

“People are willing to accept almost any nationalist activity, but they may not like too much repeat activity for the same cause,” said Jad Mikhail, a member of the municipal council in Ramallah, a town 5 miles north of Jerusalem.

An employee of a chocolate factory closed by the strike, who would give only his first name, Efren, took a more scornful view. “There are too many chiefs for us Indians,” he declared.

Threat to Uprising

The conflict between HAMAS and the PLO is seen as potentially damaging to the intifada , as the uprising is known in Arabic. Last month, when HAMAS for the first time called for a strike against the wishes of the PLO leadership, fistfights broke out between youths telling store owners to stay open and others telling them to close.

Since then, followers of the two groups have engaged in graffiti and leaflet wars as each tries to assert its leadership.

While the Arabs quarrel, Israel has begun systematically rounding up Palestinians who the Israelis say are grass-roots leaders of the intifada , including one Gaza resident the army identified as a major figure in the uprising. On Friday, Israeli troops made about 200 arrests in the Gaza Strip and in Malek, a town near Ramallah.

Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin said the raids were part of an effort to take the offensive against organizers of the uprising.

Taking the Initiative

“The intention is to move all the time toward taking the initiative more, using increased intelligence forces to know in each settlement who is more active,” Rabin said in an army radio broadcast.

The effort began earlier this week in the town of Qalqiliya, where the Israeli army also detained 200 Palestinians.

For the time being, the PLO has decided not to confront HAMAS. PLO leaders hope that talks with fundamentalist leaders outside the West Bank and Gaza can bring some sort of agreement, Palestinian sources say. No violence between the two factions was reported Friday.

“Sooner or later, there must be some coordination; the basic goals are the same--to end the Israeli occupation,” said Izzedin Aryan, a Ramallah druggist and member of the Palestinian Red Crescent, a health and rescue organization akin to the Red Cross.

Sharp Differences

While some basic goals may be identical, HAMAS and the PLO differ sharply on how to resolve the conflict with Israel.

HAMAS recently issued a 40-page document that attacked the PLO for considering recognition of Israel as a legal state and settling for an adjacent Palestinian state. PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat is scheduled to speak before the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, next week and could hint whether the PLO is willing to give up its long-held quest to drive Israel off the map.

HAMAS wants to set up a single state, under Muslim rule, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean.