Ramallah, February 07: A Former Palestinian intelligence officer has become the first woman to be appointed governor of Ramallah, the unofficial capital of the West Bank, by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas as part of a crackdown on Hamas, the hardline Islamist faction.
Leila Ghannam, 35, who has a doctorate in psychology but rose to be a captain in the Palestinian intelligence service, has been personally charged by the president with ensuring that Hamas is unable to seize power from Abbas’s ruling Fatah party on the West Bank as they did in Gaza in 2007.
“Any attempt to mount an uprising by Hamas, any slightly illegal act will be met with an iron fist,” she said at her modest fifth floor office overlooking Ramallah. As governor she is in command of all the armed forces in the region.
Her appointment is seen as an imaginative move by Abbas. In a city where many women wear jeans and miniskirts she wears a hijab (headscarf) and comes from a religious family. “Not everyone from a religious family is a Hamas supporter,” she explained, although she estimates that about a third of people who live or work here are Hamas supporters.
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During her earlier position with Fatah she worked closely with overseas intelligence services, including MI6. “My intelligence experience, like my degree in psychology, helps me to carry out my job,” she said.
“Her appointment sends a double message from Abbas,” said Matti Steinberg, an Israeli expert on Palestinian issues. “Firstly it tells Hamas supporters that one can be religious but not necessarily fundamentalist and secondly it sends a message to Muslim women on the West Bank: ‘If she can do it so can you. Go to work and improve your standard of living.’”
Ghannam, who is single, grew up in the Ramallah region but later studied for her PhD in Egypt. The governorship has in the past been held by a succession of veteran fighters from Fatah’s military wing.
“Her personal appointment by Abbas reflects a modern approach by the president,” said Ahmad Tibi, an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset who knows the Palestinian president well.
It is not only Hamas who should beware her zeal. She is likely to take a tough stance with the Israelis, who keep a strong security presence on the West Bank.
“The Israeli army is being provocative by entering this region,” she warned. “They should know that they must co-ordinate with me in future.”
——-Agencies