In the Lion’s Den: What a new militia offers young Palestinians
Hamas, Fatah, the Palestinian Authority, and the PLO-affiliated organizations and movements that have dominated Palestinian politics for decades mean little to Aboud.
Instead, the Ramallah university student, who gave only one name out of security concerns, says his loyalty lies with a band of young militants unheard of just a few months ago.
“The Lions are the ones who will save us,” Aboud says, holding up an image of a young fighter on his phone. “It is my generation’s turn to fight for our homeland.”
The Lion’s Den, a youth-led, nonpartisan, and nonsectarian militia based in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, is among several like it popping up across the occupied Palestinian territories.
The groups are capturing the imaginations and tapping into the frustrations of Palestinian youths amid an uptick in settler attacks and an Israeli military crackdown that intensified further this week with a deadly
