Palestinian Organization & Names
Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine Palestine National Authority (PNA) Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) Fatah Intifada ARAFAT , Yasir Khalaf , Salah Al-Husayni, Amin Al-Wazir, Khalil Ibrahim Habash, Georges Deir Yasin Palestine HomePagePalestine Liberation Organization (PLO) --------------------------------------- Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) , political body representing Palestinian Arabs in their attempt to reclaim their homeland from the state of Israel. Structure and Organs -------------------- The PLO was founded at a congress in the Jordanian sector of Jerusalem in May 1964 . Formed as an umbrella organization by refugee groups and fedayeen (commando) forces, such as Al Fatah, Al Saiqa, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine , it was also joined by professional, labor, and student associations , as well as some individual members; the fedayeen, however, have always dominated it. Dedicated to mobilizing the Palestinian people to recover their usurped homes , the organization , according to its charter , seeks the replacement of Israel with a secular Palestinian state and has sponsored numerous commando acts both inside that country and inter- nationally . The functions of the PLO are carried out by three main organs: the Executive Committee , a decision-making body in which the major fedayeen groups are represented ; the Central Committee , an advisory body; and the Palestine National Council, which is seen as an assembly of the Palestinian people. History ------- Since 1968 the PLO has been headed by Yasir Arafat , leader of Al Fatah . At an Arab summit meeting in Rabat , Morocco, in 1974, the organization was recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people , and Arafat subsequently addressed the United Nations, where the organization has an observer status. In 1970 the PLO fought a short , bloody war with the army of Jordan , where most of the fedayeen were then stationed . Expelled , they settled in Lebanon , where they gradually became a state within the state , contributing to that country's disintegration after 1975 . Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 greatly weakened the PLO presence there, intensified the organization's factional splits , and forced the dispersion of some 12,000 PLO members to Syria and other Arab countries. PLO members loyal to Arafat made their headquarters in Tunis; an Israeli bombing raid in October 1985 severely damaged the main buildings. In July 1988, King Hussein of Jordan ceded to the PLO all territorial claims to the Israeli-held West Bank . In November 1988, at a meeting of the Palestine National Council in Algiers , Arafat declared the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. The council also voted to accept UN resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), recognizing the sovereignty of all states in the Middle East , and to use the resolutions, together with acknowledgment of the Palestinian right to self-determination, as the basis for an international peace conference. The United States agreed in December 1988 to initiate direct diplomatic dialogue with the PLO. Relations with the U.S. and the pro-Western Arab states deteriorated in 1991,however, as Arafat publicly supported Iraq during the Persian Gulf War. In July the Lebanese army , with Syrian backing , forced the PLO to abandon its strongholds in southern Lebanon . In January 1993 Israel repealed its ban on PLO contact by Israelis. In September 1993, Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin agreed to the signing of an historic peace accord that paved the way for limited Palestinian self-rule in Israeli-occupied territories . ---- Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation.
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine --------------------------------------------- (PFLP), Arabic AL-JABHA AL-SHA'BIYAH LI-TAHRIR FILAsTIN, organization providing an institutional framework for militant organizations associated with the Palestine Liberation Organization . It was established in 1967 in an amalgamation of three different Palestinian guerilla groups by Georges Habash . The PFLP suffered from conflicts between its several factions, though all were engaged in guerilla activities. The PFLP rejected political compromise with Israel and was pledged to the elimination of that state. It took a vigorously anti-Western and anticapitalist stance on other Middle Eastern questions. The PFLP carried out or organized many notorious guerilla actions against Israel, most notably the hijacking and destruction of many Israeli commercial airliners in the late 1960s and '70s. ---- Copyright © 1997 - Britannica '97
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine ------------------------------------------------ (DFLP), Arabic AL-JABHA AL-DIMUQRATIYAH LI-TAHRIR FILASTIN, one of several organizations associated with the Palestine Liberation Organization ; it has engaged in guerilla attacks and has maintained a Marxist-Leninist orientation that asserts that the peasants and working classes should be educated in socialism in order to bring about a democratic state of Jews and Arabs free of Zionism and imperialism. Originating in the leftist swing of the 1960s and founded by a Jordanian Orthodox Christian, Na'if Hawatmeh, in 1969, the Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (as it was originally named) was envisioned as a political movement distinct from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine , which had been founded to provide a front for diverse militant Palestinian groups. The DFLP stood ideologically to the left of the PFLP and claimed that its enemies were Zionist upper-class imperialists, although in 1974 it took responsibility for the guerilla attacks in Ma'alot and Bet She`an. The DFLP was also wary of Arab governments and critical of other pro-Palestine groups for ignoring "reactionary" forces within the Arab world. ---- Copyright © 1997 - Britannica '97
Palestine National Authority (PNA) ---------------------------------- Interim governing body appointed July 1994 to take over the management of Palestinian affairs from Israel in newly liberated Gaza Strip & Jericho . It is headed by Yassir Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation organ- ization. The PNA has jurisdiction over the whole of the formerly occupied areas, except Israeli settlers & nationals , Israel retains responsibility for external defence and foreign affairs. On 5 Dec 1994 Israel extended the PNA's remit to include administration of health and collection of taxes. In the same month , the Israeli parliament passed legislation allowing for the closure of PNA offices set up outside the self-rule areas, notably Orient House in East Jerusalem. Since taking office, the PNA has had to contend with militant violence by Palestinian fundamentalist groups within area of jurisdiction , directed both at Israeli soldiers and at its own police force. ---- Copyright © 1995 Helicon Publishing Ltd
HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement) ----------------------------------- Islamic organization; its militant wing, Al Qassam, played a major role in the Intifada, the Palestinian uprising in the Israeli-occupied territories from 1987. Responsible for attacks on Israeli soliders , the group gained a reputation for ruthlessness & unpredictability. It opposed the Sept 1993 peace accord between Israel & the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and maintained a campaign of violence within Israel aimed at disrupting the Middle East peace process. Impatient with the PLO's prolonged efforts to free occupied territories by diplomatic means , in Nov 1992 Hamas formed an alliance with Iran for support in the continuation of the Intifada. In Dec 1992, 415 Palestinians suspected of having links with Hamas were expelled from Israel in to Lebanon. Refused refugee status by Lebanon and neighbouring Arab states , they remained for six months in a desert camp until international condemna- tion of the deportations forced Israel to agree to their return. Its militant wing, Al Qassam, claimed responsibility for two bomb attacks within Israel April 1994 , in which 12 died, & for a further bus bombing in Tel Aviv Oct 1994, in which at lease 20 died. All were carried out by suicide bombers. In Nov 1994 there were violent clashes between supporters of Hamas and Palestinian police in newly liberated Gaza. In 1989 Hamas' leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, was arrested by the Israelis & sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering the killing of Palestinians who had allegedly collaborated with the Israeli army. ---- Copyright © 1995 Helicon Publishing Ltd
Fatah ----- Palestinian nationalist organization, founded 1958 to bring about an independent state of Palestine. It was the first Palestinian resistance group, based 1968-70 in Jordan, then in Lebanon, and from 1982 in Tunisia. Also called the Palestine National Liberation Movement, it is the main component of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Its leader (from 1968) is Yassir Arafat. ---- Copyright © 1995 Helicon Publishing Ltd
INTIFADA -------- Palestinian uprising; also the title of the involved Liberation Army of Palestine, a loosely organized group of adult and teenage Palestinians active 1987-93 in attacks on armed Israeli troops in the occupied territories of Palestine. Their campaign for self-determination included stone-throwing and petrol bombing. The uprising began Dec 1987 in the Gaza Strip. Rumours that a fatal traffic collision had been caused by Israeli security service agents in retaliation for the stabbing of an Israeli the previous week led to demonstrations by teenagers armed with slingshots. It subsequently spread, despite attempts at repression. Some 1,300 Palestinians and 80 Israelis were killed in the uprising up to the end of 1991. Many Palestinian private homes were dynamited by military order, under a still-valid British emergency regulation promulgated 1946 to put down Jewish guerrillas. The number of soldiers on duty on the West Bank at the beginning of 1989 was said to be more than three times the number needed to conquer it during the Six-Day War. The 1993 peace accord between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization effectively liberated the occupied territories of Gaza and Jericho. However, extremist groups that had participated in the Intifada, notably the militant wing of the Hamas fundamentalist group, opposed the accord and continued a campaign of violence within Israel. ---- Copyright © 1995 Helicon Publishing Ltd
Yasir Arafat (1929- )
---------------------
Born : August 24, 1929; Cairo, Egypt
Education : Degree in engineering , University of Fuad I ( now Cairo
University), 1956
Family : Wife, Suha Tawil
Religion : Muslim
Early Years : In 1946, began procuring arms for an anticipated battle for
Palestinian territory ; Helped found Fatah , a guerrilla
group dedicated to the liberation of Palestine, mid 1950s
; Began mounting raids in to Israel,1965 ; Elected chairman
of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), 1969.
Recent Years: Signed draft agreement with Israel providing a Palestinian
self-rule in Gaza and the West Bank town of Jericho 1993
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize along with Israeli prime minister
Yitzhak Rabin & Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres,1994.
Office : Gaza City, The Gaza Strip
----
Source : Current Biography, 1994 Biographical Dictionary of the ME .
BIOGRAPHY
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1929, August 24 : Born in Cairo, Egypt. Place of birth is not certain,
other sources state Jerusalem or Gaza. During his childhood Arafat
lived in both Cairo and Jerusalem.
1947: In the wars with the Jews, Arafat fought on the side of the grand
mufti of Jerusalem.
1948: Fled Palestine, after the establishment of Israel. He settled in
Cairo where he started studying engineering at University of Cairo.
1952: He joined the Muslim Brotherhood and Union of Palestinian Students,
where he became president. 1956: Participated in the Suez campaign,
in the Egyptian Army.
1956: Moved to Kuwait , where he worked as an engineer, and established
his own entrepreneur company.
1957: Started Al Fatah. Al Fatah conducted several attacks into Israel.
1967: Al Fatah was linked to PLO.
1968: Elected chairman of PLO. Worked on bringing PLO from Panarabism to
Palestinian nationalism.
1974: Held a speech in front of the General Assembly in UN.
1982: PLO had to move from Lebanon. after Israel attacked the country .
Moved the headquarters to Tunisia.
1988, Nov. 15: State of Palestine proclaimed at a meeting in Algiers,
Algeria.
1989: Elected president of State of Palestine by the Central Council of
the Palestine National Council.
1991: USA-led talks begin Madrid, but lead nowhere.
1993: Oslo agreement brings the peace process a giant leap forward . The
content is a "land for peace"- principle.
1993: Arafat recognized Israel's right to existence.
1994: Israeli forces withdrew from the village of Jericho in May . Arafat
came home in July.
1996: Jan. 20 Elected president of the Palestinian Authority in public
elections, with 88% of the votes.
Khalaf, Salah Also known as Abu Iyad (1933-1991) ------------------------------------------------ Palestinian nationalist leader. He became a refugee in 1948 when Israel became independent, and was one of the four founder members - with Yassir Arafat - of the PLO in the 1960s. One of its most senior members, he was involved with the Black September group, and is believed to have orchestrated their campaign of terrorist attacks such as the 1972 killing of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. He later argued for a diplomatic as well as a terrorist campaign. ---- Copyright © 1995 Helicon Publishing Ltd
Al-Husayni, Amin ---------------- Also called AL-HAJJ AMIN (born 1897, Jerusalem, Palestine, - d. July 4, 1974, Beirut, Lebanon), grand mufti of Jerusalem and Arab nationalist figure who played a major role in Arab resistance to Zionist political ambitions in Palestine. Husayni studied in Jerusalem, Cairo, and Istanbul, and in 1910 he was commissioned in the Turkish artillery. He became a strong voice in the Arab nationalist and anti-Zionist movements. In December 1921 the British, who had accepted a mandate for Palestine after World War I, named Husayni permanent president and mufti of the newly created Supreme Muslim Council--the most authoritative religious body in the Palestinian Muslim community. In 1936 all the Palestinian groups joined to create a permanent executive organ known as the Arab High Committee under Husayni's chairmanship. The committee demanded a cessation of Jewish immigration and a prohibition of land transfers from Arabs to Jews. A general strike developed into a rebellion against British authority. The British removed Husayni from the council presidency and declared the committee illegal in Palestine. In October 1937 he fled to Lebanon, where he reconstituted the committee under his domination. The rebellion forced Britain to make substantial concessions to Arab demands in 1939. The British abandoned the idea of establishing Palestine as a Jewish state, and, while Jewish immigration was to continue for another five years, it was thereafter to depend on Arab consent. Husayni, however, felt that the concessions did not go far enough, and he repudiated the new policy. This was a serious error for the Arab cause; solid Arab support for Britain might have prevented the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Ceasing to play an active role in Palestinian affairs, Husayni spent most of World War II (1939-45) in Germany. At the war's end he fled to Egypt. ---- Copyright © 1997 - Britannica '97
Al-Wazir, Khalil Ibrahim ------------------------ Byname ABU JIHAD (born Oct. 10, 1935, Ramla, Palestine -d. April 16, 1988, Tunis, Tunisia), Palestinian leader who was believed to be the military strategist and second in command of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Wazir fled with his family during the 1948 war that followed the creation of the state of Israel, and he grew up in the Gaza Strip, where he was educated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. He met Yasir 'Arafat in 1951 while attending college in Cairo, and together they organized anti-Israel guerilla actions and founded the militant organization Fatah (1958), which merged with smaller groups to form the PLO (1964). As 'Arafat's deputy and a moderate within the PLO, Wazir often negotiated with PLO extremists, maintained diplomatic relations with other countries, and reportedly planned military strategies and arranged arms purchases for Fatah and the PLO. After the PLO was expelled from Jordan in 1971, he remained in Amman as an unofficial contact there until he in turn was expelled in 1986. He was assassinated in his home by unidentified commandos; Israel later unofficially acknowledged involvement. ---- Copyright © 1997 - Britannica '97
Habash, Georges --------------- (born 1925, Lydda, Palestine), Palestinian politician and leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Habash fled Palestine in 1948 and earned a medical degree at the American University in Beirut. In the early 1950s he was active in the "Youth of Vengeance" group, which advocated violent attacks on traditional Arab governments. Habash founded the militant PFLP after his goal to destroy Israel through Arab unity proved unrealistic following the Arab nations' defeat by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. Under the leadership of Habash, the Popular Front staged several airplane hijackings, including that of a U.S. jet blown up in September 1970, which triggered King Hussein's crackdown on Palestinian guerrillas in Jordan. Habash, a Marxist, visited China in 1970, finding Chinese leaders critical of the PFLP's "foreign operations," and Moscow in 1972. Following the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Habash became the leading voice of the "Rejection Front," four Palestinian groups who opposed any diplomatic settlement to the conflict with Israel. He attacked the "defeatist" attitude of the Palestine Liberation Organization's leadership, whose attempts at reconciliation with King Hussein he sharply criticized. Under his leadership the PFLP successfully organized clandestine cells in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. Habash was the target of several assassination attempts, one of which partially paralyzed him. ---- Copyright © 1997 - Britannica '97
Deir Yasin ---------- On April 9, 1948 members of the Irgun and Stern Group jointly stormed and captured the village of Deir Yasin , and massacred much of the population (about 240 men, women, and children). Although terrorist acts had been committed on both sides before, it was this highly publicized occurrence that decisively accelerated the flight of Arab villagers from Palestine. ---- Copyright © 1997 - Britannica '97
