Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

FATAH, AL • 181age and international goodwill for which it had strived so long byopenly siding with Iraq in its August 1990 invasion of Kuwait and itsdefiance of the United Nations. Despite its repeated military failuresand intramural frictions with other members of the PLO, al Fatah hasmaintained its dominant position within the PLO and still accountsfor the bulk of the members of the seven security forces that make upthe police forces of the Palestinian Authority.Since the creation of the Palestinian Authority, the al Fatah grouphas had to contend with challenges to the PLO from the Islamic fundamentalistgroups Hamas and Islamic Jihad of Palestine, objectionsto Arafat’s compromises and negotiations with Israel within thePLO from non-Fatah groups, and finally tensions within al Fatah itself.On 18 November 1994 Palestinian Authority security forces openedfire on anti-Arafat demonstrations by Hamas supporters in Gaza, thefirst time Palestinian police had attacked fellow Palestinians underthe new PA. Al Fatah issued a warning to the Hamas and Islamic Jihadgroups that they were “crossing the red line” with attacks on thePalestinian Authority and blamed “conspiratorial plans on behalf offoreign parties,” apparently referring to Iranian state sponsorshipof the two Islamic fundamentalist groups. Al Fatah fighters made upmost of the 40,000-strong Palestinian police force, which was reorganizedin 1995 into an internal security and intelligence force, the elitePresidential Security unit, a coast guard, and a liaison unit for jointIsraeli-Palestinian patrols of the autonomous zones. Members of otheranti-Fatah factions, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation ofPalestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine(DFLP), have been arrested by Arafat’s security forces for criticizingthe 1993 accords with Israel and the continuing negotiations withIsrael over implementation of those agreements.Following the delay in the proclamation of Palestinian statehoodin May 1999, members of the al Fatah Party within the PalestinianAuthority and the Central Council of the PLO, such as MarwanBarghouti, were growing restive over the slow and tentative paceof the implementation of the accords. Finally, in October 1999, followinga serious outbreak of armed fighting between rival clans inRamallah, Arafat ordered a crackdown on illicit sales and possessionof firearms, arresting even some members of his own security forcesdespite a reported promise by authorities that the weapons of al Fatahmembers themselves would never be confiscated.