Fatah

Palestinian National Liberation Movement
حركة التحرير الوطني الفلسطيني
AbbreviationFatah
فتح (Arabic)
ChairmanMahmoud Abbas
Secretary-GeneralJibril Rajoub
Vice ChairmanMahmoud Aloul
Founders
Founded
  • 1959 (as a political movement)
  • 1965 (as a political party)[1]
HeadquartersRamallah, West Bank
Youth wingFatah Youth
Paramilitary wingAl-'Asifah (1965–2000)
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades (2000–2007)
Ideology
Political positionCentre-left[16][A]
National affiliationPalestine Liberation Organization
European affiliationParty of European Socialists (observer)
International affiliation
  • Progressive Alliance
  • Socialist International
Colours  Yellow
Sloganيا جبل ما يهزك ريح‎
Yā jabal mā yhizzak rīḥ
('O mountain, no wind can shake you')
ثورة حتى النصر‎
Thawra ḥattā l-naṣr
('Revolution until victory')
Palestinian Legislative Council
45 / 132
Flag
Website
fatehmedia.ps
  • Politics of Palestine
  • Political parties
  • Elections
^ A: Fatah is considered centrist by Palestinian political standards;[17][18][19] it is distinguished from the Palestinian left in a narrow sense.[20][21] However, Fatah is considered a left-wing party in that it is the main opposition to right-wing Hamas.[22]
Fatah
Groups
  • Al-'Asifah (1965–2000)
  • Black September Organization (1970–1988)
  • Fatah Special Operations Group (?–?)
  • Force 14 (1960s–2001)
  • Force 17 (1970s–2007)
  • Fatah Hawks (1991–2005)
  • Tanzim (1995–2005)
  • Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades (2000–2007)
Dates of operation1959–2007[23]
HeadquartersRamallah, West Bank
Size2,000–3,000 (2006)[24][25]
Part ofPalestine Liberation Organization
AlliesState allies:
OpponentsState opponents:
Battles and wars
Designated as a terrorist group byUntil 1988:
Israel
United States

Fatah (/ˈfɑːtə, fəˈtɑː/ FAH-tə, fə-TAH; Arabic: فتح, romanized: Fatḥ [ˈfʌtɑħ]), officially the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (حركة التحرير الوطني الفلسطيني, Ḥarakat at-Taḥrīr al-Waṭanī l-Filasṭīnī),[37] is a Palestinian nationalist and social democratic political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the second-largest party in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, is the chairman of Fatah.

Fatah was historically involved in armed struggle against the state of Israel (as well as Jordan during the Black September conflict in 1970–1971) and maintained a number of militant groups,[38] which carried out attacks against military targets as well as Israeli civllians, notably including the 1978 coastal road massacre, though the group disengaged from armed conflict against Israel around the time of the Oslo Accords, when it recognised Israel, which gave it limited control over the occupied Palestinian territories. During the Second Intifada (2000–2005), Fatah intensified armed conflict against Israel, claiming responsibility for a number of suicide attacks. Fatah had been closely identified with the leadership of its founder and chairman, Yasser Arafat, until his death in 2004, when Farouk Kaddoumi constitutionally succeeded him to the position of Fatah Chairman and continued in the position until 2009, when Abbas was elected chairman. Since Arafat's death, factionalism within the ideologically diverse movement has become more apparent.

In the 2006 election for the PLC, the party lost its majority in the PLC to Hamas. The Hamas legislative victory led to a conflict between Fatah and Hamas, with Fatah retaining control of the Palestinian National Authority in the West Bank through its president. Fatah is also active in the control of Palestinian refugee camps.[39][40]

  1. ^ "مفوضية التعبئة والتنظيم - فصائل منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية". Fatehorg.ps. Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Jailed Fatah leader Barghouti: Gaza war was victory for Palestinians". The Jerusalem Post - JPost.com. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  3. ^ Wienthal, Benjamin. "German Jews slam party for working with Fatah". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2 May 2016. [Sigmar Gabriel] added that Fatah was part of the values of social democracy and was represented in the European coalition of social democrats as an observer partner.
  4. ^ "Only 6% of Gazans now want Hamas to continue operations after war with Israel ends: Poll". Firstpost. 3 March 2025. Retrieved 26 July 2025. Following the ceasefire, support for Fatah, a Palestinian nationalist and social democratic political party, rose by 12 percentage points, as per the poll
  5. ^ "Quién fue Yasser Arafat?". 17 March 2019.
  6. ^ Ulrika Möller, Isabell Schierenbeck, ed. (2014). Political Leadership, Nascent Statehood and Democracy: A comparative study. Routledge. p. 139. ISBN 9781317673101.
  7. ^ Yonah Alexander, ed. (2021). Palestinian Secular Terrorism: Profiles of Fatah, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. BRILL.
  8. ^ [6][7]
  9. ^ Committee, United States Congress House Internal Security (1974). Terrorism, a Staff Study Prepared by ..., August 1, 1974. p. 34.
  10. ^ "Rewriting history, Abbas calls Israel a 'colonial project' unrelated to Judaism". The Times of Israel.
  11. ^ Ely Karmon, ed. (June 2005). Coalitions Between Terrorist Organizations: Revolutionaries, Nationalists and Islamists. Brill. p. 291. ISBN 9789047407386. Fatah's affiliation with the anti-imperialist Third World movement was far more concrete and enduring than ETA's brief flirtation with the idea of tercermundismo.
  12. ^ Youssef H., Aboul-Enein, ed. (2011). Militant Islamist Ideology: Understanding the Global Threat. Naval Institute Press. p. 230. ISBN 9781317755098. Fatah is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine liberation Organization (PlO), a multiparty confederation. in Palestinian politics, it is on the center-left of the spectrum.
  13. ^ Jeffrey Ian Ross, ed. (4 March 2015). "center-left"+"Fatah"&pg=PT73 Religion and Violence: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict from Antiquity to the Present. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781317461081. The Brigades originated from Fatah (Harakat al-Tahrir al-Watani al-Filastini, or Movement of Liberation of the Nation of the Palestinians), a secular nationalist party of center-left and the oldest and largest organization of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
  14. ^ Youssef Aboul-Enein; Youssef H.; Aboul-Enein, eds. (15 January 2011). Militant Islamist Ideology: Understanding the Global Threat. Naval Institute Press. p. 230. ISBN 9781612510156. Fatah is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a multiparty confederation. In Palestinian politics, it is on the center-left of the spectrum.
  15. ^ Muqtedar Khan (12 November 2004). "Yasser Arafat's Unfinished Saga". Brookings Institution. Retrieved 26 July 2025. The emergence of the Islamic movement as an alternative to his more or less center-left secular Fatah movement has divided the Palestinian people and their aspirations.
  16. ^ [12][13][14][15]
  17. ^ Colin P. Clarke, ed. (2018). Terrorism. The PLO is comprised of centrist-nationalist groups (such as al-Fatah), rightist groups, leftist groups (including communists), militant groups, and nonmilitant groups.
  18. ^ Christina, Rachel (2006). Tend the Olive, Water the Vine: Globalization and the Negotiation of Early Childhood in Palestine. IAP-Information. p. xxi. ISBN 9781607525592. A Palestinian organization, affiliated with the centrist Fatah movement, which filtered funds from the Palestinian diaspora back into social services in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
  19. ^ Marshall Breger; Yitzhak Reiter; Leonard Hammer, eds. (2013). Sacred Space in Israel and Palestine: Religion and Politics. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781136490330. Even Fatah (the centrist party of the Palestine Liberation Organization led by Yasser Arafat), which had supported Hamas's Gazan campaign against the Communist Party and the Popular and Democratic Fronts, suffered the onslaughts of the movement just prior to the outbreak of the Intifada.
  20. ^ Halabi, Yakub (2016). Democratic Peace Across the Middle East: Islam and Political Modernisation. London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 9780857728821. The failure of the Palestinian left in consolidating a counterweight to the right-wing Islamic Hamas or to the centrist Fatah, furthermore, left Palestinian voters with no viable alternative to Hamas or Fatah.
  21. ^ Avi Tuschman, ed. (3 September 2013). Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us. Prometheus Books. p. 53. ISBN 9781616148249. On the Muslim Palestinian side, respondents with the lowest scores sup- ported left-wing parties; intermediate scorers supported the centrist Fatah party; and those who scored highest supported Hamas and Islamic Jihad (which have "destroy Israel" ideologies).
  22. ^ Carl Dahlström, Lena Wängnerud, ed. (2015). Elites, Institutions and the Quality of Government. Springer.
  23. ^ "Palestinian govt platform drops "armed resistance"". Reuters. 9 August 2007.
  24. ^ "New Fatah militia to counter Hamas". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  25. ^ "Palestinian tensions mount as Fatah deploys new militia force". The Independent. 3 June 2006. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  26. ^ Karmon, Ely (1 June 2005). Coalitions Between Terrorist Organizations: Revolutionaries, Nationalists and Islamists. BRILL. p. 236. ISBN 978-90-474-0738-6.
  27. ^ Committee, United States Congress House Internal Security (1974). Terrorism, a Staff Study Prepared by ..., August 1, 1974. p. 34.
  28. ^ Committee, United States Congress House Internal Security (1974). Terrorism, a Staff Study Prepared by ..., August 1, 1974. p. 34.
  29. ^ Hasaneen, Mai Abu (16 January 2022). "Fatah builds bridges with Syria after rupture with Hamas - Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East". www.al-monitor.com. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  30. ^ Crooke, Alastair. "Blair's counter-insurgency "surge"". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2018.
  31. ^ Rose, David (March 3, 2008). "The Gaza Bombshell". vanityfair.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2018.
  32. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  33. ^ "MIDEAST: This 'Bombshell' Took a Year Falling - Inter Press Service". www.ipsnews.net. April 2, 2008. Archived from the original on April 5, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  34. ^ "Palestinian Fatah group says Iran trying to spread chaos in West Bank". Reuters. 3 April 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  35. ^ "What is the Palestinian Authority and what is its relationship with Israel?".
  36. ^ Salhani, Justin. "Beyond Hezbollah: The history of tensions between Lebanon and Israel". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  37. ^ "Al-Zaytouna Centre". Alzaytouna.net. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  38. ^ Terrorism in Tel Aviv Time Friday, 13 Sep 1968
  39. ^ "Palestinian Leader of Hezbollah-linked Ansar Allah leaves Lebanon to Syria". 7 November 2018.
  40. ^ "Lebanese army deployed to Palestinian camp after Fatah-Ansar Allah clash". 26 October 2018.
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