Military Periscope :: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine<br><DD>(PFLP)</DD>

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

(PFLP)

Group Name:

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Location/Area of Operation:

The PFLP operates in Israel, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied territories.

Stated Purpose:

The PFLP's primary objective is to "liberate" all of Palestine, thereby igniting an Arab revolution that would eventually result in the overthrow of all Middle Eastern rulers seen as susceptible to U.S. pressure.

Strength:

The U.S. State Dept. has estimated that the group had about 800 active members. The current figure is unknown.

External Aid and Links:

The organization is headquartered in Damascus with several bases in Lebanon. The PFLP also receives logistic and military support from Syria and financial support from Iran. Documents uncovered after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, and reported by the Iraq Study Group in October of 2004, show that PFLP received the proceeds of at least 2 million barrels of oil from Iraq through a Syrian front company as part of the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food program.

Activities:

The PFLP has conducted numerous international attacks, including bombings, assassinations, hijackings and guerrilla-style assaults.

Overview:

The Marxist-Leninist PFLP claims that it is "a progressive vanguard organization of the Palestinian working class" aiming to liberate "all of Palestine and establish a democratic socialist Palestinian state." Founded in 1967 by George Habash, the PFLP was one of the original members of the PLO, but split in 1993 after Yasser Arafat signed the Declaration of Principles with Israel. The Popular Front assumed closer ties with the more violent elements of Fatah during the most recent Palestinian Intifada.

The PFLP was among the first Palestinian groups to use terrorism to support its cause.

In 2009, the major factions in Palestine -- Hamas and Fatah -- continued to dominate political and militant activities there. Other smaller groups, including PFLP, also remained active. The U.S. State Dept. noted in April 2009 that PFLP's capabilities were in a "degraded" state. In July 2009, the head of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) called upon Hamas and Fatah to include groups such as the DFLP and the PFLP in the reconciliation talks scheduled for late August 2009.

Group Chronology:

1967

December: PFLP was founded by George Habash following the Six-Day War.

1968

November: Members of the Popular Front conducted the first of several large-scale hijackings, diverting an El Al aircraft to Algeria.

December: PFLP guerrillas attacked an Israeli plane in Athens. Israel refused the hijackers' demands and attacked the Beirut airport, destroying 13 aircraft.

1970

Sept. 6: The PFLP simultaneously hijacked a TWA Boeing 707 and a Swissair DC-8. Six days later, members hijacked a BOAC VC-10. All of the aircraft were forced to land at Dawson Field outside of Amman, Jordan. At the same time, another group of PFLP hijackers was stopped while trying to take over an El Al plane. Instead, terrorists hijacked a Pan American Boeing 747 and flew it to Cairo. All of the above planes were blown up on the ground after the passengers were unloaded.

Following the hijacking spree, King Hussein expelled all of the Palestinian organizations from Jordan. That same month, Hussein declared war on the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), imposing martial law.

1971

The PLO moved its headquarters from Jordan to Lebanon.

1972

May: Using members of the Japanese Red Army, the PFLP killed 24 in an attack on Lod airport in Israel. The Israeli government responded by assassinating PFLP spokesman Ghassan Kanafani.

1973

The PFLP accepted a Palestinian National Council decision to end international terrorist operations, leading to the split of the PFLP and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC).

1993

After signing the Declaration of Principles, the PFLP joined forces with a 10-member rejection front in Damascus. The PFLP refused to allow its members to participate in the 1996 Palestinian elections.

2000

May: George Habash resigned from leadership, making Mustafa Ali Kasam Zabiri (aka Abu Ali Mustafa) general secretary of the organization.

2001

August: Abu Ali Mustafa was killed in an attack by the Israeli army.

October: Ahmed Sadat succeeded Mustafa, leading the group to an even more radical ideology. Soon after, the group assassinated Rechavam Ze'evi, an Israeli Cabinet minister.

2002

Feb. 9: PFLP claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed four and wounded 27 in Karnei Shomron in the West Bank.

March 7: A suicide bomber injured 10 in a supermarket in Ariel in the West Bank. PFLP claimed responsibility for the attack.

2003

Aug. 27: Two Palestinians were injured in clashes after the IDF closed the offices of the PFLP in Ramallah.

2004

Dec. 6: Israeli forces captured Massab Mahmoud, the joint head of the PFLP in Nablus. Mahmoud allegedly recruited participants for suicide bombings, as well as planning and financing the attacks.

2005

July: PFLP was invited to join the national unity government of President Mahmoud Abbas. It refused.

2006

Jan. 25: Ahmed Sadat was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council, where he won one of 132 seats. Sadat, suspected of directing the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze'evi, had been in custody since 2002.

March 14: Israeli troops raided a Palestinian jail in Jericho where Ahmed Sadat was being held. The next month, the Israeli government decided they had insufficient evidence to try Sadat for Zeevi's murder in 2001. Instead, Sadat would to stand trial for other offenses.

December: The PLFP, along with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, helped broker a cease-fire between two other Palestinian militant groups -- Hamas and Fatah. The truce, which pertained to the Gaza Strip, was announced following inter-factional fighting that resulted in the deaths of more than a dozen Palestinians.

2007

July 20: Israel released 256 Palestinian prisoners from the Ketziot prison in western Negev. Before being released, each of the prisoners had to sign a promise to never again engage in terrorist activities. Those released included the deputy leader of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Abdel Rahim Malouh.

2008

Jan. 26: Former PFLP leader George Hasbah died of natural causes in Jordan.

Feb. 4: PFLP, with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Dimona, Israel, that killed at least one.

Mar. 26: Israeli security forces arrested Ibrahim Salem, a known PFLP operative. Salem admitted his participation in several attacks, including an October 2006 car bombing in Nablus.

Oct. 14: The PFLP threatened to kill Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who proposed the transfer of some Israeli Arab towns to Palestinian jurisdiction while annexing large West Bank settlements to Israel.

Nov. 12: Israeli government agents arrested three PFLP members at the Ein Beit Ilma Refugee Camp. The militants, Samer Zubahi Qasam Mabruk, Daud Muhammad Abdallah, and Amjad Mustafa Qasam, were active in various PFLP militant activities, according to the Israeli government.

2009

May 22: The PFLP claimed responsibility for an IED attack near the Karni checkpoint. There were no casualties from the explosion and no significant damage from the blast.

July 27: After a tunnel explosion in Gaza resulted in seven fatalities, a PFLP representative called on Hamas to supervise tunnel operations.

July 28: The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the PFLP, claimed responsibility for shooting an Israeli soldier near Gaza City and for launching a rocket-propelled grenade attack at Israeli patrols near the Jabaliya Refugee Camp.

Last Updated:

August 2009