ZIONISM AND THE MIDDLE EAST Part 3

WHO FIGHTS FOR PALESTINE?

FATAH

Fatah is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a multi-party confederation.

In Palestinian politics, Fatah is on the center-left of the spectrum. It is mainly nationalist although not predominantly socialist. Fatah is generally considered to have had a strong involvement in terrorism in the past, though unlike its rival Islamist faction Hamas, Fatah is not regarded as a terrorist organization by any government.

Fatah's first major guerrilla attack came on January 3, 1965, when they attempted to sabotage the Israeli National Water Carrier, which had recently started operation and diverted vast amounts of water from the Jordan River which mostly bordered Jordan. Backed by the United States, the attack was thwarted by the Israeli Security Forces.

In the January 25, 2006 parliamentary election, the party lost its majority in the Palestinian parliament to Hamas, and resigned all cabinet positions, instead assuming the role as the main opposition party.

HAMAS
Hamas is a Palestinian Islamic socio-political organization. Since June 2007, after winning a large majority in the Palestinian Parliament, Hamas has governed the Gaza portion of the Palestinian Territories.

The European Union, the United States, and three other countries have classified Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Hamas was created in 1987 by the Muslim Brotherhood at the beginning of the the first uprising against Israeli rule in the Palestinian Territories. Due to lack of any sophisticated arms and weaponry, Hamas had to resort to launching numerous suicide bombings against the Israelis, in April, 1993. Hamas ceased the attacks in 2005 and renounced them in April, 2006. Hamas has also been responsible for Israel-targeted small scale rocket attacks, IED attacks, and shootings, but reduced those operations in 2005 and 2006. In 2008 the rockets reached their peak and then once again subsided when peace talks began anew.

In January 2006, Hamas was successful in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, taking 76 of the 132 seats in the chamber, while the previous ruling Fatah party took 43. After Hamas's election victory, violent and non-violent infighting arose between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas retained control of Gaza. On June 18, 2007, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Fatah) issued a decree outlawing the Hamas militia.

Subsequently, Israel immediately imposed an economic blockade on Gaza, and in retribution, Hamas launched small scale rocket attacks upon areas of Israel near its border with Gaza. After the end of a six month ceasefire the conflict was escalated, and Israel invaded Hamas-ruled Gaza in late December, 2008. Due to international pressure, Israel withdrew its forces from Gaza in mid-January, 2009 but has maintained its blockade of the Gaza border and airspace.