Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( PFLP ) ( Arabic الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين - al-Jabhah al-Sha'abiyah li-Tahrīr Filasṭīn ) is a secular , Marxist-Leninist , nationalist Palestinian organization, founded after the Six-Day War in 1967 . The PFLP grew out of the Harakat al-Qawmiyyin al-Arab, or Arab Nationalist Movement (ANM), founded in 1953 by Dr. George Habash , a Palestinian Christian, from Lydda / Lod in what is now Israel . In interviews with journalists, Habash has said his family was forced into exile after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The 22-year-old Habash went to Lebanon to study medicine at the American University in Beirut , graduating in 1951. In an interview with American journalist John Cooley, Habash identified the Arab defeat by Israel as "the scientific society of Israel as against our own backwardness in the Arab world. This called for the total rebuilding of Arab society into a twentieth-century society," ( Green March Black September: The Story of the Palestinian Arabs by John K. The ANM was founded in this nationalist spirit. "[W]e held the ' Guevara view' of the ' revolutionary human being'," Habash told Cooley. This meant applying everything in human power to the realization of a cause." ( ibid. ) The ANM formed underground branches in several Arab countries, including Libya , Kuwait and Saudi Arabia , then still under British rule. It adopted socialist economic ideas and formed a commando group, Abtal al-Audah , Heroes of the Return. Around August of 1967, this group merged with two other groups, Youth for Revenge and the Syrian-backed Palestine Liberation Front, to form the PFLP, with Habash as leader. By early 1968, the PFLP had trained between one and three thousand guerrillas. It had the financial backing of Syria , and was headquarted there, and one of its training camps was based in Salt, Jordan . The PFLP gained notoriety in the late 1960s and early 1970s for a series of terrorist attacks, including: The hijacking of an El Al flight from Rome to Lod airport in Israel on July 23 , 1968 . The flight was targeted because the PFLP believed Israeli general Ariel Sharon , who had been a commander in Sinai in June 1967 , was on board. The plane was diverted to Algiers , where 21 passengers and 11 crew members were held for 39 days, until August 31; Terrorists opened fire on an El Al passenger jet in Athens about to take off for New York on December 26 , 1968 , killing one passenger and wounding two others; An attack on El Al passengers jet at Zürich airport on February 18 , 1969 , killing the co-pilot and wounding the pilot; The bombing of a Jerusalem supermarket on February 20 , 1969 , killing two Israelis and wounding twenty others; The hijacking of a TWA flight from Los Angeles to Damascus on August 29 , 1969 by a PFLP cell led by Leila Khaled , who became the PFLP's most famous recruit. Two Israeli passengers were held for 44 days; Three adult Palestinians and three boys aged 14 and 15 years old threw grenades at the Israeli embassies in The Hague , Bonn and the El Al office in Brussels on the same day, September 9 , 1969 with no casualties; Attack on a bus containing El Al passengers at Munich airport, killing one passenger and wounding 11 on February 10, 1970; The bombing, with a barometric pressure device, of a Swissair flight bound for Israel , killing 47, on February 21, 1970; for details see Swissair Flight 330 . On September 6 , 1970 , the PFLP (including Leila Khaled) hijacked four passenger aircraft from Pan Am , TWA and Swissair on flights to New York from Brussels , Frankfurt and Zürich ; and on September 9 , 1970 , hijacked a BOAC flight from Bombay to Rome . The Pan Am flight was diverted to Cairo ; the TWA, Swissair and BOAC flights were diverted to Dawson's Field in Zarqa , Jordan . The TWA, Swissair and BOAC aircraft were subsequently blown up by the terrorists on September 12, with no casualties. In response, King Hussein of Jordan formed a military government on September 16 , 1970 and began shelling Palestinian guerrilla positions, eventually expelling the PLO from Jordan, in what became known as Black September and which, in turn, gave rise to the formation of a new terrorist unit of Yasser Arafat's al-Fatah faction, comprised of men associated with al-Fatah and the PFLP. This group also called itself Black September . Although the PFLP had joined the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the umbrella organization of the Palestinian national movement, in 1968 , becoming the second-largest faction after al-Fatah, it withdrew in 1974 , accusing the PLO of abandoning the goal of destroying Israel outright in favor of a binational solution , which was opposed by the PFLP leadership. At the PFLP's Sixth National Conference in 2000, Habash stepped down as general secretary. Abu Ali Mustafa was elected to replace him, but was killed on August 27th , 2001 when an Israeli helicopter fired rockets at his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah . The PFLP shot and killed the far-right Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi in November 17 , 2001 in revenge . Ahmed Sadat was subsequently elected general secretary on October 3rd , 2001. In January of 2002 , he was arrested by the Palestinian Authority . Two factions that broke away from PFLP are the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). The fall of the Soviet Union and consequent decline in support for Marxist-Leninist organizations, together with the rise in the Arab world of Islamism -- and particularly the creation of the Islamist groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad -- has pushed the PFLP onto the sidelines of the Arab-Israeli war. In 1990 PFLP transformed its Jordan branch into a separate political party , the Jordanian Popular Democratic Unity Party .

A PFLP patrol in Jordan, 1969 PFLP May Day poster 2006 PFLP election poster in Bethlehem PFLP martyr poster in Bethlehem PFLP graffiti in Bethlehem The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( PFLP ) ( Arabic : الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn ) is a Palestinian Marxist national liberation movement , founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the largest being Fatah . The PFLP has generally taken a hard line on Palestinian national aspirations, opposing the more moderate stance of Fatah. It has been described as a terrorist organization by the United States government and the European Union . It opposes negotiations with the Israeli government , and favours a one-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict . The military wing of the PFLP is called the Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades . http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_340/l_34020051223en00640066.pdf

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( PFLP ) ( Arabic : الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist-Leninist and revolutionary leftist organization founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the largest being Fatah . PFLP is described as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, and the European Union. It was founded by Marxist and Palestinian Christian George Habash . From its foundation the PFLP sought both superpower and regional patrons and early developed ties with the People's Republic of China, the former Soviet Union and, at various times, with regional powers such as Syria, South Yemen , Libya and Iraq. When that support diminished, or stopped, in the late 1980s and 1990s, the PFLP sought new allies and developed contacts with Islamic fundamentalist groups linked to Iran. The relationship between the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Islamic Republic of Iran has fluctuated – it strengthened as a result of Hamas moving away from Iran due to differing positions on the Syrian Civil War . Iran rewarded the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine for its pro-Assad stance with an increase in financial and military assistance. The PFLP has generally taken a hard line on Palestinian national aspirations, opposing the more moderate stance of Fatah. It opposes negotiations with the Israeli government , and favours a one-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict . The military wing of the PFLP is called the Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades . The PFLP is well known for pioneering armed aircraft hijackings in the late '60s and early '70s. According to Politburo member and former aircraft hijacker Leila Khaled , the PFLP does not see suicide bombing as a form of resistance to occupation or a strategic action or policy and no longer carries out such attacks. Currently the PFLP is boycotting participation in the executive committee of the PLO. It considers both the Fatah-led government in the West Bank and the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip illegal due to the lack of new elections to the Palestinian National Authority since 2006. " Arab Nationalism Platform of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) " (1969). " Background Information on Foreign Terrorist Organizations ." Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism , United States Department of State "Foreign Terrorist Organizations" .

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( PFLP ) ( Arabic : الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary socialist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash . It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization (the PLO, founded in 1964), the largest being Fatah (founded in 1959). Ahmad Sa'adat has served as Secretary-General of the PFLP since 2001. He was sentenced in December 2006 to 30 years in an Israeli prison. The PFLP currently considers both the Fatah-led government in the West Bank and the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip illegal because elections to the Palestinian National Authority have not been held since 2006. As of 2015 , the PFLP boycotts participation in the PLO Executive Committee and the Palestinian National Council . The PFLP has generally taken a hard line on Palestinian national aspirations, opposing the more moderate stance of Fatah. It does not recognise the State of Israel , it opposes negotiations with the Israeli government , and favours a one-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict . The military wing of the PFLP is called the Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades . The PFLP is well known for pioneering armed aircraft-hijackings in the late 1960s and early 1970s. According to PFLP Politburo member and former aircraft-hijacker Leila Khaled , the PFLP does not see suicide bombing as a form of resistance to occupation or as a strategic action or policy and no longer carries out such attacks. The PFLP has been designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, Japan , Canada, Australia and the European Union. However, in January 2020, it was reported that the PFLP receives financial support of millions of dollars funnelled through Palestinian NGOs in Western countries, including the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, France, Ireland, Norway, and Belgium, as well as the US, Canada and Japan, UN-OCHA and UNICEF. From its foundation the PFLP sought both superpower and regional patrons, early on developing ties with the People's Republic of China , the Soviet Union and, at various times, with regional powers such as Syria , South Yemen , Libya and Iraq , as well as with left-wing groups around the world, including the PKK , FARC and the Japanese Red Army . When that support diminished or stopped, in the late 1980s and 1990s, the PFLP sought new allies and developed contacts with Islamist groups linked to Iran , despite the PFLP's strong adherence to secularism and anti-clericalism . The relationship between the PFLP and the Islamic Republic of Iran has fluctuated – it strengthened as a result of Hamas moving away from Iran due to differing positions on the Syrian Civil War . Iran rewarded the PFLP for its pro- Assad stance with an increase in financial and military assistance. The PFLP has generally taken a hard line on Palestinian national aspirations, opposing the more moderate stance of Fatah. It does not recognise the State of Israel , it opposes negotiations with the Israeli government , and favours a one-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict . The military wing of the PFLP is called the Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades . The PFLP is well known for pioneering armed aircraft-hijackings in the late 1960s and early 1970s. According to PFLP Politburo member and former aircraft-hijacker Leila Khaled , the PFLP does not see suicide bombing as a form of resistance to occupation or as a strategic action or policy and no longer carries out such attacks. " Platform of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) " (1969). People's Daily Online . 26 December 2010 . Khaled is a member of the Politburo of the PFLP [...] "Foreign Terrorist Organizations" . Times of Israel . 14 October 2012 . Khaled is a member of the Politburo of the PFLP [...]

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( PFLP ; Arabic : الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين , romanized : al-Jabha ash-Shaʿbiyya li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash . It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the largest being Fatah . The PFLP has generally taken a hard line on Palestinian national aspirations, opposing the more moderate stance of Fatah. It does not recognize Israel and promotes a one-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict . The military wing of the PFLP is called the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades . The PFLP pioneered armed aircraft-hijackings in the late 1960s and early 1970s. More recently, the group has participated in the Gaza war (2023–present) alongside Hamas and other allied Palestinian factions . It has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States , Japan , Canada and the European Union . Ahmad Sa'adat , who was sentenced in 2006 to 30 years in an Israeli prison, has served as General Secretary of the PFLP since 2001. As of 2025 , the PFLP boycotts participation in the PLO Executive Committee and the Palestinian National Council . The Order of Battle of Hamas' Izz al Din al Qassem Brigades, Part 1: North and Central Gaza" . Institute for the Study of War . "Implementation of the Measures including the Freezing of Assets against Terrorists and the Like" . "About the listing process" . publicsafety.gc.ca . "EUR-Lex – Official Journal of the European Union" . lex.europa.eu .