Fatah al-Intifada ( ar, فتح الانتفاضة ''Fatah Uprising'') is a

Palestinian militant Palestinian fedayeen (from the Arabic ''fidā'ī'', plural ''fidā'iyūn'', فدائيون) are militants or guerrillas of a nationalist orientation from among the Palestinian people. Most Palestinians consider the fedayeen to be " freedom fig ...

faction founded by Col. Said al-Muragha, better known as Abu Musa. The group is often referred to as the Abu Musa Faction. Officially it refers to itself as the Palestinian National Liberation Movement - "Fatah" (), the identical name of the major

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and s ...

movement. Fatah al-Intifada is not part of the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and sta ...

(PLO).

History

Rupture with PLO

Originally part of Fatah, Fatah al-Intifada broke away from the organization in 1983, during the PLO's participation in the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

. The split was due to differences between Abu Musa and

Yassir Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

over a number of issues, including military decisions and

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

. Fatah al-Intifada was formed with

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n support and quickly attracted a number of Palestinian

guerrillas Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tacti ...

disillusioned with Arafat's role in Fatah and the

(PLO). There was also a political dimension: the organization took a more leftist view than the generally apolitical Fatah, and used

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

phraseology. Abu Musa is known to have advocated the view that the

was not a sectarian conflict, but a form of

class war Class War is an anarchist group and newspaper established by Ian Bone and others in 1983 in the United Kingdom. An incarnation of Class War was briefly registered as a political party for the purposes of fighting the 2015 United Kingdom gener ...

. Syria provided extensive backing as the Abu Musa forces attacked Arafat loyalists in Fatah, while several radical PLO organizations in the

Rejectionist Front The Rejectionist Front (Arabic: جبهة الرفض) or Front of the Palestinian Forces Rejecting Solutions of Surrender (جبهة القوى الفلسطينية الرافضة للحلول الإستسلامية) was a political coalition formed ...

stayed on the sidelines. The fighting led to heavy losses on both sides, and helped Syria extend its influence into Palestinian-held areas of Lebanon.

War of the camps

In 1985-88, Fatah al-Intifada took part in the

War of the camps The War of the Camps ( ar, حرب المخيمات, ''Harb al-mukhayimat''), was a subconflict within the 1984–1990 phase of the Lebanese Civil War, in which the Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut were besieged by the Shia Amal militia. ...

, a Syrian attempt to root out the PLO from its refugee camp strongholds backed by the

Shiite Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...

Amal militia and some Palestinian rejectionist factions. After a joint effort by the

Syrian Army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six-D ...

and a number of Palestinian and Lebanese groups controlled or supported by

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, including Fatah al-Intifada, the PFLP-GC,

as-Sa'iqa As-Sa'iqa ( ar, صاعقة, lit=Thunderbolt, translit=Saiqa) officially known as Vanguard for the Popular Liberation War - Lightning Forces, ( ar, طلائع حرب التحرير الشعبية - قوات الصاعقة ) is a Palestinian Ba' ...

, Amal, the Syrian

PLA PLA may refer to: Organizations Politics and military * People's Liberation Army, the armed forces of China and of the ruling Chinese Communist Party * People's Liberation Army (disambiguation) ** Irish National Liberation Army, formerly called t ...

and parts of the PLF, the PLO was gradually expelled from Lebanon in the mid-to late 1980s. By that time Fatah al-Intifada had been reduced to a minor part of Syria's network of militia proxies, with little or no independent decision-making.

Decline

By the late 1980s, Fatah al-Intifada had a brief rapprochement with Arafat's Fatah, but due to its opposition to the

Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993;

, and generally poor relations between the PLO and the Assad government, Fatah al-Intifada has not been able to secure a role in today's

Palestinian politics Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

. Instead it remains a minor faction in the

Palestinian refugee Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war (1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War (1967 Palestinian exodu ...

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

s of Syria and Lebanon, where it was able to organize under the umbrella of the Syrian military presence until its

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

in 2005. It remains very much a part of Syrian-sponsored efforts to influence Palestinian politics, regularly backing Syrian initiatives and being a core member of a Syrian-led coalition of Palestinian groups based in Damascus. In the Syrian Civil War, Fatah al-Intifada fought alongside the government against the

Syrian opposition The Syrian opposition ( ar, المعارضة السورية ', ) is the political structure represented by the Syrian National Coalition and associated Syrian anti-Assad groups with certain territorial control as an alternative Syrian gover ...

, and took part in the Siege of Eastern Ghouta, the Southern Damascus offensive (April–May 2018), and other battles. By 2018, however, it began to lay off its fighters due to the decreasing intensity of the civil war and lack of funds.

Leadership

Abu Musa was the leader of the group until his death in 2013. The post of Secretary-General is now held by Abu Hazim, while Abu Fadi Hammad acts as Regional Secretary-General for Lebanon.

Militant activities

During the 1980s, Fatah al-Intifada committed a number of attacks on

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, including on Israeli

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...

s, but it has not been involved in violence against Israel since sometime before the

Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993;

in 1993.

References

{{reflist

External links

Center for Palestinian Media Studies - Fatah al-Intifada
Official Fatah al-Intifada website Former factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization Palestinian militant groups Palestinian nationalist parties Pro-government factions of the Syrian civil war Socialist parties in the Palestinian territories Military units and formations established in 1983 Axis of Resistance