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The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP; ar, الجبهة الديموقراطية لتحرير فلسطين, ''al-Jabha al-Dīmūqrāṭiyya li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn'') is a secular
Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
Marxist–Leninist organization. It is also frequently referred to as the Democratic Front, or al-Jabha al-Dīmūqrāṭiyya (). It is a member organization 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 ...
, the
Alliance of Palestinian Forces The Alliance of Palestinian Forces ( ar, تحالف القوى الفلسطينية, abbreviated APF) is a loose Damascus-based alliance of eight Palestinian political factions. The Alliance was created in Damascus in December 1993 by ten Palesti ...
and the
Democratic Alliance List The Democratic Alliance List ( ar, قائمة التحالف الديمقراطي), also referred to as the Democratic Alliance Forces () or just the Democratic Alliance (), was a coalition launched before the Palestinian local government electio ...
. The group maintains a paramilitary wing called the ''National Resistance Brigades''. One of the attacks for which the DFLP is best known is the 1974
Ma'alot massacre The Ma'alot massacreSources describing the event as a "massacre": * "The day after the Ma'alot massacre, condemned by Pope Paul VI and most Western leaders as 'an evil outrage…'" Frank Gervasi. ''Thunder Over the Mediterranean'', McKay, 1975 ...
in which 25 schoolchildren and teachers were killed. Although the National Resistance Brigades have fighters based in both the
West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
and the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
, these fighters have been engaged in relatively few military operations since the
Al-Aqsa Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel ...
. The National Resistance Brigades continue to take part in training exercises at paramilitary camps near
Rafah Rafah ( ar, رفح, Rafaḥ) is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. It is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate, located south of Gaza City. Rafah's population of 152,950 (2014) is overwhelmingly made up of former Palestini ...
and
Khan Yunis Khan Yunis ( ar, خان يونس, also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus; translation: ''Caravansary fJonah'') is a city in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Khan Yunis had a population of 142,6 ...
.


History


Formation as the PDFLP

The
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, translit=al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn, PFLP) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary so ...
(PFLP) was formed in 1967 by
George Habash George Habash ( ar, جورج حبش, Jūrj Ḥabash), also known by his laqab "al-Hakim" ( ar, الحكيم, al-Ḥakīm, "the wise one" or "the doctor"; 2 August 1926 – 26 January 2008) was a Palestinian Christian politician who founded th ...
as a
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
organization. The PFLP split in 1968, leading to the formation of the Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PDFLP)''Abd Rabbo, Yasir''
pp. 6-7. Michael R. Fischbach, Encyclopedia of the Palestinians. Infobase Publishing, 2005
headed by Secretary-General
Nayef Hawatmeh Nayef Hawatmeh ( ar, نايف حواتمة, Nāyef Ḥawātmeh, Kunya: Abu an-Nuf) is a Jordanian politician who was active in the Palestinian political life. Hawatmeh hails from a Jordanian clan and is a practicing Greek Catholic. He is th ...
, who had been referred to as a leader of the PFLP's
Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
tendency. He believed that under George Habash the PFLP had become too focused on military matters, and wanted to make the PDFLP a more
grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
and ideologically focused organization. Another split in the PFLP in 1968 led to the formation by
Ahmad Jibril Ahmed Jibril ( ar, أحمد جبريل; April 1937 – 7 July 2021) was a Palestinian militant, the founder and leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC). During the Syrian Civil War, Jibril w ...
of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين – القيادة العامة) or PFLP-GC is a Palestinian nationalist militant organisation based in Syria. ...
(PFLP-GC), to focus more on the tactical implementation of armed struggle. In May–June 1969, the
Palestinian Revolutionary Left League The Palestinian Revolutionary Left League ( ar, عصبة اليسار الثوري الفلسطيني) was a Palestinian movement. It emerged from a split in the Popular Organization for the Liberation of Palestine in 1969. The organization was pri ...
and the
Palestine Popular Liberation Organization Palestine Popular Liberation Organization (in Arabic: المنظمة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين) was a Palestinian political organization. It was formed in 1964, on the eve of the first session of the Palestinian National Council whic ...
merged into PDFLP. The PDFLP soon gained a reputation as the most intellectual of the
Palestinian fedayeen 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 ...
groups, and drew heavily on Marxist–Leninist theory to explain the situation in the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
. Its other leaders included
Yasser Abed Rabbo Yasser Abed Rabbo ( ar, ياسر عبد ربه) also known by his '' kunya'', Abu Bashar ( ar, ابو بشار) (born 17 September 1945) is a Palestinian politician and a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Executive Committee. ...
.


Early years and ideological moderation

The DFLP declared that its goal was to "create a people's democratic Palestine, where Arabs and Jews would live without discrimination, a state without classes and national oppression, a state which allows Arabs and Jews to develop their national culture." The PDFLP's original political orientation was based on the view that Palestinian national goals could be achieved only through
revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
of the masses and "
people's war People's war (Chinese: 人民战争), also called protracted people's war, is a Maoist military strategy. First developed by the Chinese communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong (1893–1976), the basic concept behind people's war is to main ...
". However, it would soon come around to a more moderate standpoint and while preserving a hard-line attitude to armed struggle, the party began theorizing on various compromise solutions. DFLP was badly hit by the 1970 September crack-down in
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
. The offices of its
Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 as of 2021, Amman is ...
-based publication ''Al-Charar'' was bombed and burned by Jordanian tanks. From the mid-1970s, the group occupied a political stance midway between
Yasser 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 ...
and the PLO hardliners. The DFLP condemned attacks outside
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 ...
(such as the
aircraft hijacking Aircraft hijacking (also known as airplane hijacking, skyjacking, plane hijacking, plane jacking, air robbery, air piracy, or aircraft piracy, with the last term used within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States) is the unlawfu ...
s for which the Habash PFLP gained notoriety) and was essential in making the
binational state The one-state solution, sometimes also called a bi-national state, is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, according to which one state must be established between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean. Proponen ...
the goal of the PLO in the 1970s, insisting on the need for cooperation between
Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
and
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
. Still, while pioneering Palestinian-Israeli peace talks through making early contact with Jewish and Israeli peace campaigners, including
Matzpen Matzpen ( he, מצפן, lit. 'Compass') is the name of a revolutionary socialist and anti-Zionist organisation, founded in Israel in 1962 which was active until the 1980s. Its official name was the Socialist Organisation in Israel, but it became ...
, the DFLP simultaneously conducted numerous small bombings and minor assaults against Israeli targets, refusing to give up the armed struggle. The
Ma'alot massacre The Ma'alot massacreSources describing the event as a "massacre": * "The day after the Ma'alot massacre, condemned by Pope Paul VI and most Western leaders as 'an evil outrage…'" Frank Gervasi. ''Thunder Over the Mediterranean'', McKay, 1975 ...
of 1974, an attack on Israeli school in which 27 people were killed, was the group's largest attack.


Between Fatah and the Rejectionists

In 1974, the PDFLP changed its name to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). It was also a strong supporter of the 1974 Ten Point Program, which was accepted by the Palestinian National Council (PNC) after lobbying by
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 ...
and DFLP, and which cautiously introduced the concept of a
two-state solution The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisions an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River. The boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotia ...
in the PLO, and led to a split in the organization leading to the formation of 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 ...
, where radical organizations such as the PFLP, PFLP-GC,
Palestine Liberation Front The Palestinian Liberation Front ( ar, جبهة التحرير الفلسطينية, PLF) is a Palestinian political faction. Since 1997, the PLF has been a designated terrorist organization by the United States and by Canada since 2003. The P ...
and others gathered with the backing of
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 ...
,
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
and
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
to oppose Arafat and the mainstream PLO stance. In 1974 the DFLP perpetrated a major terror attack in Israel, when attacking a local elementary school in the village of Ma'alot. Taking the school-children as hostages, 22 children aged 14–16 were killed when an army commando engaged them. In 1978 the DFLP temporarily switched sides and joined the Rejectionist Front after clashing with Arafat on several issues, but it would continue to serve as a mediator in the factional disputes of the PLO. In the tense situation leading up to the 1983 Fatah rebellion, during 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 DFLP offered mediation to prevent the Syrian-backed formation of a rival Fatah leadership under
Said al-Muragha Col. Saeed Musa Muragha ( ar, سعيد مُراغة or سعيد موسى ) (1927 – 29 January 2013) was a former captain in the Jordanian army until he defected and joined the PLO in 1970. He is well known among Palestinians as Abu Musa. ...
(Abu Musa), the
Fatah al-Intifada Fatah al-Intifada ( ar, فتح الانتفاضة ''Fatah Uprising'') is a Palestinian militant 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 ...
faction. Its efforts ultimately failed, and the PLO became embroiled in what was in effect a Palestinian civil war.


Stagnation in the 1980s

From the early 1980s the DFLP was seen as the most pro-
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
and pro-
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
of the PLO member organisations. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the growing Islamist trend in Palestinian society during the 1990s sapped the party of much of its popularity and resources. The Chinese leader
Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...
also began to reduce the PRC's support for revolutionary struggles abroad throughout this period so as to reduce the damage it caused to trade relations with the West. The DFLP continued to cautiously support Arafat's attempts to open negotiations with Israel, but this was not uncontroversial within the membership. The First Intifada (1987–93) provoked a shift in Palestinian politics towards the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which proved a severe handicap for the largely
diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
-based DFLP. With the swift rise of
Islamism Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...
and religious groups such as
Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...
in the 1980s, the DFLP faded among the Palestinian youth, and internal confusion over the future path of the organization paralysed political decision-making. On 23 February 1989 three members of the DFLP were killed by the SLA inside the Israel’s security zone in South Lebanon. The killings brought the number of guerrillas killed in South Lebanon since the beginning of 1989 to thirty.


1991 split

In 1991 the DFLP split, with a minority faction led by
Yasser Abd Rabbo Yasser Abed Rabbo ( ar, ياسر عبد ربه) also known by his '' kunya'', Abu Bashar ( ar, ابو بشار) (born 17 September 1945) is a Palestinian politician and a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Executive Committee ...
(who had become increasingly close to Yasser Arafat) favouring the Madrid negotiations that led initially to limited Palestinian
autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...
in the
West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
and
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
. Inspired by the USSR's
Glasnost ''Glasnost'' (; russian: link=no, гласность, ) has several general and specific meanings – a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information, the inadmissibility of hushing up problems, ...
and the fall of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
, this group also favored a new political orientation, focused less on Marxism and armed struggle, and more on the democratisation of Palestinian society. It reconstituted itself as the
Palestine Democratic Union The Palestinian Democratic Union ( ar, الاتحاد الديمقراطي الفلسطيني ''Al-Ittihad al-Dimuqrati al-Filastini''), generally known as FIDA ( ar, فدا) is a small Palestinian political party active in the Palestine Liberati ...
(FIDA), and Abed Rabbo was officially made an advisor of Arafat. There were reports of armed clashes between the factions in Syria during the split. Essentially the
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 = , ...
-headquartered DFLP under
Nayef Hawatmeh Nayef Hawatmeh ( ar, نايف حواتمة, Nāyef Ḥawātmeh, Kunya: Abu an-Nuf) is a Jordanian politician who was active in the Palestinian political life. Hawatmeh hails from a Jordanian clan and is a practicing Greek Catholic. He is th ...
was able to retain its external branches, whereas the majority of the organization within Palestine, mainly on the West Bank, was taken over by FIDA.


The Oslo period

The DFLP, under Hawatmeh, joined the rejectionist groups to form the
Alliance of Palestinian Forces The Alliance of Palestinian Forces ( ar, تحالف القوى الفلسطينية, abbreviated APF) is a loose Damascus-based alliance of eight Palestinian political factions. The Alliance was created in Damascus in December 1993 by ten Palesti ...
(APF) to oppose the
Declaration of Principles The Oslo I Accord or Oslo I, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or short Declaration of Principles (DOP), was an attempt in 1993 to set up a framework that would lead to the resolution of th ...
signed in 1993. The group argued that the Oslo negotiations were undemocratic, excluded the PLO from decision-making and deprived the Palestinians of their legitimate rights, but in contrast to most other Alliance members they did not oppose a two-state solution as such. Along with the PFLP, it then broke from the APF over ideological differences, and has made limited moves toward merging with the PFLP since the mid-1990s. In 1999, at a meeting in
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, the DFLP and the PFLP agreed to cooperate with the PLO leadership in final status negotiations with Israel. In October 1999, the group was dropped from the United States' list of terror organizations. The DFLP was subsequently represented in the Palestinian delegation at the unsuccessful Camp David negotiations of July 2000.


Second Intifada (2000–2005)

The DFLP has been largely unable to make its presence felt during the al-Aqsa Intifada, which began in 2000. The leadership is stationed in Damascus, and most of the DFLP organization on the Occupied Territories unraveled in the FIDA split. Its military capacity has been fading fast since the 1993
cease-fire A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
between the PLO and
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 ...
, which the DFLP respected despite its objections to the Oslo Accords. Since the beginning of the Second Palestinian Intifada the DFLP has carried out a number of shooting attacks against Israeli targets, such as the 25 August 2001 attack on a military base in Gaza that killed three Israeli soldiers and wounded seven others. However, its military capabilities in the Occupied Territories remain limited, and the refocusing on armed struggle during the Intifada has further weakened the organization. On 11 September 2001, an anonymous caller claimed responsibility for the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
on behalf of the DFLP. This was immediately denied by
Nayef Hawatmeh Nayef Hawatmeh ( ar, نايف حواتمة, Nāyef Ḥawātmeh, Kunya: Abu an-Nuf) is a Jordanian politician who was active in the Palestinian political life. Hawatmeh hails from a Jordanian clan and is a practicing Greek Catholic. He is th ...
, who strongly condemned the attacks. Although the accusations gained some attention in the days following the attacks, they are now universally regarded as false.


Political influence

The DFLP ran a candidate,
Taysir Khalid Taysir Khalid ( ar, تيسير خالد), also spelled as ''Tayseer Khaled'', is a member and politburo, member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), and a former member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberat ...
, in the Palestinian Authority
presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...
in 2005. He gained 3.35% of the vote. The party had initially participated in discussions with the PFLP and the
Palestinian People's Party The Palestinian People's Party (PPP; ar, حزب الشعب الفلسطيني ''Hizb al-Sha'b al-Filastini''), founded in 1982 as the Palestinian Communist Party, is a socialist political party in Palestine and among the Palestinian diaspora. ...
on running a joint left-wing candidate, but these were unsuccessful. It won one seat in the 2005 PA municipal elections. In the 2006 elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council, the Front formed a joint list called '' al-Badeel'' (The Alternative) with
Palestine Democratic Union The Palestinian Democratic Union ( ar, الاتحاد الديمقراطي الفلسطيني ''Al-Ittihad al-Dimuqrati al-Filastini''), generally known as FIDA ( ar, فدا) is a small Palestinian political party active in the Palestine Liberati ...
(FIDA), the
Palestinian People's Party The Palestinian People's Party (PPP; ar, حزب الشعب الفلسطيني ''Hizb al-Sha'b al-Filastini''), founded in 1982 as the Palestinian Communist Party, is a socialist political party in Palestine and among the Palestinian diaspora. ...
and independents. The list was led by the historic DFLP leader
Qais Abd al-Karim Qais Abd al-Karim ( ar, قيس عبد الكريم), also known as Abu Layla or Qays Samarra’i, is a leading Palestinian activist of Iraqi origin. He is a leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and a member of the Palest ...
(Abu Leila). It received 2.8% of the popular vote and won two of the Council's 132 seats. The DFLP retains important influence within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It was traditionally the third-largest group within the PLO, after
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 ...
and the PFLP, and since no new elections have been held to the PNC or the
Executive Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
since 1988, the DFLP still commands important sectors within the organization. The PLO's role has admittedly diminished in later years, in favor of the
Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,
(PNA), but it is still the recognized representative of the Palestinian people, and a reactivation of the PLO's constitutional supremacy over the PNA in connection with power struggles in Palestinian society is a distinct possibility.


Organization and leadership

The DFLP held its 5th national general congress during a time-span from February to August 2007. The congress was divided into three parallel circle:
West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
,
Gaza strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
and the Palestinian exiles. The congress elected a
Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...
, with 81 full members and 21 alternate members. Subsequently, after the closure of the 5th national general congress, the Central Committee re-elected Hawatmeh as Secretary-General of the DFLP. The Central Committee also elected a 13-member
political bureau A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist party, communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian language, Russian ''Pol ...
, including:


Support base

The DFLP is primarily active among Palestinians in
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 ...
and
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, with a smaller presence in the
West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
and
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
. Its
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
branch has been converted into a separate political party, the
Jordanian Democratic People's Party Jordanian Democratic People's Party ( ar, حزب الشعب الديمقراطي الأردني ''Hizb Al-Sha'ab Al-Dimuqrati Al-Urduni'', HASHD), is a communist party in Jordan. HASHD was formed in 1989, when the Democratic Front for the Liberat ...
(JDPP or Hashd), and the DFLP is no longer active on the political arena there. The DFLP mainly attracts Palestinians with a more socially liberal and secular lifestyle, as well as
Palestinian Christians Palestinian Christians ( ar, مَسِيحِيُّون فِلَسْطِينِيُّون, Masīḥiyyūn Filasṭīniyyūn) are Christian citizens of the State of Palestine. In the wider definition of Palestinian Christians, including the Palestin ...
, primarily in cities like
Nablus Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...
, and Bethlehem. The party publishes a weekly newspaper in several Arab countries, ''
al-Hurriya Al-Hurriya, alternatively Al-Horaya is a neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is ...
'' (Liberty).


External relations

The DFLP is believed to receive limited financial and military aid from Syria, where it is active in the
Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
refugee camps A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...
. The DFLP's leader, Nayif Hawatmeh lives in Syria. It has provided with military training other Marxist–Leninist militants of the
Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...
(PKK) and the
Sandinistas The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto Cé ...
. The DFLP is not listed as a
terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
organization by the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
government or the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
. It was dropped from the
U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) is a designation for non-United States-based organizations deemed by the United States Secretary of State, in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (INA), to be involved ...
in 1999, "primarily because of the absence of terrorist activity, as defined by relevant law...during the past two years."


See also

* Palestinian Communist Party *
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, translit=al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn, PFLP) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary so ...
*
Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front The Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front ( tr, Devrimci Halk Kurtuluş Partisi-Cephesi or DHKP-C) is a far-left Marxist–Leninist Communist party in Turkey. It was founded in 1978 as Revolutionary Left (Turkish: or ), and has been inv ...
*
Syrian Resistance The Syrian Resistance (''al-Muqāwamat al-Sūriyah'', Arabic: المقاومة السورية), formerly known as the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Sanjak of Iskandarun (Arabic: الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير لواء اسـ ...
*
List of political parties in the State of Palestine The following political parties, listed in alphabetic order, have taken part in recent elections for the Palestinian National Authority in the Palestinian territories: Brief history and overview In 1994, The Palestinian Authority was formed, ...


References

;Bibliography * ''Patterns of Global Terrorism'', 1998.
United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...
, April 1999.


External links


Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
– Official English language web page. * – Old website
Al-badeel electoral coalitional-Hourriah Magazine
(Arabic language)
al-Ahali
– Newspaper of the Jordanian JDPP (Arabic language) * – General info {{DEFAULTSORT:Democratic Front For The Liberation Of Palestine Anti-Zionism in the Palestinian territories Guerrilla organizations Marxist parties Maoist parties National liberation movements Organizations formerly designated as terrorist by the United States Palestinian militant groups Axis of Resistance