The Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF, occasionally abbr. PSF), (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: جبهة النضال الشعبي الفلسطيني, ''Jabhet Al-Nedal Al-Sha'abi Al-Falestini''), is a

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 ...

political party.

Samir Ghawshah Samir Ghawshah also spelled Samir Ghosha ( ar, سمير غوشة, 1937–August 3, 2009), was a Palestinian politician and militia leader. He was the head of the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF) and member of the ...

was elected secretary-general of PPSF in 1971 and led it until his death in 2009. He was succeeded by

Ahmed Majdalani Ahmed Majdalani ( ar, أحمد مجدلاني) (born 1956) is a Palestinian politician, university professor and researcher. A former Palestinian government minister, he currently serves as Secretary-General of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Fro ...

on 8 August 2009. PPSF holds a seat on the

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

(PLO) executive council, though it is generally considered to have a limited influence over Palestinian politics.

Early history

The PPSF was founded as the Palestinian Popular Struggle Organization (PPSO) 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 ...

in 1967 by Bahjat Abu Gharbiyah, a former Ba'athist, following a split from 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 soci ...

(PFLP). It had close ties to

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 in 1971 it officially became a Fatah-affiliated organization. It fell out with

Yasir 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 ...

in 1973, and left Fatah to act independently. In 1974 PPSF left the PLO to become a founding member 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 ...

with other radical

factions who rejected the Ten Point Program adopted by the

(PLO). In the 1970s the PPSF hijacked airplanes, and also attacked civilian Israeli passengers in

Athens Airport Athens International Airport ''Eleftherios Venizelos'' ( el, Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Αθηνών «Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος», ''Diethnís Aeroliménas Athinón "Elefthérios Venizélos"''), commonly initialised as ...

in 1969. Initially close to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

after its break with Fatah, it eventually slipped into decline. In 1982 it was revived jointly by

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

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 ...

, in an attempt to bolster hardliner and anti-Arafat forces in the PLO (Syria was simultaneously fighting the PLO in

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 ...

). Members of the PPSF were mentioned as possible suspects in the 1988

Lockerbie Bombing Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boe ...

, believed to have been orchestrated by the Libyan regime, but Samir Ghawshah denied the charges.

Reconciliation with PLO and PNA politics

In 1991, PPSF was allowed to rejoin the PLO after accepting

United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 (S/RES/242) was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on November 22, 1967, in the aftermath of the Six-Day War. It was adopted under Chapter VI of the UN Charter. The resolution was spons ...

and the concept of negotiations with

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 ...

. Ghawshah gained a seat on the

PLO Executive Committee The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO EC) ( ar, اللجنة التنفيذية لمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية) is the highest executive body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and act ...

. The PPSF split into two, the main group, the Samir Ghawsha faction, accepted 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), while

Khalid ‘Abd al-Majid Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal", and it also appears as a surname.

's parallel PPSF opposed it from exile in

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 = , ...

, Syria. The Samir Ghawsha faction of PPSF took part in the 1996 Palestinian legislative elections with 12 candidates. Together they got 0.76% of the national vote. The faction also took part in the

2006 Palestinian legislative election Legislative elections were held in the Palestinian territories on 25 January 2006 in order to elect the second Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the legislature of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The result was a victory for Hamas ...

as part of the "

Freedom and Social Justice Freedom and Social Justice was a coalition that contested the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections. It was constituted by Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, Kafi Movement and the Palestinian Green Party Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطين ...

" list, which got 7,127 votes (0.72%) and failed to win a seat. In June 2018 the party was admitted to the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations. ...

as consultative member.

Front organizations

The PPSF maintains five front organizations; the Workers Struggle Bloc,

Palestinian Struggle Youth Union The Palestinian Struggle Youth Union ( ar, اتحاد شباب النضال الفلسطيني) is a youth organization in the Palestinian territories The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine t ...

, Students Struggle Bloc,

Women's Struggle Bloc A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

and

Teachers Struggle Bloc A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. PPSF publishes ''Sawt an-Nidhal'' (Voice of the Struggle).

References

External links

PPSF homepage
{{Authority control Arab Nationalist Movement breakaway groups Factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization Left-wing nationalist parties Palestinian militant groups Palestinian nationalist parties Palestinian terrorism Political parties established in 1967 Socialist parties in the Palestinian territories

Early history

Reconciliation with PLO and PNA politics

Front organizations

See also

References

External links