''Tanzim'' ( ar, تنظيم ', "Organization") is a militant faction of the Palestinian

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.

Overview

The Tanzim militia, founded in 1995 by

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 other

leaders to counter Palestinian

Islamism Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern State (polity), states and Administrative division, regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, Economics, econom ...

, is widely considered to be an armed offshoot of Fatah with its own leadership structure. The acknowledged head of the Tanzim is

Marwan Barghouti Marwan Hasib Ibrahim Barghouti (also transliterated al-Barghuthi; ar, مروان حسيب ابراهيم البرغوثي; born 6 June 1959) is a Palestinian political figure convicted and imprisoned for murder by an Israeli court. He is rega ...

, who is as of 2017, serving five consecutive life sentences in Israel for murder, and, according to some accounts, has a substantial following among the rejectionist camp which opposes the Interim Agreement (also called Oslo II or Taba) signed on 28 September 1995 with Israel. The Tanzim is a grass roots organization that operates at the community level. By taking a hardline position against Israel, it has helped siphon Palestinian support from the Islamist groups to the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

and PLO leadership. Tanzim came to prominence in the street fighting which marked the beginning of the second Palestinian Intifada. Its members tend to be younger than those of other Fatah factions, often having grown up in the post-Oslo era. Many Tanzim members have joined the

al-Shaid Yasser Arafat Brigades The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades () is a coalition of Palestinian armed groups in the West Bank. The organization has been designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the European Union, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United St ...

(formerly the ''al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades''). Tanzim has also recruited female

suicide bomber A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...

s, including

Andaleeb Takatka A suicide bombing occurred on 12 April 2002 at a bus stop located at the entrance to the Mahane Yehuda Market which is Jerusalem's main fruit and vegetable market. The site of the attack was chosen in order to cause maximum number of casualties. ...

, a 20-year-old

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital ...

woman who detonated an explosive belt at a

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

bus stop in April 2002, killing six Israeli civilians, and injuring sixty.

, widely described as heading Tanzim, explicitly condemned terror attacks within Israel, writing "While I, and the Fatah movement to which I belong, strongly oppose attacks and the targeting of civilians inside Israel, our future neighbor, I reserve the right to protect myself, to resist the Israeli occupation of my country and to fight for my freedom." On 15 February 2015, the Israeli army arrested Jamal Abu Lel, charging that he was "the head of" the Tanzim "terrorist organization," running it from the

Qalandiya Qalandia ( ar, قلنديا, he, קלנדיה), also Kalandiya, is a Palestinian village located in the West Bank, between Jerusalem and Ramallah, just west from the Jerusalem municipality boundary. In 2006, 1,154 people were living in the vil ...

refugee camp while carrying an Israeli permanent resident identity card due to his residing in Kfar Aqab, on the other side of the Jerusalem Airport from Qalandiya. Abu Lel is accused by the

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; he, שֵׁירוּת הַבִּיטָּחוֹן הַכְּלָלִי; ''Sherut ha-Bitaẖon haKlali''; "the General Security Service"; ar, جهاز الأمن العام), better known by the acronym Shabak ( he, ...

of funding and directing terrorist and shooting attacks against Israelis.

Attacks against military and civilian targets

Fatah Tanzim have conducted a number of attacks against Israeli civilians and military, including against women and children. Below is a partial list of terrorist attacks:

References

{{reflist

External links

Fatah Tanzim
at GlobalSecurity.org Fatah Palestinian militant groups Military wings of socialist parties Defunct Palestinian militant groups 1995 establishments in the Palestinian territories

Overview

Attacks against military and civilian targets

See also

References

External links