Palestinian political violence
Encyclopedia : P : PA : PAL : Palestinian political violence
| Terrorism General |
|---|
| Definitions |
| Conventions |
| Counterterrorism |
| War on Terrorism |
| Lists |
| Organizations |
| Incidents |
| Types |
| Nationalist |
| Religious |
| State |
| State-sponsored |
| Racist |
| Narcoterrorism |
| Anarchist |
| Political |
| Eco-terrorism |
| Tactics |
| Hijacking |
| Assassination |
| IED (bomb) |
| Car bombing |
| Suicide bombing |
| Kidnapping |
| Bioterrorism |
| Nuclear terrorism |
| Cyber-terrorism |
| Configurations |
| Fronts |
| Lone-wolf |
These groups, with the exception of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, are listed as terrorist organizations by the United States["Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs)"] - U.S. Department of State and the European Union.["Council Common Position 2004/500/CFSP of 17 May 2004"] - EU list of "persons, groups and entities involved in terrorist acts" Until 1993, the PLO was also listed as a terrorist group by the United States. Like much political violence, the perpetrators say that their attacks are justified, while the victims say otherwise. Regardless of the moral, political, or [tactical] justifications, these attacks are defined as terrorism when they are indiscriminate or directed at non-combatants, according to all academic definitions of "terrorism", and definitions used by the United Nations. [link]
1920–1987
- redirect
During the British mandate in Palestine, Arab political violence directed against the British and against Zionist settlement included the Jerusalem pogrom of April, 1920, the riots in Palestine of May, 1921, the 1929 Hebron massacre, and the Great Uprising of 1936–1939. Prominent leaders of the Palestinian groups were Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, who was shot and killed by English soldiers, and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin Al-Husseini, who was deported.
According to David Meir-Levi, "From 1949 to 1956, Egypt waged a terror war against Israel, launching c. 9,000 attacks from terrorist cells set up in the refugee camps of the Gaza Strip." [link] The Israeli government cites dozens of these as "Major Arab Terrorist Attacks against Israelis prior to the 1967 Six-Day War". [link] [link] Between 1949 and 1956, 400 Israelis were killed and 900 wounded by fedayeen attacks. [link] [link]; according to the Anti-Defamation League "[i]n 1955 alone, 260 Israeli citizens were killed or wounded by fedayeen". [link] In 1964, the PLO was founded in order to "liberate," as they saw it, what they called the "usurped part" of Palestine, which had become the state of Israel. [link]
After Black September in 1970, the PLO and its offshoots waged an international campaign against Israelis. Notable events were the Munich Olympics massacre (1972) and the hijacking of several civilian airliners. During the 1970s and the early 1980s, Israel suffered attacks from PLO bases in Lebanon, such as the Maalot massacre in 1974. Following the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, called "Operation Peace for Galilee" by the IDF, and the exile of the PLO to Tunis, Israel had a relatively quiet decade.
Current political violence
According to B'Tselem, as of July 10, 2005, 821 Israeli civilians have been killed in acts of political violence carried out by Palestinians since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, 553 of whom were killed within the 1949 Armistice lines, mainly by suicide bombers. Targets of attacks included buses, restaurants, discotheques, shopping malls, a university, and civilian homes in Israeli settlements within the West Bank and Gaza Strip. [link],[link].On-going polls by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, a Palestinian organization, have consistently shown some support by the Palestinian public for acts of violence against Israelis, as part of what they see as the efforts of a resistance movement. Current polls, however, show that the majority of those polled do not support "military operations" against Israeli targets and see these attacks as "harmful to the Palestinian national interest". Those that support attacks believe it is the "proper response under the current political conditions". [link]
Some allege that the Palestinian Authority (PA) does not do enough to prevent attacks, or to reduce Palestinian public support for acts of violence. Some accuse the PA of sponsoring groups that carry out acts of violence, such as Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, and of using the official PA television, radio, press, and education system to facilitate attacks upon Israel. Palestinians assert that it is not realistic to expect the kind of control Israel demands from the PA to curtail these groups, as the PA does not have actual control of most cities or adequate law-enforcement resources, and has suffered infrastructural damage to much of its security apparatus during confrontations with the Israel Defense Force (IDF).
There have been numerous instances where Palestinians have exploited children for attacks, as bomb transporters and suicide bombers. On March 16, 2005, an Israeli border guard found a bomb in the school bag of 12-year-old Abdullah Quran at a military checkpoint near Nablus. His life was saved only because a cell phone rigged to detonate the 13-pound bomb failed to set off the explosive at the checkpoint as it had been designed to do.
Eight days later, on March 24, 16-year-old Hussam Abdo was captured wearing an explosive belt, having allegedly been paid by Fatah's Tanzim branch to blow himself up at the same checkpoint. The world's media watched as an EOD team disarmed the explosive belt with a police-sapper robot. [link] [link] (video). According to the BBC, the child was "paraded in front of the international media", and journalists were not allowed to interview the children and had to rely on the army's account of the incidents. In response, the Israeli government wrote to the BBC, accusing their correspondent, Orla Guerin of anti-Semitism and "total identification with the goals and methods of the Palestinian terror groups" McGreal, Chris. [BBC accused of bias against Israel], The Guardian, Thursday April 1, 2004
List of Palestinian Political Groups
- Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) (founded 1970s)
- * Formed by Fathi Shaqaqi as a branch of Egyptian Islamic Jihad
- * Goal is the destruction of the State of Israel and replacement with an Islamist state for Palestinians
- * Armed wing is The Al-Quds brigades
- * Enjoys none of the social or political role taken by Hamas
Sub-groups of the PLO
- Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) (founded 1967)
Groups associated with Fatah
- Tanzim (founded 1995)
Splinter groups of the PLO
- Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC) (founded 1968)
See also
- Acts
- * Al-Aqsa Intifada
- * List of massacres committed during the Al-Aqsa Intifada
- *Terrorism against Israel: Pre-2000 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004
- Methods
- * Suicide bombing
- * Female suicide bomber
- * Child suicide bomber
- * Animal suicide bomber
- * Qassam rockets
- * Mortars' shelling
- * Car bombing
- * Aircraft hijacking
- Others
- *Islamic extremist terrorism
- * Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- * Terrorism
- * Zionist political violence
References
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