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FATAH - THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY'S "MILITARY OPTION"
The Fatah movement was established in Egypt by Yasser Arafat in the '50s, as a Palestinian national movement, which championed the armed struggle for the "release of all Palestine". On June 1st 1965, the Fatah perpetrated its first terror attack against Israel, a date which became the official anniversary of the movement's founding. Led by Arafat since the end of the 1960's, the Fatah movement has supported the on-going armed struggle to realize national goals, and since 1974 has displayed a willingness in principle, to hold political dialogue which does not deviate from its fundamental principles. In 1993 Arafat harnessed the Fatah movement to lead the political "peace process" through the Oslo Accords, which in the eyes of the Fatah movement were the realization of the "Palestinian National Dream". Alongside the peace process over the last decade, the Fatah movement has preserved its character as a popular movement with semi-military features, supporting Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. The Fatah movement assists the Palestinian Authority in recruiting the masses for conflict with Israel and operating the "military option", as occurred in September 1997 and May 2000. The Fatah movement has played a decisive role in the armed struggle initiated by the PA on September 28th 2000 against Israel, forming a solid front with other terrorist organizations (led by the Hamass and the Islamic Jihad) and maintaining contact with Iraq and the Hizbollah. Between October 2000 and July 2001 some 6000 attacks were carried out in Judea, Samaria, the Gaza Strip and within the Green Line, most of them by Fatah movement activists.
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