Yonah Alexander

Palestinian Secular Terrorism: Profiles of Fatah, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine -general Command and the Democratic Yonah Alexander

For the fourth volume of terrorist group profiles we have selected several major Palestinian secular groups. Fatah (meaning "conquest"), formed by Yasser Arafat in 1958, is the largest body within the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). Currently, Fatah's Tanzim, Force 17, the al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades, and other affiliate groups are engaged in terrorist activities against Israel. Three other major movements within the PLO are the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). These organisations also seek to liberate Palestine through an "armed struggle". The aim of this book, like the earlier volumes on al-Qaida, the ETA, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, is not to glorify terrorist movements. Rather it is designed to provide an easily accessible reference for academics, policy makers, reporters, and other interested individuals on the most active secular Palestinian terrorists groups. This volume exposes much of their mystique and thereby places them in perspective as three of the many challenges facing the international community in the 21st century.