FATAHTANZIM

The armed wing ofFatah, the largest faction of thePalestine Liberation Organization(PLO); set up in 1995 by PLO leaderYasser Arafatand the Fatah leadership to serve a dual function. On the one hand, acting as a semiautonomous agency, it was to engage Israeli security forces andsettlerswithout officially breaking signed agreements with Israel entered into by the PLO or the Fatah-dominatedPalestinian Authority(PA; and thereby giving Arafat a degree of "deniability"). On the other hand, as a paramilitary organization with a popular base, the Fatah-Tanzim was also to act as a counterweight to the military wing of the Islamist opponents of the PLO and the PA, namelyHamasandPalestinian Islamic Jihad. The Tanzim played a leading role in initiating and sustaining theAl-Aksa intifada.

See alsoBarghouti, Marwan (1959- ); Suicide Bombings; Terrorism.