Outflanking Arafat
EWEN MacKASKILL
Guardian, 18 October 2001
The roots of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which yesterday assassinated the Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi, can be traced to 1948, the year the state of Israel was born.
George Habash, the PFLP founder, was a medical student at the time and witnessed the forced removal of Arabs from their towns. "From that time, I felt that I had to sacrifice all my life for my just cause," he said.
Disillusioned with the failure of Arab nations to defeat Israel in the following years, he formed his Marxist-Leninist group, the PFLP, after the Six-Day War in 1967. The PFLP was responsible for much of the murder and mayhem over the next 20 years.
It helped to pioneer plane hijacks, gaining notoriety in 1970 when it took three planes to a Jordanian airstrip and blew them up. It was also involved in the Tel Aviv airport massacre in 1972.
Mr Habash, a charismatic figure, vied with Yasser Arafat for the leadership of the Palestinians. Mr Arafat eventually won with a strategy of wooing support from moderate Arab countries.
Mr Habash, the more radical figure, opted for support from the then Soviet Union and China and the Soviet Union's client state in the Middle East, Syria.
It was the latter that provided both financial support and a safe haven, and today the PFLP headquarters remains in Damascus.
When Mr Arafat agreed the Oslo peace plan with Israel in 1993, Mr Habash rejected it, holding instead to the aim of the destruction of Israel. He stood down as leader in April last year. He was replaced by Abu Ali Mustafa, his long-time aide. More moderate than Mr Habash, the Israelis allowed him to return from Damascus to the West Bank.
The PFLP is estimated to have about 800 members in the West Bank and Gaza. Since the Palestinian uprising began in September last year, it has been involved in ambushes and mortar attacks.
Mr Mustafa was assassinated in August when an Israeli helicopter gunship fired a rocket into his office on the West Bank. The PFLP replaced him with a hardliner, Ahmed Saadat, and vowed vengeance. It fulfilled that threat yesterday.