Beginnings as a guerrilla organization
On October 10, 1959, Fatah was founded as a guerrilla organization by Yasser Arafat together with Salah Chalaf, Chalil al-Wazir and Faruq Qaddumi in Kuwait. It saw armed struggle as a suitable means to achieve Palestinian independence. Fatah commandos carried out their first attacks in Israel in late 1964. In the years that followed, the free fighters operated mainly from Jordan, carrying out bomb attacks and setting ambushes. The Israeli government responded by blowing up houses housing Fatah fighters and expelling supporters. Between June 1967 and December 1968, this resulted in the deaths of over 600 Palestinians, over 200 Israeli soldiers, and 47 Israeli civilians.
A turning point in the further development was the Battle of Karame. Although the Israeli punitive expedition to Karame (Jordan) cost the lives of 124 irregulars, 91 of them members of Fatah, the losses on the Israeli side were also high. In the Arab world, the battle was hailed as a great victory that restored Arab honor, which had been tarnished since the defeat in the Six-Day War. The battle confirmed Fatah in its chosen path and initiated the transfer of power in the PLO. In June 1968, the PLO's mandates were redistributed, with the various resistance movements now forming the vast majority. Fatah advanced to become the strongest faction in the PLO, and in February 1969 Fatah leader Arafat was elected chairman of the organization. The PLO had thus been transformed from an organization founded under the aegis of Nasser into the forum of the Palestinian national movement. Nevertheless, like the Palestinian cause in general, it continued to be instrumentalized by the Arab states for their own purposes.
From June to August 1970, Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Ulrike Meinhof, Horst Mahler, Peter Homann, Brigitte Asdonk and about a dozen other terrorists of the Red Army Faction stayed in a Jordanian Fatah camp and received basic training in weaponry, shooting, unarmed combat, hand grenade throwing, explosives manufacturing and combat tactics. This enabled the RAF to organize its fight in West Germany and represented a milestone in the development of terrorism, as it was the first time that one terrorist group had trained another with divergent goals and nationality.
Expulsion from Jordan
The uprising of Fatah and other Palestinian groups against the Jordanian royal house, which broke out in September 1970, failed in July 1971 and led to the complete expulsion of the free fighters from Jordan. Lebanon, especially its south, now served as a new base in the struggle against Israel. When Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, the group dispersed to various states: Tunisia, Yemen, Algeria, Iraq and others. The Fatah leadership, including Yasser Arafat, went into exile in Tunisia and remained there until 1993.
Recognition of Israel and the Oslo Peace Process
In 1993, the PLO began secret peace negotiations with Israel in Oslo, which later went down in history as the Oslo Peace Process. On September 13, 1993, Fatah leader Yasser Arafat and then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed the so-called Declaration of Principles on Temporary Self-Government (also known as "Oslo I"). The treaty is considered a milestone in the Middle East peace process. Both sides recognized each other for the first time. While Israel accepted the PLO as the official representative of the Palestinians, the latter undertook to delete from its charter all passages that mention the destruction of Israel as a goal. At the same time, a mutual renunciation of terrorism was declared. The Fatah leadership was subsequently allowed to return to Palestine. This was followed by the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, in which the PLO became the strongest force. Fatah representatives point out that Fatah, unlike the PLO, did not recognize Israel because it was a party, not a state, and only states could recognize each other, which was possible with the proclamation of the state of Palestine.
The letters exchanged between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat in the run-up to the Oslo I Accords on 9 and 10 September 1993 carry particular weight. In his letter to Rabin, Arafat writes in his instance as chairman of the PLO:
"The PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security. “
"The PLO accepts UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338. “
"The PLO considers the signing of the Declaration of Principles a historic event that ushers in a new era of peaceful coexistence, free from violence and all other acts that threaten peace and stability. Accordingly, the PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence and will assume responsibility over all PLO elements and their personnel to ensure compliance [with the agreement], prevent violations and discipline violators. “
Furthermore, the same letter goes on to say:
"[...] the PLO confirms that those articles of the Palestinian Charter which deny Israel's right to exist, and those provisions of the Charter which are inconsistent with the obligations of this letter, are now invalid and no longer valid. “
In September 1995, the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (also called "Oslo II") followed as a further step in which Fatah under Yasser Arafat participated. Among other things, it provided for the establishment of the Palestinian Council. Furthermore, since the corresponding step on the part of the Palestinians had not yet been taken, it was agreed that the PLO would obtain an amendment to the Palestinian National Charter through the National Assembly.
Yitzhak Rabin and Fatah Chairman Yasser Arafat were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts in the peace process.
Recent history and planned reconciliation with Hamas
After the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, the peace process stalled and the Camp David negotiations failed, for which Israel and the PLO blamed each other. The PLO was accused by many sides of double-dealing, and also of having at least tolerated the outbreak of the 2nd Intifada in September 2000.
On March 19, 2003, Yasser Arafat appointed his confidant Mahmoud Abbas, who had already been involved with him in the Oslo peace process, to the post of prime minister. Abbas is considered a moderate and invited many international hopes, but failed after only 100 days when he submitted his letter of resignation. However, he took over the presidency of the PLO after Arafat's death in November 2004. On January 9, 2005, Mahmoud Abbas was elected President of the Palestinian Authority and thus Arafat's successor by a clear majority of votes.
The Sharm ash-Shaykh ceasefire concluded in February 2005 by Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon ended the 2nd Intifada.
In the Palestinian parliamentary elections on January 25, 2006, Hamas won an absolute majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council. An open power struggle ensued between the former ruling Fatah and Hamas, which led to a split in the Palestinian Territories: After violent clashes, the Gaza Strip fell to Hamas (June 2007), the West Bank to Fatah.
Since the formation of the Palestinian government, Fatah has been criticized for corruption and nepotism. For Israel, Fatah is still the preferred negotiating partner among the Palestinians.
In early May 2011, to the surprise of many, Ismail Haniyya (Hamas) and Mahmoud Abbas signed a reconciliation agreement that had been drawn up a year and a half earlier by the Egyptian leadership on behalf of the Arab League. Both factions plan to form a joint interim government before the 2012 parliamentary elections. Palestinian political experts attributed the move to the Arab uprisings since the beginning of 2011. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry then announced that it would permanently open the Rafah border crossing, thus ending the Israeli blockade.
The work on a unity government of Fatah and Hamas agreed in April 2014 culminated in the appointment of Rami Hamdallah, who has already been Prime Minister of the Palestinian Territories since June 6, 2013, as joint head of government of both governing parties. Hamas also immediately confirmed this announcement. The filling of various ministerial posts was also a result of the joint negotiations. Israel has already reacted to this rapprochement by suspending the peace talks.
After years of hostility, Hamas approached Fatah in mid-September 2017 with an offer of reconciliation. It said it was prepared to dissolve the controversial committee that administers the Gaza Strip and to meet key demands of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The offer came about through Egypt's mediation. The aim is, among other things, to ease the blockade of the Gaza Strip and to improve the humanitarian situation of the approximately two million inhabitants.
