Editing Fatah (section)

===1967–1993===
Fatah became the dominant force in Palestinian politics after the [[Six-Day War]] in 1967.

Fatah joined the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) in 1967, and was allocated 33 of 105 seats in the [[Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization|PLO Executive Committee]]. Fatah's Yasser Arafat became [[Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization|Chairman of the PLO]] in 1969, after the position was ceded to him by [[Yahya Hammuda]].{{sfn|Aburish|1998|pp=41–90}} According to the [[BBC]], "Mr Arafat took over as chairman of the executive committee of the PLO in 1969, a year that Fatah is recorded to have carried out 2,432 [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] attacks on Israel."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/israel_and_the_palestinians/profiles/1371998.stm |title=Fatah: Political heavyweight floored |work=BBC News|access-date=7 January 2007|date=4 August 2009}}</ref>

====Battle of Karameh====
{{main|Battle of Karameh}}
[[File:Operation Inferno. XXI.jpg|thumb|Israeli troops in combat in Karameh]]
Throughout 1968, Fatah and other Palestinian armed groups were the target of a major [[Israeli Defense Forces]] (IDF) operation in the Jordanian village of [[Karameh]], where the Fatah headquarters{{spaced ndash}}as well as a mid-sized [[Palestinian refugees|Palestinian refugee camp]]{{spaced ndash}}were located. The town's name is the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] word for "dignity", which elevated its [[symbol]]ism to the Arab people, especially after the Arab defeat in 1967. The operation was in response to attacks against Israel, including rockets strikes from Fatah and other Palestinian militias into the occupied West Bank. Knowledge of the operation was available well ahead of time, and the government of Jordan (as well as a number of Fatah commandos) informed Arafat of Israel's large-scale military preparations. Upon hearing the news, many guerrilla groups in the area, including [[George Habash]]'s newly formed group the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (PFLP) and [[Nayef Hawatmeh]]'s breakaway organization the [[Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (DFLP), withdrew their forces from the town. Fatah leaders were advised by a pro-Fatah Jordanian divisional commander to withdraw their men and headquarters to nearby hills, but on Arafat's orders, Fatah remained, and the [[Royal Jordanian Army|Jordanian Army]] agreed to back them if heavy fighting ensued.{{sfn|Aburish|1998|pp=41–90}}

On the night of 21 March, the IDF attacked Karameh with heavy weaponry, armored vehicles and fighter jets.{{sfn|Aburish|1998|pp=41–90}} Fatah held its ground, surprising the Israeli military. As Israel's forces intensified their campaign, the Jordanian Army became involved, causing the Israelis to retreat in order to avoid a full-scale war.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bulloch|first=John|title=Final Conflict|year=1983|publisher=Faber Publishing|page=165|isbn=978-0-7126-0171-9|oclc=9803075}}</ref> By the end of the battle, nearly 150 Fatah militants had been killed, as well as twenty Jordanian soldiers and twenty-eight Israeli soldiers. Despite the higher Arab death toll, Fatah considered themselves victorious because of the Israeli army's rapid withdrawal.{{sfn|Aburish|1998|pp=41–90}}

====Black September====
{{further|Black September}}
In the late 1960s, tensions between Palestinians and the Jordanian government increased greatly; heavily armed Arab resistance elements had created a virtual "state within a state" in Jordan, eventually controlling several strategic positions in that country. After their victory in the Battle of Karameh, Fatah and other Palestinian militias began taking control of civil life in Jordan. They set up roadblocks, publicly humiliated Jordanian police forces, molested women and levied illegal taxes – all of which Arafat either condoned or ignored.<ref>Sayigh, Yezid (1997). Armed Struggle and the Search for State, the Palestinian National Movement, 1949–1993. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-829643-0}}. {{OCLC|185547145}}.</ref>{{sfn|Aburish|1998|p=100–112}}

In 1970, the Jordanian government moved to regain control over its territory, and the next day,{{dubious|The next day after 1970? Wow, THAT fast?!|date=July 2019}} [[Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein]] declared [[martial law]].{{sfn|Aburish|1998|p=100–112}} By 25 September, the Jordanian army achieved dominance in the fighting, and two days later Arafat and Hussein agreed to a series of ceasefires. The Jordanian army inflicted heavy casualties upon the Palestinians – including civilians – who suffered approximately 3,500 fatalities. Two thousand Fatah fighters managed to enter [[Syria]]. They crossed the border into Lebanon to join Fatah forces in that country, where they set up their new headquarters. A large group of guerrilla fighters led by Fatah field commander [[Abu Ali Iyad]] held out the Jordanian Army's offensive in the northern city of [[Ajloun|Ajlun]] until they were decisively defeated in July 1971. Abu Ali Iyad was executed and surviving members of his commando force formed the [[Black September Organization]], a splinter group of Fatah. In November 1971, the group assassinated Jordanian prime minister [[Wasfi al-Tal]] as retaliation to Abu Ali Iyad's execution.<ref>Seale, 1992, pp.81–82.</ref>

In the 1960s and the 1970s, Fatah provided training to a wide range of European, Middle Eastern, Asian, and African militant and insurgent groups, and carried out numerous attacks against Israeli targets in Western Europe and the Middle East during the 1970s. Some militant groups that affiliated themselves to Fatah, and some of the ''fedayeen'' within Fatah itself, carried out civilian-[[aircraft hijacking]]s and terrorist attacks, attributing them to Black September, [[Abu Nidal]]'s [[Abu Nidal Organization|Fatah-Revolutionary Council]], [[Said al-Muragha|Abu Musa]]'s group, the PFLP, and the PFLP-GC.{{dubious|Means what, freelancers did it an "atributed" it to whom they liked best/hated most?|date=July 2019}} Fatah received weapons, explosives and training from the [[Soviet Union]] and some of the [[communist state]]s of [[East Europe]]. [[China]] and [[Algeria]] also provided munitions.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} In 1979, Fatah aided [[Uganda]] during the [[Uganda–Tanzania War]]. Members of the organization fought alongside the [[Uganda Army (1971–1980)|Uganda Army]] and Libyan troops against the [[Tanzania People's Defence Force]] during the [[Battle of Lukaya]] and the [[Fall of Kampala]], but were eventually forced to retreat from the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://al-akhbar.com/Opinion/226891 |title= مهمة "فتح" في أوغندا  |trans-title=Fatah's mission in Uganda |author=Janan Osama al-Salwadi |work=Al Akhbar (Lebanon) |language=ar |date=27 February 2017 |access-date=6 October 2019 }}</ref>

====Lebanon====
{{further|Lebanese Civil War}}
Since the death of [[Khalil al-Jamal|Eljamal]] in 1968, the Palestinian cause had a large base of supporters in Lebanon.

Although hesitant at first to take sides in the conflict, Arafat and Fatah played an important role in the [[Lebanese Civil War]]. Succumbing to pressure from PLO sub-groups such as the PFLP, DFLP and the [[Palestine Liberation Front]] (PLF), Fatah aligned itself with the communist and [[Nasserism|Nasserist]] [[Lebanese National Movement]] (LNM). Although originally aligned with Fatah, [[President of Syria|Syrian President]] [[Hafez al-Assad]] feared a loss of influence in Lebanon and switched sides. He sent his army, along with the [[Syria]]n-backed Palestinian factions of [[as-Sa'iqa]] and the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command]] (PFLP-GC) led by [[Ahmed Jibril|Ahmad Jibril]] to fight alongside the Christian forces against the PLO and the LNM. The primary component of the Christian militias was the [[Maronite Church|Maronite]] [[Kataeb Party|Phalangists]].{{sfn|Aburish|1998|p=150–175}}

Phalangist forces killed twenty-six Fatah trainees on a bus in April 1975, marking the official start of the 15-year-long Lebanese civil war. Later that year, an alliance of Christian militias overran the Palestinian refugee camp of [[Karantina massacre|Karantina]] killing over 1,000 civilians.<ref name="Harris">{{cite book|last=Harris|first=William |title=Faces of Lebanon. Sects, Wars, and Global Extensions |url=https://archive.org/details/facesoflebanonse0000harr |url-access=registration|year=1996|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|pages=[https://archive.org/details/facesoflebanonse0000harr/page/162 162–165]|isbn=978-1-55876-115-5|oclc=34753518}}</ref> The PLO and LNM retaliated by attacking the town of [[Damour massacre|Damour]], a Phalangist and Tigers (Ahrar) stronghold, killing 684 civilians.{{sfn|Aburish|1998|p=150–175}} As the civil war progressed over 2 years of urban warfare, both parties resorted to massive artillery duels and heavy use of sniper nests, while atrocities and war crimes were committed by both sides.

In 1976, with strategic planning help from the Lebanese Army, the alliance of Christian militias, spearheaded by the National Liberal Party of former President Cammille Chamoun militant branch, the noumour el ahrar (NLP Tigers), took a pivotal refugee camp in the Eastern part of Beirut, the Tel al-Zaatar camp, after a six-month siege, also known as [[Siege of Tel al-Zaatar|Tel al-Zaatar massacre]] in which hundreds perished.{{refn|Disputed; in ''Faces of Lebanon. Sects, Wars, and Global Extensions'' pp. 162–165, William Harris states "Perhaps 3,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, died in the siege and its aftermath." The Lebanese-American Association<ref>[http://www.laa.org/tours/thewar.htm "The Civil War ...1975"]. Lebanese-American Association. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908233103/http://laa.org:80/tours/thewar.htm |date=8 September 2006 }}.</ref> suggests several thousand.}} Arafat and Abu Jihad blamed themselves for not successfully organizing a rescue effort.{{sfn|Aburish|1998|p=150–175}}

PLO cross-border raids against Israel grew somewhat during the late 1970s.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} One of the most severe{{spaced ndash}}known as the [[Coastal Road massacre]]{{spaced ndash}}occurred on 11 March 1978. A force of nearly a dozen Fatah fighters landed their boats near a major coastal road connecting the city of [[Haifa]] with [[Tel Aviv|Tel Aviv-Yafo]]. There they hijacked a bus and sprayed gunfire inside and at passing vehicles, killing thirty-seven civilians.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20Foreign%20Relations%20since%201947/1977-1979/133%20Statement%20to%20the%20press%20by%20Prime%20Minister%20Begin |title=133 Statement to the press by Prime Minister Begin on the massacre of Israelis on the Haifa – Tel Aviv Road- 12 March 1978|date=12 May 1978|publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs}}</ref> In response, the IDF launched [[1978 South Lebanon conflict|Operation Litani]] three days later, with the goal of taking control of Southern Lebanon up to the [[Litani River]]. The IDF achieved this goal, and Fatah withdrew to the north into [[Beirut]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/country_profiles/819200.stm|title=Time Line: Lebanon Israel Controls South|work=BBC News |date=9 October 2007|access-date=9 October 2007|publisher=BBC MMVII}}</ref>

Israel [[1982 Lebanon War|invaded Lebanon again]] in 1982. Beirut was soon besieged and bombarded by the IDF;{{sfn|Aburish|1998|p=150–175}} to end the siege, the US and European governments brokered an agreement guaranteeing safe passage for Arafat and Fatah{{spaced ndash}}guarded by a multinational force{{spaced ndash}}to exile in [[Tunis]]. Despite the exile, many Fatah commanders and fighters remained in Lebanon, and they faced the [[War of the Camps]] in the 1980s in their fight with the Shia [[Amal Movement]] and also in connection with internal schisms within the Palestinian factions.{{sfn|Aburish|1998|p=150–175}}
<!---The following recaps the above?:
When Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, the faction was dispersed to several Middle Eastern countries with the help of US and other Western governments: [[Tunisia]], Yemen, [[Algeria]], Iraq and others. In the period 1982–1993, Fatah's leadership resided in [[Tunisia]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}
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