Tanzim
Encyclopedia
Tanzim is a militant faction of the Palestinian Fatah
movement.
, is widely considered to be an armed offshoot of Fatah with its own leadership structure. The acknowledged head of the Tanzim is Marwan Barghouti
, who is as of 2010, serving consecutive life sentences in Israel for murder, and, according to some accounts, has a substantial following among the “rejectionist” camp which opposes the Interim Agreement (also called Oslo II or Taba) signed on September 28, 1995 with Israel.
The Tanzim is a grass roots organization that operates at the community level. By taking a hardline position against Israel, it has helped siphon Palestinian support from the Islamist groups to the Palestinian Authority and PLO leadership.
Tanzim came to prominence in the street fighting which marked the beginning of the second Palestinian Intifada. Its members tend to be younger than those of other Fatah factions, often having grown up in the post-Oslo era. Many Tanzim members have joined the al-Shaid Yasser Arafat Brigades (formerly the al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades). Tanzim has also recruited female suicide bombers, including Andaleeb Takatka, a 20-year-old Bethlehem
woman who detonated an explosive belt at a Jerusalem bus stop in April 2002, killing six Israeli civilians, and injuring sixty.
Charles Krauthammer
called “drive-by shootings of Jewish motorists”
a “specialty “ of the Palestinian Authority’s Tanzim “guerrilla army.”
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
movement.
Overview
The Tanzim militia, founded in 1995 to counter Palestinian IslamismIslamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
, is widely considered to be an armed offshoot of Fatah with its own leadership structure. The acknowledged head of the Tanzim is Marwan Barghouti
Marwan Barghouti
Marwan Hasib Ibrahim Barghouti is a Palestinian political figure. He is regarded as a leader of the First and Second Intifadas. Barghouti at one time supported the peace process, but later became disillusioned, and after 2000 went on to become the main figure behind the Al-Aqsa Intifada in the...
, who is as of 2010, serving consecutive life sentences in Israel for murder, and, according to some accounts, has a substantial following among the “rejectionist” camp which opposes the Interim Agreement (also called Oslo II or Taba) signed on September 28, 1995 with Israel.
The Tanzim is a grass roots organization that operates at the community level. By taking a hardline position against Israel, it has helped siphon Palestinian support from the Islamist groups to the Palestinian Authority and PLO leadership.
Tanzim came to prominence in the street fighting which marked the beginning of the second Palestinian Intifada. Its members tend to be younger than those of other Fatah factions, often having grown up in the post-Oslo era. Many Tanzim members have joined the al-Shaid Yasser Arafat Brigades (formerly the al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades). Tanzim has also recruited female suicide bombers, including Andaleeb Takatka, a 20-year-old Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
woman who detonated an explosive belt at a Jerusalem bus stop in April 2002, killing six Israeli civilians, and injuring sixty.
Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer, MD is an American Pulitzer Prize–winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician. His weekly column appears in The Washington Post and is syndicated to more than 275 newspapers and media outlets. He is a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard and The New...
called “drive-by shootings of Jewish motorists”
Drive-by shooting
A drive-by shooting is a form of hit-and-run tactic, a personal attack carried out by an individual or individuals from a moving or momentarily stopped vehicle without use of headlights to avoid being noticed. It often results in bystanders being shot instead of, or as well as, the intended target...
a “specialty “ of the Palestinian Authority’s Tanzim “guerrilla army.”
External links
- Fatah Tanzim at GlobalSecurity.org