Palestinian Popular Struggle Front - PPSF (Jabhat al-Nidal al-Sha'biy al-Filastini) 



Origins

The Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF) was established in Jordan in July 1967 by former cadres of the Arab Nationalist Movement, notably Subhi and Samir Ghosheh and Bahjat Abu Gharbiyya. In 1970, following the Black September crisis – between the Hashemite King Hussein and Palestinian groups based in Jordan – the Secretary General of the PPSF, Abu Gharbiyya, suspended the group’s activities and its membership in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The PPSF was reactivated after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War by Samir Ghosheh. The group joined the anti-Arafat Rejection Front in 1974. Nevertheless, renewed ties with the PLO led at the beginning of the 1980s to the membership of the Front in the Palestinian National Council (PNC). Dissensions within the PPSF concerning the Arab-Israeli peace process provoked a split into two factions in 1992.

Location / Main area of operation

According to the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, the headquarters of the PPSF was relocated in September 1970 from Jordan to Lebanon and after the 1982 Lebanon War, moved to Syria. As to the group’s location after 1982, Strindberg specifically states that as a result of internal divisions, the PPSF Politburo was moved to Damascus, while the Secretary General Samir Ghosheh was located in Tunis. The BBC mentions Ghosheh’s office being in Ramallah, the West Bank.
A 1995 US Department of State report lists the PPSF’s bases of operations as “mainly Syria and Lebanon," whereas Cordesman mentions the military forces of the group being based in Syria. Other sources report that Lebanon is the most recent location of the PPSF, while in the West Bank and Gaza “presence and support […] remain minimal.”

 


Objectives

The initial aim of the PPSF was to coordinate anti-Israeli resistance. Sayigh notes that at the beginning, lacking arms and trained followers, the PPSF activities concerned mobilization of civilian protests, sit-in protests, leaflets, and calling for a boycott of Israeli goods. The PPSF reportedly carried out its first attack in December 1968 against an Israeli radio station in Bethlehem. Strindberg asserts that the newly founded group quickly established a reputation for radicalism and activism. Two members of the PPSF are said to be behind the 1969 grenade attack on the El Al office in Athens during which a child was killed and other persons wounded. The most prominent attack attributed to the group is the 1970 hijacking of an Olympic Airlines Jet that led to the release of some PPSF members.
Allegations have been made that cadres of the PPSF are the real perpetrators of the Lockerbie incident; however, the group’s leadership strongly denied any involvement in the 1988 bombing of the Pan Am Flight 103.
Since 1989, no significant attack of the group has been documented. At the end of the 1980s, the objective of a two-state solution appears to have been embraced by the PPSF. In this sense, Joffe notes that before the 18th PNC session, the PPSF made efforts for the reconciliation between the positions of the different Palestinian organizations and in 1988 the group voted for the Algiers Declaration. However, intra-PPSF tensions regarding the peace process and Ghosheh’s close relations to Arafat persisted, hence the 1992 split.
Khalid Abd Al-Majid’s PPSF faction based in Damascus joined the Alliance of Palestinian Forces in 1993 and upheld the goal of armed struggle. On the other hand, the PPSF faction led by Ghosheh continued its ties with the PLO and supported actively the peace negotiations with Israel. In recent years, political participation can be regarded as characteristic for Ghosheh’s PPSF wing. The faction took part in elections - for instance, in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, the faction took 0.72% of the polls (7'127 votes, 0 seats) under the Freedom and Social Justice list; made calls for an ending of all armed confrontation and the continuation of the intifada “in its popular form;” expressed its support for the PLO as the “sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people;” as well as stressed the importance of national unity and the problems posed by intra-Palestinian fighting.

 

Number of Members


According to Strindberg, shortly after the inception of the PPSF, the number of members increased rapidly. As of 2000, he puts forward the estimate of 700 Lebanon-based PPSF fighters, who however are said to be inactive for several years. A 2002 report for the U.S. Congress calls the PPSF a “minor” group, whereas official information from the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations website refers to it as a “relatively small organization." At the beginning of 2006, the military forces of the PPSF were thought to number around 200 men.

Type : Transnational

The former armed activities of the PPSF could define the group as a transnational non-state armed group. At the end of the 1960s and beginning of 1970s, the PPSF allegedly conducted an attack on an Israeli radio station in Bethlehem, a grenade attack on the El Al office in Athens, and the hijacking of an Olympic Airlines aircraft in 1970. Additionally, four Palestinian individuals convicted of bombings in Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam in 1985 and 1986 are believed to be linked to the PPSF, and a bomb explosion at a café in Djibouti in March 1987 is reported to have been conducted by the PPSF.

 

 

Conflict Status : Dormant

Since the late 1980s, no significant armed operation of the PPSF can be documented. The PPSF faction led by Ghosheh appears to have confined itself to political means.
The PPSF wing based in Damascus is, however, reported to continue making threats of using violence.

Time line
1967 – Founding of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front
1969 – Grenade attack on the El Al office in Athens
1970 – Hijacking of Olympic Airlines Jet
1974 – The Palestinian Popular Struggle Front joins the Rejection Front
1981 – The Palestinian Popular Struggle Front becomes a member of the Palestinian National Council
1992 – The Palestinian Popular Struggle Front split in two factions: a pro-PLO led by Samir Ghosheh and an anti-PLO wing based in Damascus led by Khalid Abd Al-Majid

 

 

Structure of the organization

There is no clear information about the structure of the PPSF. Several sources mention Samir Ghosheh being the leader of the PPSF, which is endorsed by the Palestinian Liberation Organization. In a 2007 interview on the Voice of the Arabs radio, Ghosheh is referred to as the Secretary General of the PPSF.
The Damascus-based faction of the PPSF is led by Khalid Abd Al-Majid. Strindberg quotes Khalid Abd Al-Majid when mentioning the existence of a central committee and a politburo of the PPSF.

 

Leadership

Bahjat Abu Gharbiyya, a co-founder of the Ba’th Party in Palestine served as the first Secretary General of the PPSF. Reportedly, Abu Gharbiyya suspended the PPSF activities after the Black September crisis.  
Samir Ghosheh, co-founder of the PPSF, is the current leader of the pro-PLO PPSF faction. In 1994, Samir Ghosheh was named Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in the Palestinian National Authority. Currently Ghosheh represents the PPSF in the PLO’s Executive Committee.
Khalid Abd Al-Majid is the leader of the Damascus-based faction of the PPSF.


External aid/Third party involvement

At its inception, Joffe refers to the PPSF as being “backed” by Iraq. During the 1980s and early 1990s, Syria is said to have supported the PPSF. In 1999, Syria allegedly asked Palestinian groups based in Damascus to cease armed activity against Israel and confine themselves to political participation. Nonetheless, a 2002 report of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists the “extremist faction” of the PPSF among the organizations encouraged and supported by Syria and Iran.

External effects of the NSAG's armed activities

No available information.

Funding

While addressing the US Congress in October 2003, Ambassador Cofer Black mentions the PPSF among the “Palestinian rejectionist groups” that Syria provides with safe haven and material support.

Relationship with the international community

As of October 2007, the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front is not listed as a terrorist organization by either the European Union or the United States.

Books

  • Balencie, Jean-Marc & Arnaud de la Grange (2005), Les Nouveaux Mondes Rebelles (Paris: Editions Michalon).
  • Cordesman, Anthony H. (2006), Arab-Israeli Military Forces in an Era of Asymmetric Wars (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers), retrieved on August 2007 from Praeger Security International Online database: link.
  • Mitchell, Thomas G. (2002), Native vs. Settler: Ethnic Conflict in Israel/Palestine, Northern Ireland, and South Africa (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers), retrieved on August 2007 from Praeger Security International Online database: link.
  • Sayigh, Yezid (1997), Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949-1993 (New York: Oxford University Press).
  • Szajkowski, Bogdan (ed.) (2004) Revolutionary and Dissident Movements of the World (London: John Harper Publishing).

 

Articles and Chapters

  • “Peace Monitor: 16 November 1995-15 February 1996”, 25 3 Journal of Palestine Studies (1996), at 119-130.
  • “The Eighteenth PNC: An Analysis”, 16 4 Journal of Palestine Studies (1987), at 152-154.
  • “The PNC: Historical Background”, 16 4 Journal of Palestine Studies (1987), at 149-152.
  • Al-Hasan, Bilal, “The Palestine National Council in Session”, 11 1 Journal of Palestine Studies, (1981), at 173-179.
  • Aruri, Naseer “The PLO and the Jordan Option”, 131 MERIP Reports (1985), at 3-9 + 32.
  • Esposito, Michele K., “Quarterly Update on Conflict and Diplomacy: 16 November 2001 – 15 February 2002”, 31 3 Journal of Palestine Studies (2002), at 118-141.
  • Muslih, Muhammad, “Towards Coexistence: An Analysis of the Resolutions of the Palestine National Council”, 19 4 Journal of Palestine Studies (1990), at 3-29.
  • Sayigh, Yezid, “Struggle within, Struggle without: The Transformation of PLO Politics Since 1982” 65 2 International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-) (1989), at 247-271.
  • Strindberg, Anders, “The Damascus-Based Alliance of Palestinian Forces: A Primer”, 29 3 Journal of Palestine Studies (2000), at 60-76.
  • Suleiman, Jaber, “The Current Political, Organizational, and Security Situation in the Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon”, 29 1 Journal of Palestine Studies (1999), at 66-80.

 

Reports and resolutions of intergovernmental organizations

  • EU Council, Common Position 2006/380/CFSP of 29 May 2006, Official Journal of the European Communities L 144/25, 31.5.2006.

Governmental reports

  • CRS Report for Congress, The PLO and its Factions, Washington DC, 10 June 2002, available at link.
  • Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Iran and Syria as Strategic Support for Palestinian Terrorism, 30 September 2002, available at link.
  • Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Ambassador Cofer Black, Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Syria and Terrorism, Washington, DC, 30 October 2003, available at link.
  • U.S. Department of State, Patterns of Global Terrorism 1990, European Regional Overview, available at link.
  • U.S. Department of State, Patterns of Global Terrorism 1991, Appendix C: Libya’s Continuing Responsibility for Terrorism, April 1992, available at link.
  • U.S. Department of State, Patterns of Global Terrorism 1995, Appendix B. Background Information on Major Groups Discussed in the Report, Washington, DC, April 1996, available at link.
  • U.S. Department of State, Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). Fact Sheet Office of Counterterrorism, Washington, DC, 11 October 2005, available at link.
     

Reports of think tanks and non-governmental organizations

  • National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base, Gharbiah, Bahjat Abu, available at link, (last visited 10 October 2007).
  • National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base, Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, available at link.
     

Press Information (in chronological order)

  • “Syria Asks Militant Arabs To End Fight With Israel”, The Independent, 20 July 1999.
  • “Report: Syria tells Palestinian groups to drop arms”, The Jerusalem Post, 20 July 1999.
  • “Waiting for peace”, Middle East Economic Digest, 6 August 1999.
  • “Syrian groups had been suspected, cleared With BC-Lockerbie Trial”, Associated Press, 3 May 2000.
  • “Palestinian radicals deny bomb link”, BBC News, 4 May 2000, available at link.
  • “Two Palestinian parties agree, Hamas refuses to join PNA cabinet”, BBC Monitoring, 4 June 2002.
  • “Main Palestinian parties standing in Legislative Council election”, BBC Monitoring, 10 January 2006.
  • “Palestinian factions blame Fatah, Hamas for "escalating tensions", urge dialogue”, BBC Monitoring, 23 May 2006
  • “Egypt holds contacts for containing Palestinian infighting”, BBC Monitoring, 13 June 2007.
  • “Lockerbie: Justice on Trial: Facing justice in Scotland's Dutch enclave”, The Scotsman, 27 June 2007.
  • “"Secular" factions criticize Hamas, seek PLO reform”, BBC Monitoring, 19 July 2007.
  • “PLO member says reviving peace process Palestinians' main concern”, Voice of the Arabs in BBC Monitoring, 25 July 2007.
     

Interviews

Internet resources

  • Jewish Virtual Library, Middle East Terrorist Incidents (1968 - 1973), available at link.
  • Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations, Palestine National Council, available at link.
  • Mideastweb, Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (Jabhat al-nidal al-sha'biyya al-filastiniyya), available at link.
     

Statements of the armed group

Agreements involving armed groups