Palestinian Arab Front ( ar, الجبهة العربية الفلسطينية ''Al-Jabhet Al-'Arabiya Al-Falestiniyeh'', PAF) is a minor

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

Arab nationalist Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and ...

faction. PAF is a member of the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and sta ...

History

The PAF has its roots in the

Arab Liberation Front Arab Liberation Front ( ar, جبهة التحرير العربية ''Jabhet Al-Tahrir Al-'Arabiyah'') is a minor Palestinian political party, previously controlled by the Iraqi-led Ba'ath Party, formed in 1969 by Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and then hea ...

(ALF). This group had been created in 1968 by the Iraqi-based Ba'ath Party as its wing inside the

Fedayeen Fedayeen ( ar, فِدائيّين ''fidāʼīyīn'' "self-sacrificers") is an Arabic term used to refer to various military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign. Etymology The term ''fedayi'' is derived from Arabic: '' ...

movement, and to serve as a counter-weight to the rivalling Syrian-based Ba'athist faction,

al-Sa'iqa As-Sa'iqa ( ar, صاعقة, lit=Thunderbolt, translit=Saiqa) officially known as Vanguard for the Popular Liberation War - Lightning Forces, ( ar, طلائع حرب التحرير الشعبية - قوات الصاعقة ) is a Palestinians, P ...

, within the PLO and Palestinian politics. The PAF itself was founded in 1993, after a split in the ALF. The split had been provoked by the decision of the ALF to freeze its PLO membership in protest of the

Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993;

, as per Iraqi policy. The organization held its first conference inside Palestine on May 15-May 17, 1997, and eventually drifted closer to

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and s ...

and the

Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

, while the ALF remained staunchly loyal to

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. The PAF, a very minor faction within PNA politics, has verbally supported the

al-Aqsa Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel ...

, but it is unclear whether it performed any actual military activity. The group supported the candidature of

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Nati ...

in the 2005 presidential elections. PAF also took part in the 2006 legislative election with the list 'Freedom and Independence' (الحرية والاستقلال) in the national constituency. The list had 10 candidatures, 8 from the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

and 2 from the

Gaza strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

. Two candidates were women. The list was headed by Salim al-Bardeni. In total the list got 4,398 votes (0.44%), which was far below the 2%-barrier to gain parliamentary representation. The group had one candidate in one of the provincial constituencies, Ishak Mahmoud Ishak Bahis in the Hebron Governorate. He got 3,446 votes.

Policies

According to its own proclamations, PAF supports the right of Palestinian refugees "wishing to return to their homes olive at peace with their neighbours," in accordance with

UN General Assembly Resolution 194 United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 is a resolution adopted near the end of the 1947–1949 Palestine war. The Resolution defines principles for reaching a final settlement and returning Palestine refugees to their homes. Article 11 o ...

; formation of an independent Palestinian state within the borders of 1967 with

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

as its capital, releasing Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, destruction of the

Israeli West Bank barrier The Israeli West Bank barrier, comprising the West Bank Wall and the West Bank fence, is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank. It is a contentious element of the Israeli–Palestinian ...

; and evacuation of

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...

s from the

. Its long-term goals include

Arab unity Pan-Arabism ( ar, الوحدة العربية or ) is an ideology that espouses the unification of the countries of North Africa and Western Asia from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, which is referred to as the Arab world. It is closely c ...

, political integration of the Arab nation of all current Arab states. It promotes strengthening of the

Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

and increased Arab economic cooperation. The front promotes increased cooperation amongst Islamic countries. The front vows to fight against all forms of financial and administrative corruption and the elimination of favoritism. It claims to strive to increase participation of women in Palestinian society.Palestinian National Information Centre - Palestinian Arab Front
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Organization

The organization is led by a Central Committee and a

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contracti ...

. The General Secretary of the Front is Jameel Shihadeh ('Abu Khaled') and the Secretary of the Central Committee of Salim al-Bardeni, formerly the director of the Palestinian police. The group is a member of the

(PLO), and of the

Palestinian National and Islamic Forces The Palestinian National and Islamic Forces is a coalition formed shortly after the outbreak of the second Intifada with the authorization of Yasser Arafat and led by Marwan Barghouti. The coalition coordinates the agenda of its members and helps p ...

, which includes both PLO and non-PLO factions. It publishes the magazine ''Al-Jamahir'' (الجماهير, 'The Masses') and the bulletin ''At-Tajdid'' (التجديد, 'Renewal').

Mass organizations

PAF has a network of front organizations, including *Palestinian Union of Students Struggle Committees (اتحاد لجان كفاح الطلبة الفلسطيني) *Union of Teachers Struggle Committees (اتحاد لجان كفاح المعلمين) *Society for the Promotion of the Family (جمعية النهوض بالاسرة) *Settlement Committee (لجنة الاستيطان) *Palestinian Union of Women's Struggle Committees (اتحاد لجان كفاح المرأة الفلسطيني) *Palestinian Union of Workers Struggle Committees (اتحاد لجان كفاح العمال الفلسطيني) *Al-Quds Charitable Society (جمعية القدس الخيرية) *Land and Charity Society (جمعية البر والاحسان)

References

External links

PAF website37th anniversary declaration of PAFNewsarticle on the 37th PAF anniversary meeting in Khan Younis
{{Palestinian political parties Arab nationalism in the Palestinian territories Arab socialist political parties Ba'ath Party breakaway groups Factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization Palestinian nationalist parties Political parties established in 1968 Socialist parties in the Palestinian territories