Fatah

Fatah

 inverted acronym of Harakat al-Tahrir al-Watani al-Filastini (“Palestine National Liberation Movement”)

Palestinian guerrilla organization and political party, whose name means “conquest” in Arabic. Founded by Yasir 'Arafat and Khalil al-Wazir in the late 1950s, the movement relied on guerrilla warfare and occasional acts of terrorism in an attempt to wrest Palestine from Israeli control. It eventually became the largest faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization and attacked Israeli interests worldwide. Originally based in Damascus, it was forced to relocate several times before a political agreement was reached with Israel in 1993. A number of factions within Fatah rejected the goal of peace with Israel and split from the main organization. In 1994 the Palestinian Authority was established, and Fatah dominated the governing body for more than a decade. In the 2006 elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council, the group was unexpectedly defeated by the rival organization Hamas.