Palestine 105: Resistance Groups & Governing Forces
Welcome to Palestine 105! This is the fifth post in our series meant to provide introductory information on the history, culture, and politics of Palestine. If you’ve wanted to learn more about the situation in Palestine but have felt confused or overwhelmed by the amount of information out there, this series is for you!
In this edition, we will explain the primary resistance groups and governing forces that are currently active in Palestine! Resistance groups and forms of governance centered around Palestinian liberation emerged because they were deprived of their political and national rights in the Balfour Agreement of 1917 (something we will discuss at length in a post to come). We will discuss Hamas in the most detail due to their extensive involvement in Palestinian resistance and their heightened relevance over the last 11 months.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
The Palestine Liberation Organization, created in 1964, comprises various Palestinian political parties that share the common goal of Palestinian liberation. Since the 1967 Naksa the PLO has been recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people by other countries and the United Nations. In the 1980s the PLO began to negotiate with Israel, and they signed the 1993 Oslo Accords. The largest faction of the PLO is Fatah, which (unlike Hamas) is a secular party that recognizes Israel and engages in negotiations, despite its militant past. Because they tend to stifle activist actions and collaborate with the IOF, many Palestinians are distrustful of Fatah. In 1977, the PLO outlined the fundamental tenets of Palestinian liberation in the form of Al-Thawabit, which includes the right to resistance, the right to self-determination (Palestinian statehood), the right of refugees to return, and Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. The values of the Thawabit have since been adopted more broadly within the liberation movement.
Palestinian Authority (PA)
The Palestinian Authority (PA) is a direct product of the Oslo Accords, created as the distinguished governing body of Palestinian territory in the West Bank and Gaza. The PA was not created to function long-term. It was made to serve as a temporary government that would be upgraded to a normally functioning governmental system once Palestinian statehood was established. However, the continuation of Israeli military rule and the extension of invasions into Palestinian territories has made the establishment of a Palestinian state unfeasible. Due to the occupation, the PA has no sovereignty or autonomy because Israeli dominion overpowers them. Although they do have an elected presidency and unicameral legislative council, it does not operate democratically and there have not been elections since 2008. Paramilitary PA police are trained by the US and work alongside the IOF to shut down protests, and they cannot arrest Israelis who have committed crimes against Palestinians. These attributes, amongst others, have made many Palestinians feel that the PA functions as an extension of the IOF. Most alarmingly, the PA’s budget primarily funds policing, receiving more money than education, health, and agriculture combined.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
Palestinian Islamic Jihad is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic organization created in the 1920s that focused on integrating political activism and social welfare programs into religious teachings. PIJ was created in 1981 as the first Palestinian resistance group to emerge, founded by refugees in Egypt. Defeating the Israeli occupation through armed struggle was their fundamental goal. For the following 40 years, PIJ has engaged in warfare against Israel and has set the tone for other resistance groups in the region. Despite being smaller and without governing power, they determine the level of militancy toward Israel. A unique component of PIJ is that it is one of few groups active in both the West Bank and Gaza. Unlike Hamas, they do not engage in politics; but, instead, strictly function as a military force.
Hamas
Hamas is another resistance group that stemmed from the Muslim Brotherhood. It is short for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya, meaning “Islamic Resistance Movement.” The founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, designated Hamas as the Brotherhood’s political branch in Gaza in the wake of the First Intifada in 1987. Hamas has released statements denouncing the existence of Israel in occupied Palestine and was heavily involved in protests and revolts during the Second Intifada. Hamas’ primary function was to engage in armed opposition against Israelis in attempts to decolonize their land and to gain Palestinian political support in Gaza.
Israel has routinely assassinated Hamas officials since their conception. Notably, they killed Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ primary ceasefire negotiator, on July 31st of this year. They also killed more than 60 members of his extended family before his murder. While Hamas and Israel have engaged in various conflicts over the last 18 years, the IOF has repeatedly retaliated through brutal attacks on civilian populations. Since October of this year, Israel has indiscriminately bombed Gaza, killing at least 40,000 people in supposed attempts to target Hamas members. This genocide is likely to kill up to, if not more than, 180,000 people. It is critical to view the events of October 7th within the context of over 75 years of massacre, displacement, and apartheid.
After briefly leaving Gaza in June of 2006, Hamas won the majority of the seats in the PA’s legislature, forming a government. Hamas won that election for two primary reasons: they provided social services and were Fatah’s opponent. Despite the 2007 conflict between Hamas and Fatah, in July 2024 a “national unity” deal was signed between various resistance factions in an attempt to create a unified force against Israeli occupation. There have been no further votes on legislation since 2006, and the last presidential election was in 2008. Hamas took over the remaining PA institutions, gaining complete control over the Gaza Strip. They governed in alliance with the PA’s “Palestinian Basic Law” principles but were more restrictive than the text directly states.
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
When three guerrilla groups merged in 1967, the PFLP was formed. Upon internal ideological disagreement, the organization eventually split into several more factions that all engaged in attacks against the occupation and its Western supporters. The PFLP is both a political and military organization, and its Marxist-Leninist ideology sets it apart from other regional resistance groups. Marxist/communist theory has a strong influence on the political consciousness of many secular Palestinians up until today.
Axis of Resistance
Other Middle Eastern resistance groups are often mentioned in combination with those specific to Palestine. These include Hezbollah (Lebanese), Houthis (Yemeni), Syrian fighters, and the Iraqi Islamic Resistance, all of which make up the Iranian-backed Axis of Resistance along with groups like Hamas and PIJ.
Nelson Mandela, the iconic anti-apartheid activist who was formerly on America’s terrorist watch list, once stated: “A freedom fighter learns the hard way that it is the oppressor who defines the nature of the struggle, and the oppressed is often left no recourse but to use methods that mirror those of the oppressor. At a point, one can only fight fire with fire.” Decades of failed Palestinian attempts at diplomacy have resulted in increasing support for armed resistance groups that have formed in response to unrelenting violence from imperialist forces. In recent news, Hamas killed 6 of the Israeli hostages captured on October 7th in response to the IOF attempting to retrieve them through invasion instead of a ceasefire compromise. Abu Obaida, the spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, stated: “Netanyahu’s insistence on releasing the prisoners through military pressure - instead of concluding a deal - will mean that they’ll be returned to their families in coffins”. The Israeli hostages are Hamas’ only leverage in finalizing a ceasefire. Obaida asserted that Netanyahu is at fault for the deaths of the hostages because he has refused to accept several ceasefire deals put forth by the US and agreed upon by Hamas. The Palestinian people have endured 76 years of displacement, bombardment, sexual violence, unjust prosecution, and torture at the hands of the Israeli occupation. When tackling systems of racism, apartheid, and genocide, violent resistance is an inherent part of the path to achieving liberation.
Want to learn more about Palestinian resistance groups? On the Record with Hamas or All the Times Israel Has Rejected Peace With Palestinians are excellent articles to expand on topics covered in this post.
We would like to thank SEI for assistance in editing and revising this post.
