Strategic Assessment

Considerable similarity exists between the manner in which Fatah came to be involved in the intifada that broke out in late 1987 and its leading role, this time as head of the Palestinian National Authority (PA), in the Al Aqsa intifada, that erupted in September 2000. In both cases the intifada was triggered by a specific incident, setting ablaze the Occupied Territories, which were in any case rife with tension. In both cases organizations affiliated with the Fatah, including the popular committees and the Tanzim (a Fatah-related organization of street forces) rapidly gained control over the popular unrest, and directed the ensuing riots.