Last modified: 2024-03-09 by ian macdonald
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image by Eugene Ipavec, 28 Sep 2005
image by Eugene Ipavec, 30 Apr 2007
Fatah or the Palestine Liberation Movement (the name is derived from the initials of the Arabic name, Harakat Tahrir Filistin, in reverse) was founded by Arafat and a handful of close comrades in the late 1950s. They wanted to rally Palestinians in the diaspora to launch commando raids on the young Israeli state. The group came out into the open in 1965; under Arafat's effective leadership it became the strongest and best-organised of the Palestinian
factions and it has remained so ever since.
Fatah has had its own militias in the past, the Fatah Hawks. Arafat loyalists, the Fatah Hawks were key players in the first Palestinian intifada which broke out in 1987. The Fatah Hawks were dissolved, but in 1995 the Fatah leadership instituted its own militia, the Tanzim.
The word Tanzim is Arabic for "organisation." The Tanzim can be considered a "reincarnation" of the Fatah Hawks. It is only partially controled by Arafat now.
Sources: BBC and CNN.
Santiago Tazón, 24 July 2001
Yellow flags are associated with Fatah. Frequently long vertical flags are displayed with the Fatah (or also Youth Fatah) emblem in the center and inscriptions above and/or below.
Jaume Ollé, 27 Mar 2003
image by Eugene Ipavec, 30 April 2007
Reported by Raed Badawi, 14 October 2006At
https://www.alamy.com/a-palestinian-child-wears-a-keffiyeh-seen-waving-a-flag
is a white variant of a Fatah flag (with two lines of unintelligable Arabic
slogans), which I suggest calling the "Fatah Movement Foundation" flag as it was
paraded in Gaza City on the 58th anniversary of the foundation of the Fatah
movement; c. Dec. 31, 2022.
William Garrison, 2 December 2023
image located by William Garrison, 3 August 2021
Fatah flag variation shown in Ramallah; has new slogan at top of flag; c. July
2021.
Source:
https://www.haaretz.com
William Garrison, 3 August 2021
image located by William Garrison, 30 December 2021
Source:
https://www.aa.com.tr
A yellow-field flag of the Palestinian FATAH
movement with an image of PLO leader Arafat; c. 27 Feb 2019
William Garrison, 30 December 2021
image located by William Garrison, 16 September 2022
[Click on
image for larger version.]
Source:
https://www.ft.com/content/bf287078-565e-11e2-aa70-00144feab49a
Three
varieties of yellow-field "Fatah" flags being paraded in the Gaza Strip; c. Jan.
2013. The flags at the top right and left look similar, but the left version
carries an additional slogan in Arabic just above the Fatah logo. The middle
flag shows a portrait of Yasser Arafat above the Fatah logo.
Bill
Garrison, 16 September 2022
At
https://www.alamy.com/a-palestinian-boy is a joint multi-colored
"Fatah-Palestine" flag in Ramallah, West Bank; c. Nov. 2010.
Bill
Garrison, 16 September 2022
See also:
image located by William Garrison, 22 November 2023
A variation of a conjoined Palestine-Fatah flag but with a black slogan of
"haraka fatah " or "Fatah movement" name beneath its logo; undated (2023?)
Source:
https://foreignpolicy.com
Bill
Garrison, 22 November 2023
At
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/supportes-of-palestinian-president-mahmoud-abbas-fatah-news-photo
is a vertical yellow Fatah flag variation. At the top is the Fatah logo. The first
top black-lettered Arabic slogan line reads: "Revolution Until Victory". The
second & third lines read: "Palestine National Liberation Movement". The bottom
line reads: "Fatah". Flag seen at rally in the Bureij Refugee camp in the
central Gaza Strip; c. January 27, 2006 just after the Fatah Party heavily lost
in local elections to Hamas delegates.
William Garrison, 4 December 2023
At
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/large-palestinian-flag-with-the-word-fatah-movement-written-news-photo
is a Fatah logo on an extra-long national flag of Palestine with a long,
black-lettered Arabic word for "Fatah" on the middle white stripe; as seen in
Nablus, (West Bank) Palestine; c. Sept. 2007.
William Garrison, 4 December 2023
image located by Esteban Rivera, 27 December 2023
A yellow horizontal background but featuring the logo in white instead of
yellow.
Source:
https://www.thetower.org/3746-fatah-boasts-on-facebook-page-that-it-has-killed-11000-israelis/
Although the first sighting is dated c. Nov. 2010 as William Garrison mentions,
it is still in use nowadays as this link (dated December 26, 2023) proves:
https://twitter.com/manniefabian/status/1739584896987742505
Esteban Rivera, 27 December 2023
At
https://www.gettyimages.com is a vertical Fatah flag with a checkered-kaffiyeh design framing the center
Fatah logo, and at the bottom the slogan: "Fatah Movement -- Jenin Camp", seen
in Jenin, (West Bank) Palestine; c. September 2006.
Source:
William Garrison, 30 November 2023
image located by William Garrison, 7 January 2024
A Fatah flag with a black/white checkered-keffiyeh background and reading "42
years of Struggle and Giving" on the bottom green line; c. 2001. The top black
line reads: "Palestinian National Liberation Movement". The top red line reads:
"Fatah". In the middle is the Fatah logo. I do not know what the bottom red line
translates as. Why the "42 Years" slogan was chosen is unclear. Regarding the
"42 Years", as Fatah was founded in 1959 + 42 = 2001, a year which doesn't seem
to represent anything significant in Fatah activities. There is a hidden
flag-pole sleeve at the right (hoist).
William Garrison, 7 January
2024
images by Eugene Ipavec, 30 June 2007
image by Eugene Ipavec, 30 April 2007
images located by William Garrison, 16 October 2023
The c. 1998 light-yellow flag of the Palestinian "Fateh Youth Organization" which has been around since at least 1985. "Fateh" is probably more widely spelled in English as "Fatah" (which means "Faith"). There is a flag-pole sleeve at the right side (hoist). [Not to be confused with the "Fatah Youth Movement" -- although there may be some overlapping in goals or membership.]
Logo
Source: c. April 2002:
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/palestinian-member-of-the-fatah-youth-organization-holds-up-news-photo/1252358524?adppopup=true
#2 flag image located by: William Garrison (source: a flag seller in Gaza)
A variety of a "Fateh Youth Organization" flag that has a face-image of PA Pres.
Yasser Arafat on it with his right hand upraised in a wave, as seen in Ramallah;
c. Dec. 2006. (Fateh = Fatah)
Source:
https://www.gettyimages.com
William Garrison, 27 November 2023
A Fatah flag variation: The middle green slogan reads: Fatah "Student Youth
Movement" with a facial portrait of PA/PLO Pres. Yasser Abbas (with his "kunya"
nickname of "Abu Ammar" below his portrait). The bottom red slogan refers to a
student martyr division. There is a flag-pole sleeve at the right (hoist) side;
as seen at the al-Najah University in the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestine;
c. Nov. 12, 2006.
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/
William Garrison, 3 December 2023
image located by William Garrison, 20 October 2023
A printed cojoined "Palestine-Fatah" (Palestine National Liberation Movement : PNLM) flag with a checkered keffiyeh-pattern background; c. 2005. There is a thin flag-pole sleeve on the left side (hoist).
William Garrison, 20 October 2023
image located by William Garrison, 20 October 2023
A black/white checkered-keffiyeh design flag of the Fatah/PNLM ("Palestine National Liberation Movement"), with a red slogan of "haraka fatah " or "Fatah movement" at the sides; c. 2005. There is a flag-pole sleeve on the right side (hoist).
William Garrison, 20 October 2023
image located by William Garrison, 23 October 2023
A Palestinian flag picturing Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian who was
convicted for murder and imprisoned by Israel in April 2002, and leader of an
April 2017 hunger strike. He is popular as a leader of the "Fatah" armed branch:
the "Tanzim". Israel accused him of founding the "al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades".
Barghouti has appeared on several flags.
image located by: William Garrison
Flag source:
https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/17/middleeast/palestinian-prisoners-hunger-strike/index.html
William Garrison, 23 October 2023
image located by William Garrison, 2 November 2023
A bi-flag of a national Palestine flag with a lower yellow half with what
appears to be a barred prison window with a prisoner behind it, with a "Dove of
Peace" escaping (?) from the upper-left spacing between the window-bars. There
are Arabic slogans above and below the prison window urging the release of
imprisoned Palestinians that are held by Israel; c. March 2022. I seem to recall
seeing this cell-window logo on some other flag or poster associated with Marwan
Barghouti, but I just cannot identify it right now. I used a cell-phone
language-translation app; it claimed that the bottom slogan could be read as:
"Palestinian Prisoners' Club" and the top line: "Freedom for prisoners and
detainees". There appear to be smaller Arabic slogans surrounding the window.
There appears to be a flag-pole sleeve at the right (hoist).
Source:
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com
William Garrison, 2 November 2023
image located by William Garrison, 8 January 2024
A Palestinian flag picturing Marwan Barghouti, and at the top of the flag the
slogan: "Freedom for Marwan Al-Barghouthi & All Palestinian Prisoners", and
probably the same slogan in Arabic at the bottom two lines; c. 2010. He is a
Palestinian who was convicted for murder and imprisoned by Israel in April 2002,
and leader of an April 2017 hunger strike. He is popular as a leader of the
"Fatah" armed branch: the "Tanzim". Israel accused him of founding the "al-Aqsa
Martyrs' Brigades". Barghouti has appeared on several flags.
William Garrison,
8 January 2024
Other examples of flags picturing Marwan Barghouti include:
https://www.newsweek.com/israel-releases-footage-marwan-barghouti-eating-hunger-strike-596100
- a slight variation of a common Marwan Barghouti flag but here with the "Fatah
Party" logo at this flag's top-left fly side. Below his half image, the top red
Arabic slogan reads: "Engineer of the Intifada" - the reference to his
involvement in the First Intifada and instigation of the Second Intifada,
starting in Sept. 2000. The bottom red slogan reads: "al-Wahdat al-Watania"
meaning: "National Unity" [i.e., "National Palestinian unity through the Fatah
Party"]; as seen in Ramallah (Palestine/West Bank); c. May 2017. As of January
2024, he remains imprisoned in an Israeli jail. There is a hidden flag-pole
sleeve on the right hoist side.
William Garrison, 7 February 2024
image located by William Garrison, 15 February 2024
A flag championing the release of Palestinian nationalist Marwan Barghouti
who was being held in an Israeli prison. Although the website source captioned
this photo in a "Freedom March 2004" file, a footnote mentioned this photo was
taken on Aug. 14, 2003.
Source:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ismnc/12944443/
William Garrison,
15 February 2024
Although the original caption identified this as a vertical white-field flag
of the "al-Husine Brigade", more common translations of this militia's name are:
"Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni" or "Abdul Qadir al-Husseini." It has also been known
as the "Shaheed/Shahid Abdul Qader Al-Husseini Kataeb" or "Martyr Abdul Qader
Al-Husseini Brigade". Sometimes the terminology for a battalion (silah), a
brigade (kataeb/katiba/kuteeb), a division (liwa) or an army (jaysh/jeish) are
intermixed. This militia is loyal to the Fatah movement, when it was seen in
Khan Younis, Gaza Strip; c. 20 Sept. 2015. [Not to be confused with the similar
name of a Syrian militia: the "Imam al-Hussein Brigade".]
William Garrison, 13 December 2023
Logo
image located by William Garrison, 13 December 2023
Regarding its logo: the black Arabic text at the bottom translates into
English as: "Martyr Abdul Qader Al-Husseini Brigades." The top Arabic reads:
"Kill them wherever you find them, expel them from where they expelled you." The
building is that of the "Al-Aqsa mosque" atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Although it looks like the dome is golden in color, it should be a silver/gray
color as that is the color of the lead-covered dome on this mosque. The "Golden
Dome" is atop the nearby "Qubbat as-Sakhra" shrine. The book is the Muslim's
holy book: The Quran. There is an AK47 rifle-barrel pointing skyward from the
mosque. To the right is a black/white checkered keffiyeh encompassing a map of
"Greater Palestine" (that includes Israel). The green/white/red/black colors of
the Palestinian flag are seen to the right, with a golden crescent-moon to the
left. "Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni/Husseini" was a Palestinian nationalist who
headed his own militia during the 1930s; a biography of him is in Wikipedia at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al-Qadir_al-Husayni
William Garrison, 13 December 2023