PFLP Leader George Habbash Dead
Founder of the radical popular front (PFLP), George Habbash died today of congestive heart failure. Habbash was the leader of a group that claimed that violent action was needed to confront the dominance of Israel. The PFLP formed and trained an army of an estimated 3000 guerrillas to fight what was seen as the “scientific” dominance of the Israeli state. The movement saw Israel as a sign of:
backwardness in the Arab world. This called for the total rebuilding of Arab society into a twentieth-century society, (Cooley 1973:135).
The movement adhered to a concept of Pan-Arabism, the fight in Palestine merely one battleground. Some of the PFLP’s acts were summarized by a BBC article on Habbash.
1968 Hijacks Israeli plane in first major operation
1970 Hijacks four Western airliners; blows them up after passengers removed
1970 Swissair flight SR330 bombed in mid-flight; 47 dead
1972 Japanese leftists carry out massacre at Lod Airport, Tel Aviv, for PFLP; 26 dead
1975 Carlos the Jackal leads PFLP hijacking of Opec meeting in Vienna; hostages flown round Middle East
1976 Air France flight from Tel Aviv hijacked and diverted to Entebbe, Uganda; Israeli paratroopers mount raid, freeing most hostages
2001 Israeli Minister for Tourism Rehavam Zeevi assassinated
Habbash was a Christian, eventually resigning from his title as General Secretary in the year 2000 and was succeeded by Abu Ali Mustafa.
Despite the carnage, he is admired and respected by many in Palestine. He spent 60 years of his life fighting for a cause, morals judgements aside, the man certainly lacked neither commitment nor passion.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called three days of national mourning in memory of George Habbash. The flag fluttering at half mast, a telling gesture given the history behind the man.
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