al-Asifa, al-Fatah, Fatah - a Palestinian political and military organization founded by Yasser Arafat in 1958 to work toward the creation of a Palestinian state; during the 1960s and 1970s trained terrorist and insurgent groups; "al-Fatah carried out numerous acts of international terrorism in western Europe and the Middle East in the 1970s"

Al Nathir - a Palestinian terrorist organization formed in 2002 and linked to Fatah movement of Yasser Arafat

Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, DFLP, PDFLP, Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine - a Marxist-Leninist group that believes Palestinian goals can only be achieved by revolutionary change; "in 1974 the DFLP took over a schoolhouse and massacred Israeli schoolchildren"

Abu Nidal Organization, ANO, Arab Revolutionary Brigades, Black September, Fatah Revolutionary Council, Fatah-RC, Revolutionary Organization of Socialist Muslims - a Palestinian international terrorist organization that split from the PLO in 1974; has conducted terrorist attacks in 20 countries; "in the 1980s the Fatah-RC was considered the most dangerous and murderous Palestinian terror group"

Forces of Umar Al-Mukhtar, Umar al-Mukhtar Forces - a little known Palestinian group responsible for bombings and for killing Israelis; seeks to defeat Israel and liberate southern Lebanon, Palestine, and Golan Heights

Harakat al-Jihad al-Islami al-Filastini, Palestine Islamic Jihad, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, PIJ - a militant Palestinian terrorist group created in 1979 and committed to the creation of an Islamic state in Palestime and to the destruction of Israel; smaller and more exclusively militant that Hamas

Palestinian Hizballah - a little known Palestinian group comprised of members of Hamas and Tanzim with suspected ties to the Lebanese Hizballah; responsible for suicide bombings in Israel

PFLP, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - a terrorist group of limited popularity formed in 1967 after the Six-Day War; combined Marxist-Leninist ideology with Palestinian nationalism; used terrorism to gain attention for their cause; hoped to eliminate the state of Israel

Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO - a political movement uniting Palestinian Arabs in an effort to create an independent state of Palestine; when formed in 1964 it was a terrorist organization dominated by Yasser Arafat's al-Fatah; in 1968 Arafat became chairman; received recognition by the United Nations and by Arab states in 1974 as a government in exile; has played a largely political role since the creation of the Palestine National Authority

mandate, mandatory - a territory surrendered by Turkey or Germany after World War I and put under the tutelage of some other European power until they ar able to stand by themselves

geographic area, geographic region, geographical area, geographical region - a demarcated area of the Earth

Juda, Judah - an ancient kingdom of southern Palestine with Jerusalem as its center

Judaea, Judea - the southern part of the ancient Palestine succeeding the kingdom of Judah; a Roman province at the time of Christ

Philistia - an ancient region on the coast of southwestern Palestine that was strategically located on a trade route between Syria and Egypt; important in Biblical times

Asia - the largest continent with 60% of the earth's population; it is joined to Europe on the west to form Eurasia; it is the site of some of the world's earliest civilizations

Jordan, Jordan River - a river in Palestine that empties into the Dead Sea; John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan

chebab - a Palestinian juvenile 10-15 years old who fights against the Israelis