JAKARTA - Palestinian independence is not only fought for by one group or Muslim community. In fact, many parties played a role in the process of Palestinian independence, both across religions and ideologies.
Including socialists who are members of the Palestinian Liberation Front, the PFLP. A party founded by a Christian, George Habash. What is the history of the struggle?
As quoted by The Guardian, Habash formed the PFLP, a Marxist-Leninist party in 1967. He was one of the people who pioneered the armed struggle to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation.
This party had experienced a change in attitude. In 2000, for example, they supported a two-state solution (Palestine-Israel) with a record of Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. But in 2010, they returned to their original position of calling for a one-state solution and refusing to make peace with Israel.
Consistent with the values he had believed from the start, Habash was nicknamed "Al Hakim" which means wise man. His opinion was firm about Palestine, that this country could one day stand on its own feet.
The reason is, not a few people of the same kind have become opportunists and tarnished the movement. Habash is adamant in his position of championing the restoration of the full rights of all Palestinians in 1948, not just the territories Israel conquered in 1967.
As the name suggests, the PFLP deals primarily with the liberation of Palestine. Due to their Marxist politics, they made friends with various militant groups from around the world over the years. One of them is the German left-wing organization Baader Meinhof.
The group also has links to the communist Japanese Red Army militant organization. They have collaborated to make a series of armed attacks.
In fact, what made the name PFLP fly was none other than the armed movement and their underground politics of the late 1960s to 1970s. One of his most notorious acts was the hijacking of a plane by one of his cadres Leila Khaled.
Khaled was noted to have been involved in two aircraft hijacking operations: the hijacking of a Trans World Airlines plane in August 1969 and an Israeli El Ai plane in 1970.The hijacking of the aircraft, as Khaled acknowledged, was aimed at showing the existence of Palestine to the world and freeing all Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons. .
According to The World, the PFLP regularly attacks civilian targets inside and outside Israel. In one of their worst attacks in collaboration with Japanese Red Army guerrillas, they killed two dozen passengers at Israel's international airport in Lod in 1972.
In addition they also carried out further attacks in Munich, Brussels and Greece. Since then the US, European Union and Canada declared the PFLP a terrorist organization.
The weakening of the Soviet Union in the 1980s saw the PFLP lose its strongest supporters. The emergence of Islamic groups such as Hamas, as well as a leadership that is considered old and untouchable, has added to the decline in support for the party.
Many of the PFLP leaders were locked up or killed by Israel. One of those killed was Abu Ali Mustafa, who succeeded Habash as leader in 2000. In response, the PFLP shot and killed Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi.
But their struggle never stopped. In recent years, the group has continued to engage in armed resistance, firing rockets from Gaza and attacking Israeli troops patrolling the border.
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