POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE

(PFLP) Arabic al-Jabha al-Sha'biyah li-Tahrir Filastin organization providing an institutional framework for militant organizations associated with the Palestine Liberation Organization (q.v.), notable for the internal conflicts between its Marxist-Leninist ideology and its terrorist activities. It was established in 1967 in an amalgamation of three different Palestinian terrorist groups by Georges Habash (q.v.). The PFLP suffered from conflicts between its several factions, though all were engaged in terrorist activities. The PFLP rejected political compromise with Israel and was pledged to the elimination of that state. It took a vigorously anti-Western and anticapitalist stance on other Middle Eastern questions. The PFLP carried out or organized many notorious terrorist actions against Israel, most notably the hijacking and destruction of many Israeli commercial airliners in the late 1960s and '70s.