de Havilland Comet jet airliner. . For the 1930s racing aircraft, see de Havilland DH.88.

The British de Havilland Comet first flew in 1949 and is noted as the world's first commercial jet airliner to reach production. The Avro Ashton and the Vickers VC.1 Viking non-standard variant fitted with Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets had flown earlier but were experimental models. Early Comet models suffered from catastrophic metal fatigue, causing a string of well-publicised accidents, and the aircraft was withdrawn temporarily and redesigned. The Comet 4 series subsequently enjoyed a long and productive career of over 30 years, although sales never fully recovered. The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod, the military derivative of the Comet airliner, is still in service. In 2007, the original decades-old airframes were being rebuilt with new wings and engines to produce the Nimrod MRA 4, expected to serve with Britain's Royal Air Force until the 2020s, more than 70 years after the Comet's first flight.

The sorteo is an annual festival held on Holy Week on the island of Marinduque, Philippines. The "Moriones" are men and women in costumes and masks replicating the garb of biblical Roman soldiers as interpreted by local folks. The Moriones or Moryonan tradition has inspired the creation of other festivals in the Philippines where cultural practices or folk history is turned into street festivals.[1]

colorful festivals celebrated on the island of Marinduque and the Philippines. Morion means "mask" or "visor," a part of the medieval Roman armor which covers the face. Moriones, on the other hand, refers to the masked and costumed penitents who march around the town for seven days searching for Longinus. Morions roam the streets in town from Holy Monday to Easter Sunday scaring the kids, or engaging in antics or surprises to draw attention. This is a folk-religious festival that re-enacts the story of Saint Longinus, a Roman centurion who was blind in one eye. The festival is characterized by colorful Roman costumes, painted masks and helmets, and brightly colored tunics. The towns of Boac, Gasan, Santa Cruz, Buenavista and Mogpog in the island of Marinduque become one gigantic stage. The observances form part of the Lenten celebrations of Marinduque. The various towns also hold the unique tradition of the pabasa or the recitation of Christ's passion in verse.[2] Then at three o'clock on Good Friday afternoon, the Santo Sepulcro is observed, whereby old women exchange verses based on the Bible as they stand in wake of the dead Christ. One of the highlights of this festival is the Via Crucis. A re-enactment of the suffering of Christ on his way to the calvary. Men inflict suffering upon themselves by whipping their backs, carrying a wooden cross and sometimes even crucifixion. They see this act as their form of atonement for their sins. This weeklong celebration starts on Holy Monday and ends on Easter Sunday. [3]

Philippine Greens

The Philippine Greens is a group of activists in thePhilippines who formally organized themselves on November 30, 1996, with what they called the "Green worldview" as their basis of unity. The group consisted of political activists who acquired a stronger ecological perspective and environmental activists who acquired a stronger political perspective.

The Philippine Greens have focused on environmental issues and have not actively participated in Philippine elections. They based their decision on their analysis that Philippine electoral processes were so corrupt that participation in elections tended to corrupt the contestants themselves and the results often did not reflect the true will of the people.

Today, the Philippine Greens continue to focus on environmental issues and concerns. Their members are spread out within other environmental groups in the Philippines and they conduct regular fellowship meetings to share experiences, discuss the current situation, formulate a common stand, and make plans for intensifying and expanding their environmental advocacies.

Bantay Kalikasan

ABS-CBN Bantay Kalikasan is an Philippine media organization. It was established by Abs-Cbnto raise awareness in nature and to advocate for preservation of the environment.

Bantay Kalikasan (Nature Watch), AFI's environmental arm, started on July 21, 1998. It is a media-based project supported by a multi-sector network of government agencies, private institutions, and non-government organizations. It was launched to serve as a catalyst in addressing the concern over the worsening state of the Philippine environment characterized by air and water pollution, denudation of forests, irresponsible waste disposal and their life-threatening effects. Originally, Bantay Kalikasan started as a radio program in DZMM, addressing environmental problems raised by its listeners.

Bantay Kalikasan committed itself to undertake and catalyze initiatives by maximizing media resources to help ensure an actively protected, adequately rehabilitated, and sustainably developed environment. Its current objectives are as follows:

• Develop and implement strategic environmental projects

• Raise public consciousness on environmental issues and concerns

• Provide a venue for publicizing and addressing environmental issues, problems and similar concerns

• Urge the effective enforcement of relevant environmental policies and laws.

Firefly Brigade

The Firefly Brigade' is a Philippinescitizen's action group formed in 1999 to work for clean air and a habitable, people-friendly environment in our cities.he fireflies have fled the city because they could not stand its dirty air. All of us cyclists, pedestrians, commuters, even those who ride cars who live, work and raise families in the city may suffer the same fate. We continue to dirty our city's air with polluting vehicles and factories. As a result, we also risk disappearing like the fireflies.Why resign ourselves to this fate? We have a choice. We can fight for clean air and bring the fireflies back.

Haribon Foundation

The Haribon Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources, simply known as Haribon Foundation, is a membership organization dedicated to the conservation of Philippine biodiversity. It aims to build a constituency for environmental issues that will prioritize conservation actions on habitats and sites, based on solid, scientific, and socio-economic research. It considers itself the pioneer environmental organization in the Philippines.The name "Haribon" is a concatenation of "haring ibon," in English "bird king" or "king of the birds", referring to the Philippine Eagle, the icon signifying the importance of protecting biodiversity in the Philippines. Its presence is a constant reminder to Filipinos to be continuously involved in taking care of our environment. Haribon started out as a bird-watching society in 1972 which evolved into a nature and wildlife conservation society. In 1983, the society became a full-fledged conservation foundation. It is recognized in the Philippinesand abroad as the pioneer in Philippine environmental conservation. It joins birds and habitat conservation organizations worldwide in a global partnership called BirdLife International, Haribon being the Philippine partner.

Sibuyanons Against Mining (SAM)

Sibuyanons Against Mining is an environmental advocacy group organized primarily bySibuyanons. It has been fighting for mining moratorium in Sibuyan Island. It aims to protect the island where the world's densest forest flourishes, the Philippine's cleanest river flows and the majestic Mount Guiting-Guiting dwells from future environmental degradation and exploitation

Environmental Management Bureau

Department of Environment and Natural Resources who is mainly responsible for the implementation and enforcement of RA 8749, otherwise known as the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999.

Its primary goal is to come out with a comprehensive national program to achieve and maintain air quality that meets the National Ambient Air Quality Guidelines for Criteria Pollutants and their emission standards, while minimizing the possible associated negative impacts on the country's economy. Its implementing rules and regulations contain specific requirements that prohibit vehicular and industrial sources from emitting pollutants in amounts that cause significant deterioration of air quality.

Kalikasan Partylist

is a progressive political party formed to protect the environment and defend the people's welfare. It is comprised of individuals and various sectors which support pro-people, pro-Filipino and pro-environment policies, reforms and programs. It is one of the first green political parties in the Philippines.

Partido Kalikasan (GREENS PH)

Missions:

To achieve genuine sustainable development for the Philippines and ensure sufficient adaptation to the ill-effects of climate changes;

To represent the interests of poor communities who are dependent on natural capital for their survival and development in Philippine government; and

To implement and institutionalize the Green Platform of Governance. It is not engaging the May 2013 Philippine national and local elections. However, it will support 17 key members of the Party who are running in various local positions in Malolos-Bulacan, San Pablo-Laguna, Victoria-Oriental Mindoro. Boac-Marinduque, Bohol, Kidapawan City, Datu Mastura-Maguindanao. Cotabato City, Magdalena-Laguna, San Jose-Batangas, Tabon-Tabon-Leyte, Puerto Princesa-Palawan.

It will also be conducting a GREEN RATING-GREEN COVENANT campaign for national candidates for the 2013 elections to educate the public who among the senatoriables and party list candidates carry the green agenda, has the proven track record and integrity carrying the green principles and implementing the green agenda. Environmental Center of the Philippines Foundation To safeguard, through rational palnning and management, the natural resources of the country including air, water, land, flora and fauna for the benefit of the present and future generations.To preserve the heritage of wildlife and its habitat which are now threatened by adverse factors.To produce, improve or restore vital renewable resources in order to maintain the capacity of the earth and to safeguard against depletion of non-renewable resources.To prevent, minimize or render harmless the discharge of pollutants to the environment in order to avoid irreversible damage upon the ecosystems which are harmful to human health, living resources and marine life. To ensure a favorable living and working environment by creating conditions which are necessary for the improvement of the quality lifeo obtain maximum social, economic and environmental benefits by judicious planning of human settlements, with due concern for demographic policiesTo identify, avoid and control environmental risks and seek the solution of environmental problems through science and technologyTo broaden the base for an enlightened opinion and responsible conduct by individuals, enterprises and consumers in protecting and improving the environment in its full dimension by eduaction in environmental matters.To promote scientific research and development on national, regional and international level to support and assist free flow of scientific information and to make available the knowledge derived therefrom

According to an article in FrontPage Magazine "FROM 1949 to 1956, Egypt waged a terror war against Israel, launching c. 9,000 attacks from cells set up in the refugee camps of the Gaza Strip." Around 400 Palestinian infiltrators were killed by Israeli Security Forces each year in 1951, 1952 and 1953; a similar number and probably far more were killed in 1950. 1,000 or more were killed in 1949. At least 100 were killed during 1954-6. In total upward of 2,700 and possibly as many as 5,000 infiltrators were killed by the IDF, police, and civilians along Israel's borders between 1949 and 1956. In all probability the majority of those killed were unarmed 'economic' and social infiltrators.

Throughout the period 1949-56 the Egyptian government opposed the movement of refugees from the Gaza strip into Israel, but following the IDF's Gaza Raid on 1955 the Egyptian authorities facilitated terrorist infiltration but still continued to oppose civilian infiltration.At first, Palestinians were trying to go back to their houses or to retrieve property but after 1950 these acts became much more violent and included killings of civilians in nearby cities.

After Israel's Operation Black Arrow in 1955 which came as a result of a series of massacres in the city of Rehevot, the Palestinian fedayeen were incorporated into an Egyptian unit. A high-ranking British army general who worked with the Arab legion, explained in his autobiographical history of the period how he convinced the Legion to arm and train the fedayeen for free. The Israeli government cites dozens of these attacks as "Major Arab Terrorist Attacks against Israelis prior to the 1967 Six Day WarBetween 1951 and 1956, 400 Israelis were killed and 900 wounded by fedayeen attacks.;according to the Anti-Defamation League "[i]n 1955 alone, 260 Israeli citizens were killed or wounded by fedayeen".

-Yasser Arafat, 1970

The Palestine Liberation Organization was founded in 1964. At its first convention in Cairo, hundreds of Palestinians met to, "call for the right of self-determination and the upholding of the rights of the Palestinian nation." In order to achieve these goals, a Palestinian army of liberation was thought to be essential; thus, the Palestinian Liberation Army (PLA) was established with the support of the Arab states. Fatah, a Palestinian group founded in the late 1950s to organize the armed resistance against Israel, and headed by Yasser Arafat, soon rose to prominence within the PLO. The PLO charter called for, "an end to the State of Israel, a return of Palestinians to their homeland, and the establishment of a single democratic state throughout Palestine." After the 1967 war, Palestinians realized that reliance on the Arab states would lead nowhere and that only they could liberate their homeland, which led to the emergence of many more Palestinian guerrilla factions, who took up armed struggle as a primary means of achieving their goals.

In the wake of the Six-Day War, confrontations between Palestinian guerrillas in Jordan and government forces became a major problem within the kingdom. By early 1970, at least seven Palestinian guerrilla organizations were active in Jordan, one of the most important being the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) led by George Habash. Based in the Jordanian refugee camps, the fedayeen developed a virtual state within a state, receiving funds and arms from both the Arab states and Eastern Europe and openly flouting the law of the country. The guerrillas initially focused on attacking Israel, but by late 1968, the main fedayeen activities in Jordan appeared to shift to attempts to overthrow the Jordanian monarchy.

Various clashes between the fedayeen and the army occurred between the years 1968-1970. The situation climaxed in September 1970, when several attempts to assassinate king Hussein failed. On September 7, 1970, in the series of Dawson's Field hijackings, three planes were hijacked by PFLP: a SwissAir and a TWA that were landed in Azraq area and a Pan Am that was landed in Cairo. Then on September 9, a BOAC flight from Bahrain was also hijacked to Zarqa. The PFLP announced that the hijackings were intended "to pay special attention to the Palestinian problem". After all hostages were removed, the planes were dramatically blown up in front of TV cameras.

A bitterly fought 10-day civil war known as Black September ensued, drawing involvement by Syria and Iraq, and sparking troop movements by Israel and the United States Navy. The number of fighters killed on all sides was estimated as high as 3,500.[9]

Battles between Palestinian guerrilla forces and the Jordanian army continued during the closing months of 1970 and the first six months of 1971. In November 1971, members of the Palestinian Black September group, who took their name from the civil war, assassinated Jordanian Prime Minister Wasfi al-Tal in Cairo. In December the group made an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the Jordanian ambassador to Britain.[9]

Charred remains of the bus hijacked and burnt by Palestinian militants in 1978 in the Coastal Road massacre

After Black September, the PLO and its offshoots waged an international campaign against the Israeli state. Notable events were the Munich Olympics massacre (1972) , the hijacking of several civilian airliners (some were thwarted, see for example: Entebbe Operation), the Savoy Hotel attack, the Zion Square explosive refrigerator and the Coastal Road massacre. During the 1970s and the early 1980s, Israel suffered attacks from PLO bases in Lebanon, such as the Avivim school bus massacre in 1970, the Maalot massacre in 1974 (where Palestinian terrorists massacred 21 school children) and the attack led by Samir Kuntar in 1979. Following the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, called "Operation Peace for Galilee" by the IDF, and the exile of the PLO to Tunis, Israel had a relatively quiet decade.[citation needed]

There were two attacks that represented new developments in terms of political violence inside Israel in this period. The first Palestinian suicide attack took place on 6 July 1989 when a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad boarded the Tel Aviv Jerusalem bus 405. He walked up to the driver and pulled the wheel to the right, driving the vehicle into an abyss, killing 16 people.[34] The end of the intifada also saw the first use of suicide bombing as a tactic by Palestinian militants. On 16 April 1993, Hamas carried out the Mehola Junction bombing, in which operative Saher Tamam al-Nabulsi detonated his explosives-laden car between two buses. One person, a Palestinian, other than the attacker was killed, and 21 were wounded.[35]

Main article: The Second Intifada

Sbarro pizza restaurant bombing in Jerusalem, in which 15 Israeli civilians were killed and 130 wounded

According to B'Tselem, as of 10 July 2005, over 400 members of the Israeli Security forces, and 821 Israeli civilians have been killed by Palestinians since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, 553 of whom were killed within the 1949 Armistice lines, mainly by suicide bombings. Targets of attacks included buses, IDF checkpoints, restaurants, discothèques, shopping malls, a university, and civilian homes.[37][38][39] During the Second Intifada alone 1,137 Israelis were killed by Palestinians, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (counted since 29 September 2000, retrieved at 26 December 2007 [40]).

Main article: 2000 Ramallah lynching

In October 2000 a Palestinian mob lynched two non-combatant Israel Defense Forces reservists, Vadim Nurzhitz (sometimes spelled as Norzhich) and Yossi Avrahami (or Yosef Avrahami),[41] who had accidentally entered the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Ramallah in the West Bank. The brutality of the event, captured in a photo of a Palestinian rioter proudly waving his blood-stained hands to the crowd below, sparked international outrage and further intensified the ongoing conflict between Israeli and Palestinian forces.[42][43][44][45]

A spate of suicide bombings and attacks, aimed mostly at civilians, was launched against Israel and elicited a military response. A suicide bombing dubbed the Passover Massacre (30 Israeli civilians were killed at Park hotel, Netanya) climaxed a bloody month of March 2002, in which more than 130 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed in attacks. Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield. The operation led to the apprehension of many members of militant groups, as well as their weaponry and equipment.

Main article: 2004 Sinai bombings

In 2004, 31 people were killed and 159 others were wounded in an simultaneous attack against multiple tourist destinations in Egypt.[46] Of the dead, 15 were Egyptians, 12 were from Israel, two from Italy, one from Russia, and one was an Israeli-American. According to the Egyptian government, the bombers were Palestinians led by Iyad Saleh who had tried to enter Israel to carry out attacks there but were unsuccessful.[47]

See also: List of Palestinian suicide attacks and Palestinian domestic weapons production

Israeli child wounded by a Hamas Grad rocket fired on the city of Beer Sheva, 9 January 2009

In the mid 2000s Hamas started putting greater emphasis on its political characteristics and strengthened its popularity amongst Palestinians. In 2006 Palestinian legislative elections Hamas won a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council, prompting the United States and many European countries to cut off all funds to the Hamas and the Palestinian Authority,[48] insisting that the Hamas must recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous peace pacts.[49]

After the Israel's unilateral disengagement plan in 2005 and the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections Hamas took control over all the Gaza Strip in June 2007. The Hamas rule in the Gaza strip increased the firing of Qassam rockets, mortars and Grad missiles on the Israeli villages located nearby the Gaza strip, Sderot and Ashkelon and led to the armament of the Hamas in the Gaza strip with the funds and assistance of Iran. At the same time, attack attempts continued outside the Gaza strip perimeter, including the well-planned kidnapping operation of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Hamas has made great use of guerrilla tactics in the Gaza Strip and to a lesser degree the West Bank.[50] Hamas has successfully adapted these techniques over the years since its inception. According to a 2006 report by rival Fatah party, Hamas had smuggled "between several hundred and 1,300 tons" of advanced rockets, along with other weaponry, into Gaza. Some Israelis and some Gazans both noted similarities in Hamas's military buildup to that of Hezbollah in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.[50]

Hamas has used IEDs and anti-tank rockets against the IDF in Gaza. The latter include standard RPG-7 warheads and home-made rockets such as the Al-Bana, Al-Batar and Al-Yasin. The IDF has a difficult, if not impossible time trying to find hidden weapons caches in Palestinian areas - this is due to the high local support base Hamas enjoys.[51]

Saddam Hussein, the leader of Iraq, donated $25,000 to the families of suicide bombers, and $10,000 to the families of Palestinian civilians killed by the Israeli military.[52]

As a youngster, Yasir Arafat led neighborhood children in marching and drills, beating those who did not obey. In the 1940s, Arafat's father organized a group of militants in Gaza which included Yasir Arafat and his brothers. The leader, Abu Khalid, a mathematics teacher in Gaza, gave Arafat the name Yasir in honor of the militant Yasir al-Bireh.[54]

Main article: Child suicide bombers in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Picture of a Baby in a Suicide Bomber costume, captured by Israeli forces at the house of a Hamas militant[55]

According to researcher Vamik Volkan, most suicide bombers in the Middle East are chosen as teenagers, educated, and then sent off to perform their duty when they are in their late teens or early to mid-twenties.[56]

There have been instances where Palestinian children were involved in attacks, either as child suicide bombers or bomb transporters. On 16 March 2005, an Israeli border guard found a bomb in the school bag of 12-year-old Abdullah Quran at a military checkpoint near Nablus. His life was saved only because a cell phone rigged to detonate the 13-pound bomb failed to set off the explosive at the checkpoint as it had been designed to do. Eight days later, on March 24, 16-year-old Hussam Abdo was captured wearing an explosive belt, having allegedly been paid by Fatah's Tanzim branch to blow himself up at the same checkpoint. The world's media watched as an EOD team disarmed the explosive belt with a police-sapper robot.[57][58] (video). The BBC reported that the child was "paraded in front of the international media", and journalists were not allowed to interview the children and had to rely on the army's account of the incidents.[59]

According to the Israel Defense Forces, from September 2000 through 2003, 29 suicide attacks have been carried out by youth under the age of 18, and, more than 40 youths under the age of 18 were involved in attempted suicide bombings that were thwarted.

The profile of the female Palestinian suicide bombers has been the subject of study by Katherine VanderKaay, who presented her profiling of the subjects at the American Psychological Association's annual meeting. While the first suicide bombing undertaken by a Palestinian took place in 1994, the first female suicide bomber from among Palestinian society did not emerge until January 2002. The bomber was Wafa Idris, a paramedic, reported to be 28, secular, Westernised and only nominally religious.[61][62]

Qassam rockets fired at Sderot

According to B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, 496 Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinians from 29.9.2000 to 31.7.2010 in Israel, and another 242 Israeli civilians were killed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.[63]

B'tselem reported that the main argument used to justify violence against civilians is that "all means are legitimate in fighting for independence against a foreign occupation". B'Tselem criticized this argument, saying it is completely baseless, and contradicts the fundamental principle of international humanitarian law.

"According to this principle, civilians are to be protected from the consequences of warfare , and any attack must discriminate between civilians and military targets. This principle is part of international customary law; as such, it applies to every state, organization, and person, even those who are not party to any relevant convention."[64]

B'Tselem further noted that Palestinian spokespersons distinguish between attacks inside Israel proper and attacks directed at settlers in the Occupied Territories, stating that since the settlements are illegal and many settlers belong to Israel's security forces, settlers are not entitled to the international law protections granted to civilians. Human rights group B'tselem rejected this argument, and stated:

"The illegality of the settlements has no effect at all on the status of their civilian residents. The settlers constitute a distinctly civilian population, which is entitled to all the protections granted civilians by international law. The Israeli security forces' use of land in the settlements or the membership of some settlers in the Israeli security forces does not affect the status of the other residents living among them, and certainly does not make them proper targets of attack. B'Tselem strongly opposes the attempts to justify attacks against Israeli civilians by using distorted interpretations of international law. Furthermore, B'Tselem demands that the Palestinian Authority do everything within its power to prevent future attacks and to prosecute the individuals involved in past attacks."[64]

See also: Hamas violence against Palestinians

B'Tselem reports that from 2000 to 2010 there were 664 Palestinians killed by Palestinians. Of those, 134 were killed for suspected collaboration with Israel.[11][65]

Concerning the killing of Palestinians by other Palestinians, a January 2003 Humanist magazine article reports:[66]

For over a decade the PA has violated Palestinian human rights and civil liberties by routinely killing civilians-including collaborators, demonstrators, journalists, and others-without charge or fair trial. Of the total number of Palestinian civilians killed during this period by both Israeli and Palestinian security forces, 16 percent were the victims of Palestinian security forces. ...According to Freedom House's annual survey of political rights and civil liberties, Freedom in the World 2001-2002, the chaotic nature of the Intifada along with strong Israeli reprisals has resulted in a deterioration of living conditions for Palestinians in Israeli-administered areas. The survey states: "Civil liberties declined due to: shooting deaths of Palestinian civilians by Palestinian security personnel; the summary trial and executions of alleged collaborators by the Palestinian Authority (PA); extra-judicial killings of suspected collaborators by militias; and the apparent official encouragement of Palestinian youth to confront Israeli soldiers, thus placing them directly in harm's way."

Internal Palestinian violence has been called an Intrafada.[67]

The military wing of Hamas is also recognized as a terrorist organization by Israel,[71] Canada,[72][73] Germany,[74] Japan,[75] Jordan,[76] the United Kingdom[77] and Australia.[78]

Palestinian attacked cars in Jerusalem using a front-end loader, killing three people and wounding at least thirty, 2008

In September 1995, survey participants were asked whether they supported, opposed or had no opinion with regard to "armed attacks against Israeli army targets," "armed attacks against Israeli settlers," and "armed attacks against Israeli civilian targets." The majority supported the use of armed attacks against Israeli military targets and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Support crossed all party lines and groups, and was highest among the Islamic opposition (91% and 84%) and the leftists (90% and 89%), though a significant majority of those who supported the peace process also supported armed attacks on military targets and settlers (69% and 73%). To explain the apparent paradox in the latter position, Abusada quotes Shikaki (1996) who, "contends that Palestinian support for the use of armed attacks against Israeli military targets and settlers does not indicate 'opposition to the peace process but Palestinian insistence that the process entails an end to occupation and settlements.'"[79] Palestinian support for armed attacks against Israeli civilian targets in Israel was 20% overall, with support being highest among those affiliated with the Islamic opposition (42%) and the leftists (32%), and lowest among supporters of the peace process (12%) and the National Independents (10%).[79]

The firing of rockets from Beit Hanoun into Israel was acceptable to about three quarters of the Palestinian public in the occupied territories, and was higher in the West Bank (78%) compared to the Gaza Strip (71%), among students (83%) compared to merchants (63%), and among supporters of Hamas (86%) compared to supporters of Fatah (73%). While firing rockets from Beit Hanoun was supported by a majority of Palestinians (75%), 59% of the residents of Beit Hanoun rejected this practice. 83% of Palestinians favored a mutual cessation of violence.[83]

A report by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, a Palestinian organization, showing trends based on polls conducted since 1997, indicated that Palestinian support for military operations against Israeli targets stood at 34-40 percent in 1997-1999, climbed to 65-85 percent in 2000-2004, and dropped back to 41 percent at the end of 2004. "Military operations" were defined as including shootings, car bombs and mortar rocket attacks, but not suicide bombings.[84] A 2005 poll by the center indicated that 53 percent of Palestinians supported "the continuation of [the] Al-Aqsa Intifada, 50 percent supported "suicide bombings against Israeli civilians", and 36 percent supported "the resumption of military operations against Israeli targets".[85]

A 2004 study by Victoroff et al. was conducted on a group of 52 boys, all 14 years old, from the al-Shati camp in Gaza. Forty-three percent of the boys reported that a family member had been wounded or killed by the IDF, and half lived in households where the father's employment was lost following the outbreak of the Second Intifada. "Sympathy for terrorism" was found to be correlated with depression and anxiety scores, as well as with the level of "perceived oppression," and "emotional distress". Of those who felt subject to unjust treatment, 77 percent expressed sympathy for terrorism.[86]

Mercaz HaRav massacre

A March 2008 report by Palestinian Center for Policy & Survey Research (PSR) noted that the level of support for armed attack against Israeli civilians inside Israel increased significantly with 67% supporting and 31% opposed, compared to support by 40% in 2005 and 55% in 2006. A February 2008 suicide bombing that killed one Israeli woman in Dimona was supported by 77% and opposed by 19%. An overwhelming majority of 84 percent supported the March 2008 Mercaz HaRav massacre, in which a Palestinian gunman killed eight students and wounded eleven in a Jerusalem school. Support for the attack was 91 percent in the Gaza Strip compared to 79 percent in the West Bank. Similar suicide attacks in 2005 had been less widely supported, with 29% support for a suicide attack that took place in Tel Aviv, and 37% support for another one in Beersheba.[87]

• Hamas
  • Founded in 1987 by Ahmed Yassin and Mohammad Taha as an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas' goal is the establishment of a Palestinian state.[91]
  • Armed wing is the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades; the sole target of its suicide bombings and missile attacks is Israel.[91]
  • Took part in 2006 elections and won. After the 2007 Battle of Gaza the Hamas government was disbanded by Mahmoud Abbas but remained de facto rulers of the Gaza Strip.
  • Currently led by Khaled Mashaal and Ismail Haniyeh

• Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) (founded 1970s)
  • Formed by Fathi Shaqaqi as a branch of Egyptian Islamic Jihad
  • Goal is the destruction of the state of Israel and replacement with an Islamist state[citation needed]
  • Armed wing is the Al-Quds Brigades (Jerusalem brigades)
  • Currently led by Ramadan Shallah, the Secretary General and Abd Al Aziz Awda
• The Popular Resistance Committees
  • Islamist
  • Founded in 2000 by Jamal Abu Samhadana who led the group until he was killed in 2006.
  • Hamas linked group, based in the Gaza Strip
• Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (founded June 1964)
  • Formed as the political representation of the Palestinian people
  • Currently led by Mahmoud Abbas

• Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) (founded 1967)
  • Left-wing
  • Joined the PLO in 1968 and became the second-largest PLO faction, after Arafat's al-Fatah, but withdrew in 1974, accusing the group of moving away from the goal of abolishing the State of Israel. It was lead by Abu Ali Mustapha until his assassination in 2001.
  • Armed wing is the Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades
  • Currently led by Ahmad Sa'adat
• Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) (founded 1969)
  • Marxist-Leninist group that believes Palestinian national goals can be achieved only through revolution of the masses. Split into two factions in 1991; Nayif Hawatmah leads the majority and more hard-line faction, which continue to dominate the group. Joined with other rejectionist groups to form the Alliance of Palestinian Forces (APF) to oppose the Declaration of Principles signed in 1993. Broke from the APF - along with the PFLP - over ideological differences. Has made limited moves towards merging with the PFLP since the mid-1990s.
• Abu Nidal organization (ANO), also known as Fatah - the Revolutionary Council (FRC), (founded 1974)
  • Split from PLO; part of the so-called rejectionist front, the ANO is a secular, nationalist group. Was led by Abu Nidal, widely regarded as the most ruthless of the Palestinian leaders, until his death in August 2002.
• Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)
  • Minor Left wing faction
  • Founded in 196 by Ahmed Jibril and Shafiq al-Hout, re established in 1977 by Abu Abbas
• Arab Liberation Front (ALF)
  • Minor faction tied to the Iraqi Ba'ath Party
  • Founded in 1969, first leader was Zeid Heidar
  • Currently led by Rakad Salem
• As-Sa'iqa (VPLW)
  • Palestinian branch of the Syrian Ba'ath Party
  • Founded in 1966 as alternative to Fatah, organisation boycotts Palestinian National Authority and is opposed to Oslo Accords
  • Organisation was not active during the Second Intifada
  • Currently led by Farhan Abu Al-Hayja.
• Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF)
  • Minor Socialist faction formerly led by Samir Ghawshah
• Palestinian Arab Front (PAF)
  • Minor Arab Nationalist faction

• Originally part of the ALF, split from the ALF in 1993
• Supports the Palestinian right of return and creation of Palestinian state within 1967 borders
• Currently led by Jameel Shihadeh.

• Fatah (founded early 1960s)[92]

• Palestinian nationalist political party
• Reverse acronym for "Harekat at-Tahrir al-Wataniyyeh al-Falastiniyyeh" ("Palestinian National Liberation Movement" in Arabic)
• Also known as the Movement for the National Liberation of Palestine
• Founded by Yasser Arafat in 1959. Took control of the PLO in 1968, with Arafat as chairman.
• Currently led by Mahmoud Abbas

• Tanzim (founded 1995)
  • Means "organization" in Arabic
  • Loosely organized Fatah militia
  • Led by Marwan Barghouti until his arrest in 2002.
• Force 17 (early 1970s-2007)
  • Elite unit of the PLO once under Yasser Arafat's direct guidance.
  • Acts as a versatile unit for combat and intelligence-gathering.
  • Dismantled in 2007 and incorporated into the Palestinian Presidential Guard.
• Fatah Special Operations Group (Fatah-SOG)
  • Founded in the early 1970s by Col. Abdullah Abd al-Hamid Labib
  • Also known as the Martyrs of Tel Al Za'atar, Hawari, and Amn Araissi.
  • Recently inactive (as of 2004)
• Ahmed Abu Reish Brigade
  • Extremist off-shoot of Fatah.
  • Was involved in July 17, 2004 kidnappings in the Gaza Strip.
  • Possibly linked to the Popular Resistance Committees
  • Led by Ahmed Abu Reish
• Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
  • Responsible for many suicide bombings and shootings of Israeli civilians
  • Responsible for executing suspected conspirators and leaders of opposition against Arafat
  • Funded by Fatah and the Palestinian Authority[citation needed]
  • Offshoot of this group, Fatah Hawks, has carried out guerrilla attacks against Israeli military personnel in the Gaza Strip.
• Black September Organization (1970-1973)
  • Began as a small cell of Fatah men determined to take revenge upon King Hussein and the Jordanian army for Black September in Jordan. Recruits from the PFLP, as-Sa'iqa, and other groups also joined.
  • Carried out Munich Massacre.
  • Carried out Attack on the Saudi embassy in Khartoum

• Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC) (founded 1968)

• Splinter group from the PFLP, founded by Ahmed Jibril. Declared its focus would be military, not political. Was a member of the PLO, but left in 1974 for the same reasons as PFLP.

• Army of Islam (Jaysh al-Islam)
  • Also known as Tawhid and Jihad Brigades and al-Qaeda in Palestine
  • The group are an armed Gaza clan named Doghmush who are affiliated with al-Qaeda and Abu Qatada
• Jund Ansar Allah
  • al-Qaeda affiliated group in the Gaza Strip, who proclaimed the creation of an Islamic Emirate in Gaza and led an armed rebellion against Hamas. The group was led by Abdel Latif Moussa until his death in 2009 when he was killed in combat with Hamas
• Fatah al-Islam
  • The group was established in 2006 by Shaker al-Abssi who led the group unil killed by Lebanese forces in 2007. The group was involved in a conflict with the Lebanese army in 2007 battling for control of Palestinian refugee camps, which caused the death of nearly 500 people.
• Jund al-Sham (1999-2008)
  • Radical Islamist Group set up by Palestinians and Syrians which operated in different areas of the Middle East. The group was disbanded in 2008.

• 1974 Japanese Embassy attack in Kuwait
• 1980 Paris synagogue bombing
• Munich massacre
• 1981 Antwerp bombing
• Attack on the Saudi embassy in Khartoum
• Coastal Road massacre
• Dolphinarium discotheque suicide bombing
• Jerusalem bus 19 suicide bombing
• Ma'alot massacre
• Passover massacre
• Maxim restaurant suicide bombing
• Pi Glilot bombing
• Sabena Flight 571
• Savoy Hotel Attack
• Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing
• Shawarma restaurant bombing
• Swissair Flight 330
• Pan Am Flight 110
• Avivim school bus massacre
• Mercaz HaRav massacre
• Dizengoff Street bus bombing
• Hijacking of Achille Lauro
• Beit Lid massacre
• Jaffa Road bus bombings
• Kiryat Menachem bus bombing
• 1979 Nahariya attack
• Lod Airport massacre
• Ma'ale Akrabim massacre
• Hebrew University massacre
• 2008 Dimona suicide bombing
• Karkur junction suicide bombing
• EgyptAir Flight 648
• Night of the Gliders
• 2004 Sinai bombings
• Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
• 2000 Ramallah lynching