The Deadly Tanzim

THE TANZIM

General:

The TANZIM is part of the FATAH organization, with declared official goals and objectives of a political and social nature. The TANZIM ("organization" in English) works towards expanding the membership of the FATAH organization to be the largest and leading Palestinian faction in the PA. However, the reality of the TANZIM is quite different. It operates as an armed militia for enforcing order on the Palestinian street. It is also Arafat's personal tool for maintaining violent friction with Israel without focusing the blame on himself or having to use his own security apparatus.

The TANZIM is a central tool in Arafat's "divide and conquer" strategy used on various Palestinian power groups. In particular, this can be seen in the attempts to establish a security mechanism to compete with Jibril Rajoub's Preventive Security apparatus.

In both nature and activities, the TANZIM is based on the strength of the internal leadership, the FATAH people from the field who have emerged in West Bank cities and the Gaza Strip. There are often tensions and power struggles between them and another faction in the PA, known as the "Outsider" leadership. These are the people who arrived from abroad following the Oslo Agreement and who today represent the majority among the leaders of the various mechanisms and the senior positions in the PA. The TANZIM face an identity problem: on the one hand, it is part of the general organization while on the other, it reflects the general feeling which is not necessarily in line with the official position of the PA leaders. This tension is the reason for the harder line taken by the TANZIM in comparison to the PA leaders in the current events.

The TANZIM was established in 1983, and its operations were the spearhead of FATAH activities against Israel during the period of the Intifada. The organization has many weapons, some of which were supplied by the PA under orders from Arafat. The TANZIM is an organized body divided into sectors and cells and is involved in all central FATAH functions within the Palestinian population i.e., political and educational activities and military training at all levels, including youth camps from a very young age. These military courses are run by officers from the Palestinian security apparatus. The PA financially supports day-to-day activities of the TANZIM, and Arafat is personally involved in the selection of senior leaders in the organization.

It is TANZIM activists who are responsible for the riots of the last two weeks, under the direction of Arafat. This has been an acknowledged pattern of operation since the Oslo Agreement, as seen in various violent outbursts such as the Western Wall Tunnel riots in September 1996, the Nakba day riots in May 2000 and the present riots. Israel has requested incessantly, after every violent outburst, that the TANZIM be disarmed. These requests are based on the fact that according to the agreements, the PA weapons were intended for use by the Palestinian police only, and the quantities of guns are known. The TANZIM are not part of these agreements, and no group, except for the Palestinian police, is permitted to carry weapons.

Although the Palestinians promised to disarm the TANZIM, exactly the opposite occurred in reality - the TANZIM continues to arm itself and become stronger, under the orders of Arafat. Even before the Sharm-e-Sheikh summit, Israel demanded the disarming of the TANZIM; however, following the summit, Palestinian spokespeople announced that they would not submit to the demands. Arafat uses the TANZIM to inflame the situation in the field when he tries to achieve goals that he has been unsuccessful in achieving via diplomatic means. In this way, he can always claim that the violent outbursts are a result of popular sentiment venting itself on the street. Arafat also uses the TANZIM to incite Israeli Arabs, with whom they associate and mix. In this relationship, they led the violent attacks carried out recently in Jaffa and the Galilee.

The senior commanders of the TANZIM enjoy high-ranking status in the PA. Some of them are members and active in the ruling central bodies and institutions. As a result of their seniority and position, together with the recommendation of the appropriate authorities in the PA, some have even reached VIP status.

Organization Leaders:

In the West Bank, the TANZIM have two main leaders:

  • Marwan Bargouti, a resident of Ramallah and veteran member of FATAH in the West Bank, is the most prominent leader of the two. Bargouti is a member of the PA's Legislative body, representing the Ramallah district. Recently, he has backed the violent struggle against Israel. In the last elections, he lost to his opponent, Hussein Al-Sheikh for the position of General Secretary of FATAH in the West Bank, but Arafat cancelled the results of the elections.
  • Hussein Al-Sheikh, also a resident of Ramallah, is a political opponent of Bargouti. He is a central figure in Ramallah-based activities, and recently has been competing with Bargouti for extremist viewpoints. Al-Sheikh is supported by Hachem Balawy, who was appointed by Arafat to reduce the power of Bargouti.

    In the Gaza Strip:

  • Ahmad Chiles, who was a minor activist in the organization until he was recently appointed as the FATAH secretary in Gaza. Chiles is a seasoned veteran from the Intifada period. He is an extremist and serious inciter of violence (his brother, a senior officer in the Palestinian security forces, gained control of the FATAH apparatus in the Gaza Strip; he is close to Dachlan and works in close coordination with him).

    Involvement of TANZIM activists in rioting in the West Bank and Gaza:

    As with the "Western Wall Tunnel" riots (September 1996) and in the rioting experienced during the last two weeks, the TANZIM activists have demonstrated their ability to incite and activate their supporters not only in the West Bank and Gaza, but also within the "Green Line", (pre-1967 borders).

    The following are a few examples:


      Link & Sources:  
    IDF Spokesman