* Fatah was the main supporter in the Arab world of the Khomeini revolution in Iran when it erupted.
* A view of Fatah as secular is far from reality. Fatah has strong Muslim features. Its websites reveal frequent Muslim phrases and tenets, for example, on the holy duty to liberate Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa mosque, and the religious terminology of “jihad.” Its military wing is the “Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade,” whose military announcements are heavily laced with Koranic verses identical to those used by Hizbullah.
* Both Islamic Jihad and Hizbullah were established with deep Fatah involvement. Originally, Islamic Jihad was actually a purely Fatah offshoot, part and parcel of the military apparatus of Arafat’s deputy, Abu Jihad, who, as his name may convey, was the major promoter of Islamic features in Fatah.
* During the first Lebanon war, Abu Jihad followers helped Iran establish Hizbullah on the ruins of the Fatah infrastructure that Israel had destroyed in the war.
* The joint plan of Fatah and Hizbullah was to surround Israel with terror rocket power from all sides. This master plan still exists, but now the main role has been given to Hamas.
