Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades - Arafat and Fatah

Arafat and Fatah

The leadership of the brigades, and average members have identified themselves as the military wing of Fatah. On their website, and on posters they post the Fatah emblem. The leadership of Fatah has said they never made a decision either to create the brigades, or make them the militant wing of Fatah. Since 2002, some leaders in Fatah have reportedly tried to get the brigades to stop attacking civilians.

In November 2003, BBC journalists uncovered a payment by Fatah of $50,000 a month to al-Aqsa. This investigation, combined with the documents found by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), led the government of Israel to draw the conclusion that the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades have always been directly funded by Yasser Arafat. In June 2004, then Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei openly stated this: "We have clearly declared that the Aksa Martyrs' Brigades are part of Fatah. We are committed to them and Fatah bears full responsibility for the group." In July, he further declared "The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, military wing of the Fatah movement will not be dissolved and Fatah will never relinquish its military wing."

On 18 December 2003, Fatah asked the leaders of the al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigades to join the Fatah Council, recognizing it officially as part of the Fatah organization.