The Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF, occasionally abbr. PSF) (Arabic: جبهة النضال الشعبي الفلسطيني, Jabhet Al-Nedal Al-Sha'abi Al-Falestini) is a Palestinian political party. Samir Ghawshah was elected secretary-general of PPSF in 1971 and led it until his death in 2009. He was succeeded by Ahmed Majdalani on 8 August 2009.[2]
PPSF holds a seat on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive council, though it is generally considered to have a limited influence over Palestinian politics.
In 1969, the organization attacked civilian Israeli and Greek passengers in Athens Airport in 1969 which resulted in 14 injures and one dead child.[4] A year later, the organization also hijacked Olympic Airways Flight 255 from Beirut, Lebanon en route to Athens. The hijackers ordered the flight flown to Cairo, Egypt with five crew members.[5]
Initially close to Egypt after its break with Fatah, it eventually slipped into decline. In 1982 it was revived jointly by Syria and Libya, in an attempt to bolster hardliner and anti-Arafat forces in the PLO (Syria was simultaneously fighting the PLO in Lebanon).
Members of the PPSF were mentioned as possible suspects in the 1988 Lockerbie Bombing, believed to have been orchestrated by the Libyan regime, but Samir Ghawshah denied the charges.[6]
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