The Fatah Central Committee is the highest decision-making body of the Palestinian organization and political party, Fatah.
History The first Fatah Central Committee was formed in February 1963, consisting of ten members, including Yasser Arafat, Khalil al-Wazir, Salah Khalaf, and Khaled al-Hassan. Arafat and al-Wazir, who lobbied for increased personal responsibility, primarily faced opposition from al-Hassan who opposed premature military action against Israel which the former two advocated.Atkins, p.95.
The establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964 severely undermined Fatah, with 80% of its members joining the PLO's armed wing, the Palestinian Liberation Army. With this, Arafat and al-Wazir convinced the central committee to allow military operations. As a result, al-Assifa was formed as Fatah's armed wing, but Arafat's rival Abu Youssef was appointed its leader. In 1965, Arafat was chosen to replace him, but eventually began facing opposition from the central committee. Al-Hassan led the committee to cut funds to al-Assifa in an attempt to reduce its operations, but Arafat decided to relocate to Damascus, Syria where he received financial aid from Palestinians working abroad.Atkins, p.96.
In the 1989 Fatah Conference, 18 Fatah members were elected to the committee, with Arafat as the secretary-general. Following Arafat's signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, only half of the central committee became leading members in the newly established Palestinian National Authority. The rest of the committee either resigned or became inactive. Although now he had overwhelming support from the central committee, Arafat decided to restructure it to further strengthen his authority in the Palestinian territories. He convened a conference in Gaza in October 1995, in which he added to the committee "insiders" Zakaria al-Agha and Faisal Husseini. In November, the committee set up councils to organize campaigns for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) elections and threatened to expel any Fatah member who ran as an independent.Rubin, pp.92-98.
Elections for the central committee were held on July 8, 2009, with 96 candidates competing for spots. Mahmoud Abbas was elected as chairman, and an additional three seats were added to the committee.Abdul-Rahim: Fatah conference 90 percent over Maan News Agency. 2009-09-08.
Members of the Central Committee of Fatah +#ConferenceYearLocationNumber of members1First1961Damascus112Second1968Zabadani93Third1971Damascus124Fourth1980Damascus155Fifth1988Tunis226Sixth2009Bethlehem247Seventh2016Ramallah198Eighth2026Ramallah19
First Conference It was held in Damascus in late 1964, and the Central Committee consisted of:
Yasser Arafat Khalil al-Wazir Adel Abdel Karim Yassin Salah Khalaf Farouk Qaddoumi Mahmoud Abbas
Abu Ali Iyad Abu Yusuf al-Najjar Mamdouh Saidam Mukhtar Ba'ba' Mahmoud Massouda
On 12 June 1967, additional members were elected to the committee, including Khaled al-Hassan and Abdel Fattah Hammoud.
Second Conference It was held in Zabadani in July 1968, and consisted of 9 members:
Yasser Arafat Khalil al-Wazir Salah Khalaf Farouk Qaddoumi Mahmoud Abbas
Khaled al-Hassan Abu Ali Iyad Abu Yusuf al-Najjar Mamdouh Saidam
Third Conference It was held in Damascus in September 1971, and the Central Committee consisted of 12 members:
Yasser Arafat Khalil al-Wazir Salah Khalaf Farouk Qaddoumi Mahmoud Abbas Khaled al-Hassan
Abu Yusuf al-Najjar Kamal Adwan Nimr Saleh Muhammad Rateb Ghneim Hayel Abdel Hamid Salim al-Zaanoun
Fourth Conference It was held in Damascus in May 1980, and consisted of 15 members:
Yasser Arafat Khalil al-Wazir Salah Khalaf Farouk Qaddoumi Mahmoud Abbas Khaled al-Hassan Nimr Saleh Muhammad Rateb Ghneim
Hayel Abdel Hamid Salim al-Zaanoun Saad Sayel Rafiq Natsheh Hani al-Hassan Majed Abu Sharar Samih Abu Kweik
Fifth Conference It was held in Tunis in August 1988, and the Central Committee consisted of 22 members, to which two additional members were later added following the assassination of Salah Khalaf and Hayel Abdel Hamid in 1991:
Yasser Arafat Salah Khalaf Farouk Qaddoumi Mahmoud Abbas Khaled al-Hassan Muhammad Rateb Ghneim Hayel Abdel Hamid Salim al-Zaanoun Saad Sayel Rafiq Natsheh Hani al-Hassan Yahya Habash
Muhammad Jihad al-Amouri Nasr Yusuf Tayeb Abdel Rahim Intisar al-Wazir Hakam Balawi Abbas Zaki Ahmed Qurei Subhi Abu Karsh Abdullah al-Ifrangi Nabil Shaath Faisal Husseini Zakaria al-Agha
Sixth Conference It was held in Bethlehem in August 2009, and consisted of 24 members:
Mahmoud Abbas Muhammad Rateb Ghneim Mahmoud al-Aloul Marwan Barghouti Nasser al-Qudwa Salim al-Zaanoun Jibril Rajoub Tawfiq Tirawi Saeb Erekat Uthman Abu Gharbieh Mohammed Dahlan
Mohammad al-Madani Jamal Muhaisen Hussein al-Sheikh Azzam al-Ahmad Sultan Abu al-Einein Tayeb Abdel Rahim Abbas Zaki Nabil Shaath Mohammad Shtayyeh Nabil Abu Rudeineh Zakaria al-Agha Sakher Bsiso Amal Hamad
Seventh Conference It was held at the Palestinian Presidential Headquarters in Al-Bireh in 2016:
Mahmoud Abbas Marwan Barghouti Jibril Rajoub Mohammad Shtayyeh Hussein al-Sheikh Mahmoud al-Aloul Tawfiq Tirawi Saeb Erekat Ismail Jaber Jamal Muhaisen
Nasser al-Qudwa Ahmed Helles Mohammad al-Madani Sabri Saidam Samir al-Rifai Azzam al-Ahmad Abbas Zaki Rawhi Fattouh Dalal Salameh
Eighth Conference It was held across four locations: the Palestinian Presidential Headquarters in Al-Bireh, Beirut, Cairo, and Gaza in May 2026:
Mahmoud Abbas Marwan Barghouti Majed Faraj Jibril Rajoub Hussein al-Sheikh Leila Ghannam Mahmoud Aloul Tawfiq Tirawi Yasser Abbas
Tayseer al-Bardini Zakaria Zubeidi Ahmed Abu Holi Ahmed Helles Adnan Ghaith Mousa Abu Zaid Dalal Salameh Mohammad al-Madani Iyad Safi Mohammad Shtayyeh
References
Bibliography Atkins, Stephen. Encyclopedia of National Movements. Rubin, Barry. Transformation of Palestinian Politics.