"The main foci of violence over the weekend were along the separation lines, mainly near IDF positions. Most of the activity was led by the men of the Tanzim, the Fatah organization's military wing."

The Tanzim ("organization" in Arabic) is Fatah's field activity wing. It is a kind of quasi-military militia, whose members see themselves as being in the vanguard, mainly in initiating and organizing demonstrations and confrontations against Israel. Additional goals are: organizing young people in nationalistic frameworks and prime their hearts for nationalist activities in the framework of the Fatah organization.

The Tanzim have tens of thousands of members, most of them residents of the [Palestinian Authority] territories, "graduates of the intifada". Every Fatah member who was imprisoned in Israel belongs to the Tanzim. The organization is led by former intifada commanders, who serve on the Tanzim's supreme committee. Marwan Bargouti from Ramallah, who is also a member of the Legislative Council, is considered the Tanzim's commander.

Members of the Tanzim are under the control of the organization's commanders, from whom - and not from Arafat or Palestinian Authority officials - they receive their orders. Arafat maintains ongoing links with the Tanzim's commanders, finances the organization and uses its members as a militia in confrontations with Israel, including armed confrontations. This is why Arafat, to Israel's disdain, does not disarm the Tanzim. Many Tanzim members operate in the framework of Jibril Rajoub's security apparatus, mainly as field commanders.

The Tanzim has tens of thousands of weapons of all kinds - from pistols to machine guns. Some of the weapons have been given to the Tanzim by the Palestinian Authority, some has been gathered over the years and some has been purchased from various sources, including from the Israeli underworld. "When the state is established, the Tanzim will become a political party and it will hand over its weapons to the state's legal authorities," Marwan Bargouti has said on numerous occasions.

The Tanzim has branches in every neighborhood, village, refugee camp and high school. Most of the Tanzim's force are adult Palestinian men, aged 20-35, in the [Palestinian Authority] territories. The organization's strongest branches operate within the universities. Therefore, Bethlehem, Bir Zeit and An-Najah (in Nablus) University students have been at the forefront of the demonstrations and confrontations. During summer holidays, the organization operates summer camps, which include weaponry instruction and military training. The Tanzim also holds self-defense, first aid and civil defense courses on a regular basis.