May 15 Organization for the Liberation of Palestine

Suspected of receiving logistic and financial support from Iraq until 1984

The May 15 Organization for the Liberation of Palestine, led by Muhammad al-Umari (known throughout Palestinian circles as Abu Ibrahim or the bomb man), was formed in 1979 when it split with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-Special Operations Group (PFLP-SOG). Carlos the Jackal was also reportedly involved in its establishment.  Their stated goal was the destruction of the state of Israel.  They were never part of the PLO.  The organization allegedly maintained its headquarters in Iraq until 1984.  During that time, they reportedly received financial and logistical support from the Iraqi regime.  After 1984, its headquarters was unknown, although they mostly operated in Western Europe.  The most important attack that is associated with them was the 1982 bombing of a Pan Am flight en route to Honolulu in which a Japanese teen was killed. Mohammad Rashid is being held in a U.S. prison in relation to that bombing.

In the early 1980s, the group's strength was reportedly between 50-60 members.  The group disbanded in the mid-80s when most of the key leadership joined Colonel Hawari's Special Operations Group of Fatah.

Armed Forces of National Liberation -- Ally
Weather Underground Organization (WUO) / Weathermen -- Founding Group

Armed Resistance Unit, May 19 Communist Coalition, Red Guerrilla Resistance, Resistance Conspiracy, Revolutionary Fighting Group

The May 19th Communist Order (May 19th) was a front for the Revolutionary Armed Task Force (RATF), a coalition of Weather Underground and Black Liberation Army members who robbed banks in order to finance their radical leftist agenda.  May 19th kept a network of safe houses for the RATF and forged alliances with other leftist organizations such as FALN, the New Afrikan Freedom Fighters, and the Palestine Liberation Organization.  May 19th can also be considered a cell of the RATF.	<br /><p>The group's name refers to the day on which both Malcolm X & Ho Chi Minh were born.  May 19th members were radically anti-racist, anti-imperialist, and pacifist.  They believed that the United States government was controlled by a military-industrial alliance and that U.S. government policy is racist, imperialistic and morally abhorrent.  Many May 19th members had a history of radical activism stretching back to the 1960s.  Several of May 19th's leaders were members of Students for a Democratic Society.	<br /><p>Between 1983 and 1985, May 19th committed at least eight bombings in the New York and D.C. metropolitan areas.   The most infamous of these attacks was the November 1983 bombing of the U.S. Capitol.  The goal of this violent campaign was to change public opinion by drawing attention to allegedly immoral actions of the United States government.  May 19th claimed responsibility for bombs in letters to news outlets.  The bombings caused no deaths or injuries, but the group's manifestos claimed that might have changed.  We purposely aimed our attack at the institutions of imperialist rule rather than at individual members of the ruling class and government. We did not choose to kill any of them this time. But their lives are not sacred..." (Ostrow, 5/12/98) "