Recently an old newspaper story written back in the heydays of the Rejection Front found its way across my desk. The Rejection Front? Remember the infamous “Three No’s:” No to peace with Israel, no to recognition of Israel and no to negotiations with Israel. Allow me to refresh your memory.

The Rejection Front was once a major force in the Middle East imbroglio, both politically and militarily. Well, at least to the point where they could influence the peace process, or lack thereof. In the final analysis their stance did nothing to advance either their cause or the peace process. As it turns out they have been relegated to a rather short chapter in the region’s history books. The Palestinian Rejection Front came about at the time of a major Middle East conference, the 1974 Khartoum Arab summit, when several factions within the Palestine Liberation Organisation disagreed over strategy proposed by the PLO.

Under Yasser Arafat’s leadership the PLO was calling for a two-state solution in Palestine. As its name indicates, the Rejection Front spearheaded by Dr George Habbash, the leader of the Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was more in favour of, well, rejection. He wanted to continue the armed struggle until all of Palestine was liberated. Habbash was joined by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command, despite its name, a smaller and more radical group led by a former Syrian army officer called Ahmad Gebril. The PFLP-GC had earlier broken away from the PFLP. It also included the Arab Liberation Front, the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front and the Palestine Liberation Front, the latter who in turn had earlier broken away from the PFLP-GC. The Front was supported alternatively by the Iraqi Baathists, by Libya, sometimes by Syria, sometimes by what was then South Yemen. Sometimes this was done by several of those countries at once and sometimes by none of the afore mentioned. Sometimes they would fight battles with forces from those countries. Although militarily the Rejection Front was dwarfed by Fatah, politically it carried a lot of clout. Still, it did not survive the peace talks, the Oslo Accords and the PLO’s move from exile “back” to Palestine.

Today Hamas and other neo-rejectionists find themselves somewhat in a similar situation, having become the natural heirs of the Rejection Front, repeating the mantra of the three no’s: “no to peace, no to recognition, no to negotiations.” Today’s rejectionists would benefit from looking at how history, helped by geopolitical developments in the form of aid to the mainstream PLO movements, mainly Fatah, has treated the rejectionists. The Popular Front is a mere skeletal shadow of its former self. Its popularity largely dissipated, in part replaced by the Islamists. In the PLC, the Palestine Legislative Council, sometimes referred to as the Palestinian parliament, the PFLP managed to eke out a mere three seats in the 132-seat unicameral assembly in the 2006 elections. Hamas won 74 and Fatah 45.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command is present only in minute pockets in Lebanon’s Western Bekaa Valley and South Lebanon where they await orders from their aging leader, Ahmad Gebril, now living in Damascus. And the Palestine Liberation Front, whose claim to infamy was the hijacking of the Italian ocean liner, the Achille Lauro, and sending suicide bombers on hand gliders into Israel, is barely heard of these days. Their leader, Abu Abbas died in US captivity after being arrested in Baghdad when US forces invaded in 2003. Following their hostile takeover of the Gaza Strip earlier this year, in what was a de-facto coup d’état against the Palestinian Authority and its president, Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas finds itself shunned by the international community.

The Islamist group is isolated and deprived of international support and aid, except for what it can smuggle in from countries, or entities that continue to support it, such as Syria, Iran and individual contribution from the odd Arab millionaire. Much like the Islamists, the rejectionists were dependent on foreign aid for their survival, much of which came from the Soviet Union. With the demise of the latter the rejectionists lost a major sponsor and have for all intent, ceased being a moving factor in the area’s politics.

While Hamas today commands impressive popular support, their picking up where the Rejection Front left off is not a guarantee for success, particularly if, as they say, history repeats itself. The Khartoum conference marked a turning point for the rejectionists. In a similar manner next November’s conference could see history repeat itself, this time marking a turning point for the neo-rejectionists.

Claude Salhani is Editor of the Middle East Times and a political analyst in Washington, DC.