The PLO

Was founded in 1964 by Egypt and the Arab League. A collection of different factions of political/guerrilla groups. At the end of the 1967 War there were under Israeli occupation:  Palestinians in Sinai and the Gaza Strip  in the West Bank Prior to 1967 most Palestinians had resigned themselves to rule by Egypt, Jordan, Syria or Lebanon

However those under Israeli occupied territories had new leaders, a new form of strong Palestinian nationalism and no association with the humiliation of the defeats of the Suez and 6-Day wars. Previously Arab leaders had not seen the Palestinians as a separate national/political group (remember the majority of Palestinians prior to the UN Mandate of 1948 were Bedouin or peasant farmers)

Up until 1967 the Palestinians relied on the Arab states as the key to the liberation of Palestine from the Israelis. The original PLO and the PLA (Palestine Liberation Army) was conceived by the Arab League to control the Palestinians and was never envisaged as a militant guerrilla, terrorist organisation. In 1968 the PLO Covenant was rewritten.  Negated Israel’s right to exist  Adopted the principle of armed struggle to liberate Palestine  Israel refused to deal with them

In 1969 al-fatah had emerged as the dominant faction in the PLO with Yasser Arafat as its leader.  Did not seek alignment with any particular Arab state  Did not follow any particular political line. All decisions were made by Arafat in close consultation with his closest al- fatah associates.  The PLO universally rejected the West and accepted aid from the USSR.  The more extreme factions of the PLO took on a Marxist- Leninist ideology and took to hijacking planes and committed terrorist attacks in the Middle East to highlight the plight of the Palestinians.  Arafat was both unwilling and unable to control these more radical elements.

The PLO and the Arab States The Egyptians refused to allow the PLO to operate in or from Egypt Jordan: PLO became a serious threat to political stability.  Became a state within a state  Invited Israeli retaliatory raids into Jordan  Palestinians hijacked three planes, landed them at Annam airport and blew them up Palestinian fedeyan were killed by the Jordanian Army.  By 1971 King Hussein has expelled all PLO terrorists and fighters from Jordan.

Black September  A new terrorist group and an arm of al-fatah  Murdered the Jordanian PM Nov 71  Murdered 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics

The PLO moved to Lebanon which was the provide the spark for the outbreak of civil war there in 1975 and the subsequent Israeli invasion of Lebanon in Under Israeli occupation the destiny of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza diverged from that of the brotherhood of the Arab states to the authority of the PLO who had, after 1969, emerged as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. The search for peace had become even more complicated.