Page 302 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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282———Palestine Liberation Organization

A month later, the PLO and its chairman made Lebanon Militia and the Maronite Lebanese Forces
history: Yasir Arafat addressed the United Nations militia. Israeli forces invaded Lebanon in March 1978,
General Assembly in New York City on November 13, only to retreat three months later. Fighting between
1974, saying, “Today I have come bearing an olive Israel, Syria, Lebanese militias, and the PLO continued,
branch and a freedom fighter’s gun. Do not let the halted by a PLO-Israeli cease-fire on July 24, 1981.
olive branch fall from my hand. Do not let the olive Nearly a year later, on June 6, 1982, Israel thun-
branch fall from my hand. Do not let the olive branch dered into Lebanon, driving PLO forces back into
fall from my hand.” The General Assembly later Beirut. Israel besieged that city eight days later. The
voted, 105-to-4, with 20 abstentions, to grant the PLO siege continued until the end of the summer, when the
observer status at the United Nations. The four “no” PLO evacuated Beirut in an internationally brokered
votes were cast by Israel, the United States, Bolivia, agreement. Just two weeks after the PLO forces
and the Dominican Republic. In 1976, the Arab left Beirut, a Maronite militia allied with Israel killed
League made the PLO the 21st full member of the hundreds of Palestinian refugees in the city’s Sabra
league. Despite greater international recognition, and Shatila refugee camps. Many Palestinians held
the PLO was not invited to the 1979 Camp David Arafat and other PLO leaders responsible for leaving
negotiations between Egypt and Israel mediated by Palestinians in the camps unprotected.
U.S. president Jimmy Carter. The resulting Camp Throughout the PLO’s history, many leaders of
David Accords called for talks on Palestinian self-rule Arab nations have attempted to take control. In 1983,
in the occupied territories. The United States had a PLO-Syria feud grew heated, with Syria’s president
maintained its policy of refusing to negotiate with the Assad supporting a mutiny against Arafat’s leadership
PLO until the organization recognized Israel’s right to of Al Fatah and the PLO. The “coup” was unsuccess-
exist and accepted the U.N. Security Council ful, however, and Arafat regrouped in Tunis, Tunisia.
Resolutions that renounced terrorism. After leaving Lebanon, the organization was under a
great deal of pressure to officially acknowledge Israel
and accept the existing U.N. resolutions on the Arab-
LEBANON
Israeli conflict in exchange for Palestinian self-rule.
The PLO’s presence in Lebanon was straining a Many of the different groups within the PLO were
country already on edge—conflict between Maronite more radical about these issues than Arafat’s Fatah
Christian militias, government troops, and PLO- movement, causing groups within the PLO to quarrel
supporting Muslim groups was becoming more among themselves. In 1982, Palestinian terrorist groups
pronounced. In an attempt to defuse the violence in the affiliated with the PLO included Al Fatah, Popular Front
region, a 1969 Cairo Agreement recognized Lebanese for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Democratic Front
military control over the country but also allowed the for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), al Sa’iqa, Arab
PLO to maintain a political and military presence Liberation Front (ALF), Popular Front for the Liberation
in specified areas of southern Lebanon, including the of Palestine–General Command (PFLP–GC), Palestine
refugee camps. Conditions in Lebanon remained Liberation Front (PLF), and the Palestine Popular
unstable, however, and in April 1975, civil war broke Struggle Front (PPSF). In the years following, these
out. The PLO did not immediately join in the fighting, groups split into various factions and alliances; in 1985
but entered several months later on the side of the many more split from the PLO.
Lebanese National Movement, a group of leftist and In September 1985, members of Arafat’s personal
Arab nationalist organizations. As the power of the security squad, Force 17, killed three Israelis on a
PLO-LNM allied forces began to grow, Lebanon’s hijacked yacht in Lanarca, Cyprus. The PLO claimed
president Sulayman Franjiyyah, a right-wing Maro- that the men were agents for Mossad, the Israeli intel-
nite, called upon Syria to intervene. This intervention ligence agency. Israel responded by bombing PLO
was supposed to restore the balance and prevent the headquarters in Tunis, killing 65.
left-wing forces from taking over the government.
When Syria entered Lebanon, PLO forces returned PEACE NEGOTIATIONS
to the south of the country. The PLO continued to carry
out raids on Israel, however. Israel, in turn, began Arafat and the PLO began to negotiate more success-
arming Lebanese Christian militias, aiding the Free fully for peace as the 1980s drew to a close. The first