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DIRECTORATE OFINTELLIGENCE

Intelligence ReportESAU L: T H E F E D A Y E E N( A n n e x t o E SA U XLVIII: Fedayeen-- M e n o f Sacr if ice y1 O 5F E E 5


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. .

A NOTE ON S O U R C E S

H

T h i s paper r e l i e s p r i m a r i l y o n c l a n d e s t i n er e po r t i n g , p a r t i c u l a r l y f o r th e i n t e r n a l s t r u c t u r eand opera t ions of t h e v a r i o u s f e da y ee n o r g a n i z a t i o n s .I Ther e p o s t l n g 1 s q u i t e guoa on p o i i t i c d i a s - w f th es u b j e c t s uc h as t h e maneuverings of t h e fedayeengroups , t h e i r i n t e r n a l d i s p u t es , and t h e i r i d e o lo g i c a land t a c t i c a l views. H o w e v e r , o u r i n f o r m a t i o n i s moresca n ty on such im po r tan t matters as the number of iarmed m e n i n each group, t h e sou rces and m echanics o ffund ing , and d e t a i l s o f t h e sources and methods of

d e l i v e r y o f arms shipments t o t h e fedayeen.


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TABLE O F CONTENTS

PageFATAH AN D THE PALESTINE LIBERATION O R G A N I Z A T I O N (PLO)

F a t a h -- Background t o February 1 9 6 9 , (I 1: 1PLO -- Background t o February 1969 c. 8Fatah Takeover of PLO -- February 1 9 6 9 , ~ LI ,11F a ta h A tt em pt s t o C o n t r o l t h e P a l e s t i n e 1 5F a ta h R e t a in s I t s I d e n t i t y , .2 0F a ta h T a c t i c s and Opera t ions , . 2 4L i b e r a t i o n Army (PLA) ~ ,Fatah Funding s 0 0 3 0 0 ' (I c 0 0 G 0 D 0 0 .26

THE A3IAB NA TI ON A LI ST MOVEMENT (ANMI AND I T SFEDAYEEN WI N G SA N M o 0 f 0 0 c 0 0 0 c. 0 0 0 0 J l i 0 9 . 0 c c .30Background on t h e A N M ' s Fedayeen Wings,P o pu l ar F r o n t f o r t h e L i b e r a t i o n of . 3 2

Pa le s in e (PFLP1 353 80 C U C 3 0 0 0 G u 0 u (I c cO r g a n i z a t i o n c 0 0 0 0 c 0 0 0 c c 0 3 cFunding, 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 c 0 0 0 0 0 c p 0 42Popula r Democratic F r o nt f o r L i b e r a t l o nof Pales t ine (PDFLP)S t r a t e g y . . 4 4O r g a n i z a t i o n ,, . 4 5Funding, .48PFLP General Command, , .51

(Conten ts Con t )

. _ _ . ~ ... .. .


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(Conten ts )Page

SMALL, INDEPENDENT FEDAYEEN GROUPSA c t iv e O r g a n iz a ti o n f o r t h e L i b e r a t i o nO f P a l e s t i n e (AOLP). . . . . . . . . . . . 5 4?opular S t r u g g l e F r o n t (PSF) . . . . . . . . 5 6Arab P a l e s t i n e O r g a n i z a t i o n . . . . . . . . . 58P o p u la r O r g a n i z a t i o n f o r the L i b e r a t i o nof P a l e s t i n e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 9

DEPENDENT FEDAYEEN GROUPSSaiqa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 9Arab Libera t ion Fron t . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

COMMUNIST "PARTISAN" FORCESGrowing Su ppor t f o r Fedayeen by ArabCommunist Parties. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4S h i f t i n S o v i e t Line R e f l e c t e d i n ArabCommunist Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Decision t o E s t a b l i s h P a r t i s a n Fo r ce s . . . . 7 1Jordan Party Announces P a r t i s a n Formation. . - 7 2Unified Fedayeen Command RejectsA p p l i c a t i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73On t h e " L i b e r a t i o n of P a l e s t i n e " . . . . . . 7 5O r g a n i z a t i o n and Operat ions . . . . . . . . . 76

,

(Conten t s Con ' t )

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(C on t en t s )Page

ATTEMPTS AT FEDAYEEN UNIFICATIONP a l e s t i n e N a t io n a l C o u n c i l -- February 1969 . . 8 0The P a l e s t i n e Armed S t r u g g l e Command. . . . . . 8 2P a l e s t i n e Nat i ona l Counc i l -- September 1969. . 8 4Unified Fedayeen Command -- February 1970 . . . 8 6Nat iona l Unity Agreement -- May 1970 . . . . . .88P a l e s t i n e N a ti o na l Counci l -- June 1970 . . . .90The PLO C e n t r a l Committee . . ' , . . . . . .93The Jordan C r i s i s -- September 1970 . . . . . . 9 7

. . . . . . . .


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Y

ESAU L: TH E FEDAYEEN"Men o f S a c r i f i c e "( A N N E X T O E S A U X L V I I I : Fedayeen --

MEMORANDUM TO RECIPIENTS

This Annex h a s been pre pa re d t o accompany anddocument th e es sa y, Fedayeen -- "Men of S a c r i f i c e , "p u b l i s h e d s e p a r a t e l y as E S A U X L V I I I ,d i s c u s s e s t h e f e d a y e e n g r o u p s i n some d e t a i l : t h e i ro r i g i n s , i d e o l o g i c a l l e a n in g s , s t r a t e g y and t a c t i c s ,o r g a n i z a t i o n a nd f u n di n g, t h e i r t i e s t o Arab sourceso f s u p p o r t , a nd e f f o r t s t o u n i f y , T h i s Annex --ESAU X L V I I I -- c o n t a i n s i n f o r m a t i on a v a i l a b l e t hr ou gh1 November 1970,

This Annex

as

Co ns tr uc ti ve comment an t h i s Annex h a s beenr e c e iv e d f ro m th e O f f i c e ,o f N a t i o n a l E s t im a te s , TheO f f i c e o f C u r r e n t I n t e l l i g e n c e , a nd The C la n d e s t i n eS e r v i c e . I n viewc however, of t h e c o m p le x i t l e s oft h e f e d ay e e n q u e s t i o n , t h e q u ic k ly - ch a n g ln g sc e n e ,an d t h e u nev en q u a l i t y of a v a l l a b l e i n t e l l i g e n c e , - t h ejudgments of t h i s Annex should be c o n s id e r e d pro-v i s i o n a l ,s h o u ld b e a d d r e s s e d t o t he Annex ' s au tho r , CarolynMcGiffert Ekedahl, and t o t h i s S t a f f ,Any comments on i t s da ta o r judgments

H a l FordChief; D D / I S p e c i a l R e s e a r c h S t a f f


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ESAU L: THE FEDLYEEN"(ANNEX TO ESAU XLVIII: Fedayeen --"Men of S a c r i f i c e " )FATAH AND THE PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION (PLO)

Fa ta h - Background t o February 1 9 6 9Fatah, which i s t o d a y t h e m o s t impor tan t f edayeen

group, was founded i n t he 1950's by m i l i t a n t P a l e s t i n i a n sd i s s a t i s f i e d wi th t h e i n a c t i o n of o t h e r P a l e s t i n i a n or-g a n i z a t i o n s . I t s name means "c on qu es t" and i s a reverseacronym der ived f r o m t h e A r a b i c words for P a l e s t i n eN a t io n a l L ib e r a t i o n Movement. Fa t a h l e a d e r s f e l t t h a tA r a b h e s i ta t io n t o i n i t i a t e war a g a i n s t I s r a e l r e s u l t e dfrom lack of w i l l r a t h e r t h an m i l i t a r y i n f e r i o r i t y , ands a w F a t a h ' s r o l e a s t h a t of c a t a l y s t -- r a i s i n g t e n s i o n sbetween A r a b s and I s r a e l i s i n o r d e r t o b r i n g a bo ut war.F a t a h ' s m i l i t a r y w i n g , A 1 A s i f a (S torm Troops), was foundedi n J an ua ry 1 9 6 4 and by e a r l y 1965 had embarked on acampaign of s a bo t ag e r a i d s a g a i n s t I s r a e l . *

The m a j o r i t y of A s i f a ' s m is s io n s were conductedby teams of f o u r o r f i v e A s i fa members w h o i n f i l t r a t e di n t o J o rd a n f rom S y r i a , t h e n crossed i n t o I s r a e l f o rq ui ck s t r i k e s . I n l a t e 1 9 6 6 , however, A si fa was a l s oused by Syr ia t o camouf lage ope ra t ion s on th e I s r a e l iborde r by Syr i an army un i t s . This i n c r e a s e in r a i d sa c r o s s t h e S y r i a n - I s r a e li border served t o r a i s e t e n s i o nand r e s u l t e d i n I s r a e l ' s November 1 9 6 6 a t t a c k o n Syria

* I s r ae l w a i t e d u n t i l May 1 9 6 5 b ef or e r e t a l i a t i n g f o rt h e f i r s t t i m e a g a i n s t A s i f a; a t t h a t t i m e it d e s t s o y e dt w o Asifa bases i n J or dan i n a n e f f o r t t o compel Jordant o r e s t r a i n t h e f eda ye en ,

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and a n e s c a l a t i o n i n t h r e a t s and c o u n t e r -t h r e a t s. " T hi ssc en ar io cor responded t o one which Fa tah migh t well havedrawn up. *The founde rs of Fa tah were r e p o r t e d l y members of -t h e M u s l i m Brotherhood and the I s l amic L i b e r a t i o n P a r t y-- b o th c o n s e r v a t i v e g r ou p s w i th s t r o n g t i e s t o t h e o i lkingdoms of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait . Fatah has th er e-f o r e a lw ay s b e n e f i t e d f i n a n c i a l l y f ro m t h e c o n t r i b u t i o n sof w e a l t h y P a l e s t i n i a n s i n th es e co un t r ie s . Somewhati r o n i c a l l y , h o w e v e r , t h e c h i e f b e n e f a c t o r o f F a ta h i ni t s e a r l y d ay s w a s S y r i a , o ne o f t h e mo st r a d i c a l o f t h eArab s t a t e s . T h i s s ee ming p a ra d ox a r o s e f ro m th e f a c tt h a t w h il e . Fa ta h was p o l i t i c a l l y c o n se r v at i ve i n i n t r a -A r a b mat te r s , i t w a s a t t h e same t i m e t h e most a c t i v e l ym i l i t a n t of t h e a n t i - I s r a e l i P a l e s t i n i a n g ro up s, and t h i smade it a t t r a c t i v e t o t h e S y r i a n s .During the m i d - l 9 6 0 ' s , a n d p a r t i c u l a r l y f r o m t h et i m e of t h e F e br u ar y 1 9 6 6 s e i z u r e of power i n S y r i a bya more m i l i t a n t B a a th i group u n t i l the June 1 9 6 7 war,S y r i a p r o vid e d t r a i n i n g , a rm s, p u b l i c i t y , a nd p l a n n in ga s s i s t a n c e t o F a ta h . I n a d d i t i o n , t h e S y r i a n B aa thgovernment arranged contacts between Fatah and China,Cuba, and North Vietnam; t h i s r e s u l t e d i n Chinese provi-s i on o f some equipment, medica l and f i na nc ia l a s s i s t an ce ,

and even some t ra ining t o F a t ah i n t h i s p re wa r p er i o d.The June 1 9 6 7 war marked t h e begi nnin g of F a t a h ' sgr ad ua l move away from depende nce on Sy ri a. Even be fo rethe w a r , F a t ah had r e s i s t e d S y r i a n B a a t h i a t t e m p t s t oimpose con t r o l over it. The d e f e a t o f S y r i a and cor res -p on ding d e c l i n e i n S y r i a n B a ath p r e s t i g e , combined w i t ht h e r i s e i n F a t a h ' s own p r e s t i g e a s t h e r e s u l t o f i t sa c t i v e ly m i l i t a n t a pp r oa c h, p ro mp te d F a t ah t o seek independ-ence pnd t o l o o k e ls e w h er e f o r h e lp . I t indeed foundw i l l i n g b a c k er s among A rab n a t i o n s t h a t w is he d t o c a p i t a l i z eon F a t a h ' s p o p u l a r i t y .

*In November 1 9 6 6 I s r a e l a l s o a t t a c k e d As Samu i nJ or da n i n r e t a l i a t i o n f o r Fa ta h r a i d s a c r o s s t h e bo r de r .


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I I

Meanwhi le , du ri ng th e l a t t e r p a r t of 1 9 6 7 ande a r l y 1 968, I r a q i u n i t s , s t a t i o n e d i n J or da n a f t e r t h eJune w a r , had r e p o r t e 6 l y b ee n i n s t r u m e n t a l i n f u nn el ir 'ga i d t o A s i f a i n J o r d an a nd i n p r o v id i n g g e n e r a l s u p po r t;t h i s h a d a p p a r e n t l y b ee n v e r y i m p o r t a ii t b e f o r e F a ta hb u i l t up a p o p u l a r base o f s u p p o r t . F o l l o w i n g I s r a e l ' sa t t a c k o n Karamah, F a t a h ' s p o p u l a r i t y i n c r e a s e d an d t h er e l a t i v e s i g n i f i c a n c e of I r a q i s u p p o r t d e c l i n e d .Fata h spokesman Hani Hasan as s er te d i n December 1969t h a t f o l l o w i n g Karamah the numbers of Fatah f i g h t e r si nc reased f rom 720 t o 3 0 0 0 . )p o r t i n g F a t a h w a s probab l y evoked l a r ge l y by t h e coo l i ngof F a t a h ' s r e l a t i o n s w i th t h e r i v a l B aa th r eg im e i nS y r i a an d Ba gh da d' s d e s i r e t o expand i t s i n f l u e n c e amongthe fedayeen .a gr ee d t o A r a f a t ' s r e q u e s t f o r t r a i n i n g of A s i f a membersi n a n t i - a i r c r a f t d e f e n s e .

(TheI r a q ' s i n t e r e s t i n sup-

I n t h e summer of 1968 I r a q re po r t e d l y

F a t a h also r e c e i v e d c o n s id e r a b l e q u a n t i t i e s ofs m a l l arms from A l g e r i a i n t h e fall of 1968.t h i s r e p r e s e n t e d a d e c i s i o nn o t a F a t a h r e q u e s t . I n Decembernaa s a i d tn t A L t h ererrea ICS su pp or t 0 t h money and sc ho la rs h i p) f rom th ePLO t o F a t a h . T h i s s h i f t p r o b a b l y r e f l e c t e d F a t a h ' si n c r e a s in g p o p u l a r i t y as w e l l as a p r e f e r e n c e f o r F a t a h 's

i n d ep e n d e nt p o s i t i o n o v e r t h e dependence of t h e s t i l lUAR-controlled PLO.I n i t s sea rch f o r funds ,F a ta h a l s o tu r n e d t o t h e USSR.

, On 2 Ju ly 1968 , two days be fo reN a s i r ' s d e p a r t u r e on a v i s i t t oMoscow, F a t a h l e ade r A r a f a t ar-r i v e d tin C a i ro .o f f i c i a l l y named Fatah spokes-man i n t h e s p r i n g of 1 9 6 8 ,t hough he had been one of th eo r g a n i z a t i o n ' s l e a d e r s from i t si n c e p t i o n a n d ha d p r e v i o u s l ybeen r eg i ona l head of A s i f a .A r a f a t a p p a r e n t l y' now a s k e d t h a tNasir i n t e r c e d e wi t h t h e S o v i e t st o c ha ng e t h e i r p o s i t i o n to wa rd st h e P a l e s t i n i a n s , s up po se dl y Celltral Committee and Fa ah

A r afa t had been

Yasir Arafat Chairman PLO

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I I.. . . ~. .. .. . , . .. . . . . . .. - ._. . . . . ..


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because he f e l t t h a t A r a b s o l i d a r i t y b eh in d t h e f e da ye enwas weakened by t h e la c k of Arab Communist support, a l -t hough t it seems more l i k e l y t h a t A r a f a t ' s c h i e f m o ti va -t i o n w a s a hope t o g e t mate r ia l a s s i s t a n c e and a n i n -creased d e g r e e of p o l i t i c a l r e s p e c t a b i l i t y t hr ou gh N a s i r ' si n t e r c e s s i o n . I n any event , Nasir agreed , and Ar afa te i t h e r accompanied o r followed him t o Moscow. There weres e v e r a l s ub s e q u en t r e p o r t s o f S o v i e t p ro m is es of a i d , b u tl i t t l e ev i dence of So v i e t fu l f i l l m en t of any such p rom i ses .The Sovie t s l a t e rl o a d of arms t o Fa rough A l exandr i a , bu t A ra fa td e n i e d r e c e i v i n g them.c l ai m ed t o have s en t a s h i p -L E J

Fatah's move away from close t i e s w it h S y r i a a f t e rt h e 1 9 6 7 w a r c r e a t e d a m ul t i t ude of new proble ms i n or-gan i za t i o n , l e a de r sh i p , and i deo logy . Fa t ah r epo r t ed l yhad about 3 , 0 0 0 armed and act ive members i n t he f a l l of1 9 6 8 . I t s highes t govern ing body was a General Commandcomposed of nine members; t h e Supreme Commander, YasirA r a f a t , was e l e c t e d by t h e o t h e r members of t h e Command.*I n e a r l y 1968 F a t a h reportedly moved i t s h e a d q u a r t e r sfrom Damascus t o Amman and t h a t summer opened a numberof r e g i o n a l o f f i c e s . The b ra nc h o f f i c e s i n A l g i e r s ,

*Other po s ts i n t h e G eneral Command were t h o s e ofA r a f a t ' s Deputy Supreme Commander -- Hani Qaddumi, iden-t i f i e d i n September 1 9 6 7 as i n cha rge of f i nances i nKuwait: t h e Chairman .of t h e M il i t a ry Committee -- FaruqNusaybah; t h e Chairman of the Finance Committee -- MuhammadQ a t t a n , a l e a de r o f Fa t ah ' s L ebanese Branch and D i rec t o rof t h e B e i r u t Branch of t h e Afro-Arab Bank; t h e Chairmanof C oord i na t i on -- Khal id Hasan, l ea de r of Fatah's KuwaitB r a n c h ; t h e r m a n of O rqan i za t i on -- Walid Khal idi ,P r o f e s s o r o f P h i l o s o p h y a t American U n i ve r s it y i n B e i r u tand i de o l og i s t fo r Fa tah ; t h e Chairm an of In fo rm a t i on --U m a r I smai l Khatib, l e ad e r o f F a t a h ' s Jo rdan B ranch: theChairman of Members A f f a i r s -- Zuhdi Khat ib , le ad er ofFa t a h ' s I r a q B ranch; and the Chairman of t he In te l l ig en ceCommittee -- Abd-al-Rahman Barakat.

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Baghdad, Cairo, and Damascus each had a "Propaganda andI n f o rm a t io n S e c t i o n " w i t h r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r l i a i s o n w i t ht h e p r e s s ; a m i l i t a r y s e c t i o n w a s a l s o p l an ne d f o r e a cho f f i c e .t

By t h e f a l l of 1 9 6 8 Fatah was by f a r t h e s t r o n g e s tof t h e f edayeen g roups i n terms of numbers , f inances,o p e r a t i o n s and p op u l ar s u p p o r t i n t h e Arab c o u n t r i e s . *I t s s u c c e s s w a s demon st rated by th e d e s i r e of s o manyA r a b s t a t e s t o s u pp o rt i t, a s w e l l as by its a b i l i t y toa t t r a c t s m a ll e r o r g a ni za t io n s t o merge with it.** Itsw eak ness l a y i n t h e f a c t t h a t it w a s a fragmented andinc oh esi ve group which had no e s t a b l i s h e d program andw a s t o r n by f a c t i o n a l i s m .I n t h e summer and f a l l of 1 9 6 8 t h e r e were a ser iesof d i s p u t e s w i t h i n F a ta h , i n v ol v in g s e v e r a l issues. Oneconcerned an a t t emp t by t he pro-Syr i an wing of th e organi -z a t i o n t o k e ep F a t a h i n t h e S y r i a n campi a n o t h e r i n v ol v edthe q u e s t i o n of u n i f i c a t i o n of t h e P a l e s t i n i a n o r ga n iz a -t i o n s and t h e i s s u e of whether Fa tah should r i s k l o s i n gsome of i t s independence for t h e s a k e o f u n i f i c a t i o n .

It seems c l e a r t h a t A r a f a t ' s l e a d e r s h ip was u n d e r a t t a c k ,and probably from t h e more pro-Syr i an f ac t i on of t h e o r -g a n i z a t i o n , D ur in g t h i s p e r i o d Arafat r e c e i v e d c o n s i d e r -able ' c r i t i c i s m f o r a v a r i e t y of rea son s: some Fata hmembers a t t a c k e d him f o r h i s c l o s e t i e s t o " r e a c t i o n a r y "governments and t h e Muslim Brother hood; some al le ge d hew a s working i n h i s own s e l f - i n t e r e s t and p r o f i t i n g fromt h e c o n t r i b u t i o n s Fa tah was receiving; others accused him

i n February 1969 Fatah thenan average of 30 fedayeeneach , two bases i n Sy r i a w i t h 1 5 0 each and th ree i nLebanon with 200 each.**T hese i nc l uded t he Pa l e s t i ne R evo lu t iona ry F ron t , the"Heroes of t h e S a c r i f i c e , " A l' a rd , b as ed w i t h i n I s r a e land r e s pons i b l e f o r many ope ra t i o ns i n s i de I s r a e l .

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I 1I I

of b e in g i n c r e a s in g l y d i c t a t o r i a l a nd of r e f u s in g t oc l a r i f y t h e m ys ter y of t h e d e a t h of Subhi Yassin.*

.... . . . . .. . . . . .. -_ _.. ........... . . . . -.-_ .......... . .

Such i n t e r n a l c r i t i c i s m may w e l l h a v e r e f l e c t e dre sen t m en t t h a t A ra fa t was i n f a c t gai nin g power a sFa tah grew.as t h e spokesman f o r Fa tah on a l l i s su es o f i mport ance.I n an i n t e rv i ew i n A1-Sa ad on 22 January 1 9 6 9 , A r a f a te l a b o r a t e d on F a t a h ' s-y;si-deo ogy ( o r l a c k t h e r e o f ) :But i n any event he i n c r e a s i n g l y emerged

What i s t h e meaning of an ide o l og ic a li d e n t i t y ? Does i t mean t h a t I shoulds t a n d up and make a s t a t e m e n t t h a t Ibe l i e ve i n Marxism? ... I s t h i s t h e t i m ef o r d e f in i ng t h e s o c i a l c o n te nt of F a t a h ' snumber? I swear by God, th e r e a re noc a p i t a l i s t s o r mo no po li st s o r bo u r ge o is i ei n t h e r a n k s of Fa tah . . .. W e a re a l l n o ton ly poor , b u t have even l o s t our homeland.. . .What meaning does t h e L e f t o r Right have' i n my s t ru g g l e t o l i b e r a t e my homeland?

H e went on t o claim t h a t t h e P a l e s t i n i a ns were the mostl e f t i s t p e op le i n t h e w or ld -- even more l e f t i s t t han t h eSoviet Union:The S ov ie t Union advo cat es a peace fu ls e t t l e m e n t f o r t h e M id dle E a s t c r i s i sand makes propo sa l s f o r th a t . W e re-f u s e t h e p e a c e f u l s e t t l e m e n t a n d a l lo t h e r p r o p o s a ls . . . . Am I supposed t ore fu se Saudi money j u s t because SaudiArabia i s a r i g h t i s t ? I a m us i ng Saud i

*Yassin w a s a l ea de r o f t h e "Heroes of t h e S a c r i f i c e "a N a s i r i s t fedayeen group.Yassin's group had j o i ned Fa t ah for t h e s o l e p ur po se ofs u b v e r t i n g F at ah t o N a s i r i s t c o n t r o l .

H e w a s a s s a s s i n a t e d i n Octoberhe was a s s a s s i na t ed byecause t h e In t e l l i gence ' C om m i t t ee had l ea rned t h a t

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money t o buy weapons from China. Bow doyou d e s c r i b e t h i s a c t i o n , r i g h t i s t o rleftist? ?

T h i s l a c k of ideo logy has been both a s o u r c e ofs t r e n g t h a n d a v u l n e r a b i l i t y t o F a ta h , B ec au se o f it,t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n ha s r e c e i v e d ass is tance f rom a widev a r i e t y of sources and has drawn t o i t t h o s e P a l e s t i n i a n sm o t iv a te d s o l e l y by t h e i r d e s i r e t o r eg ai n t h e i r home-land . It has a l s o made F a ta h s u s c e p t i b l e t o c r i t i c i s mf r o m the r a d i c a l wing of t h e fedayeen movement, al th ou ghas t h e movement as a whole has become i nc re as in gl ya l i g n e d w i t h the r a d i c a l A r a b s t a t e s and t h e Communistworld powers, Fatah ha s been pushed t o adopt a moreopenly r a d i c a l s t a n c e .PLo -- Background t o February 1 9 6 9

The P a l e s i n e L i b e ra t i o n O r g a n i z a t i m (PLO) wase s t a b l i s h e d i n J an ua ry 1 9 6 4 a t t he Summi t Conference 05the Arab s t a t e s i n C ai ro . 1 t s . c r e a t i o n f ol lo we d I s r a e l ' sannouncement of completion of t h e Jordan River w a te rd i v e rs i o n p r o j e c t t o which S y r i a had responded by ca l l i n gfor war. The UAR, backed by Jordan, proposed t h e estab-l i s h m e n t o f t h e PLO, hoping thereby t o s a t i s f y t h e Sy ri an sb y p r e s e n t i n g a facade of m i l i t a n c y , w h i le i n f a c t con-c e a l i n g d e l a y .In February 1 9 6 5 , th e PLO's m i l i t a r y w in g , th eP a le s t i n e L ib e r a t i o n Army (PLA), w a s placed under the,United Arab Command, t h e new st a f f or ga ni za ti on s e t upby the Summit C on fe re nc e t o c o o r d i n a te t h e m i l i t a r yp l a n n in g o f t h e Arab s t a t e s a g ai n s t Israe l .the PLA reportedly numbered some 1 5 , 0 0 0 men; i t s t r o o p sfo rm ed s p e c i a l u n i t s which se rved as i n t e g r a l p a r t s .of

I n 1967

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t h e armies of b y r i a , I r a q , a ndt h e UAR. Thus t h e PLA d i d n o tf u n c t i o n s e p a r a t e l y an d d i d n o tc a r r y o u t m i l i t a r y o p e r a t i o nsa g a i n s t I s r a e l . I n J u ne 1 9 6 5t h e PLO Chairman, AhmadShuqayri ; c r i t i c i z e d Fatahf o r i t s m i l i t a n t a c t i o n s a nds a i d t h e PLA would not engagei n h o s t i l i t i e s .However, as t e n s i o n

mounted between I s r a e l an d t h eArab s t a t e s i n l a t e 1 9 6 6 ande a r l y 1 9 6 7 , t h e p r e s t i g e ofFatah, which w a s mounting op-e r a t i o n s i n t o I s r a e l , i n c r e a s e dwh il e t h a t of t h e UAR-backedPLO de cl in ed . Shu qay ri , un-doub t e d ly o p e r a t i n g w i thN a s i r s a p p r o v al , d e c id e d t h et i m e had come f o r t h e PLO t oa c t . On 22 November 1 9 6 6

Ahmad ShuqayriFirst PLO Leader

Shusa yr i announced ove r Voice of Pa le s t in e Radio f r o m C ai rot h a t PLA t roops a t t ac he d t o the L 'AR,which had previouslybeen r e f u s e d p e r m i s s io n t o e n t e r Jor dan , would now do so ,an d would u n d e r ta k e r a i d s i n t o I s r a e l . A s l a t e as May1 9 6 7 , however, Shuqayri was s t i l l t r y i n g , u n s u c c e s s f u l l y ,t o per sua de Husayn t o allow PLA forces t o e n t e r J o r d a n ;it i s n ot ew or th y i n t h i s r e g a r d t h a t S h uq a yr i h ad s t a t e di n 1 9 6 6 t h a t l i b e ra t i o n of P a l e s t i n e s h o u l d b e g i n w i t ht h e l i b e r a t i o n of Jor dan , and i n December of t h a t y e arhad announced t h e forming of a r e v o l u t i o n a r y c o u n c i ldes igned t o overth row Husayn; th e l a t t e r r esponded byr e f u s i n g t o recognize Shuqayr i a s PLO head. The t w o werere po r te d l y recon c i le d somewhat be fore th e ou tbreak of wari n June 1967.

The PLO d i d l i t t l e of a n a c t i v e n a t u r e d u r i ng t h ef i r s t h a l f o f 1 9 6 7 , though it d i d c r e a t e a fedayeen wingof t h e PLk, t h e P a l e s t i n e L ib e r a t i o n F o rc e s ( P LF ) , w hichn e v e r r e a l l y got o r g a n i z e d b e f o r e t h e J u n e 1 9 6 7 w a r . The

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PLA u n i t s a t t a c h e d t o UA R and Syr ian fo rc es thoroughlyd i s i n t e g r a t e d d u r in g t h e w a r , and the PLO's p r e s t i g esagged s t i l l lower.I n December 1 9 6 7 Shuqayri was r e p l a c e d as PLOChairman by Yahya Mahhudah, alawyer and former Communist, andi n J u ly 19 '68 t h e o r g a n i z at i o nw a s f u r t h e r s h a k en by a n a t -tempt , po ss ib ly backed byNas i r , t o r e p l a c e t h e S yr ia n-o r i e n t e d o f f i c e r s o f t h e PLA.T h i s i n v o lv e d t h e a p po intm en t

of a new PL A C h ie f o f S t a f f ,Abd-al-Razzaq Yahya. Th is ap-po in tment caused a r e b e l l i o nw i t l i i r , t h e PLA by pro-Syrianozf ice rs , and Yahya h imse l fw a s placed under house a r r e s ti n Damascus. Yahya in di ca te d

,

Abd-al-Razzaq YahyaPLA Commanderin Chief

Yahya HammudaPNC Chairman

he would withdraw i f t h ePLO Execu t ive Committeeand t h e d i s s i l e n t o f f i c e r scould work o u t a compromise.I n September, the ExecutiveCommittee d e c id e d t o com-promise , an2 appointed an e u t r a l o f f i c e r , IlusbaliBudayri .

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The d i v i s io n i n the PLO and PLA had a d i s r u p t i v ei n f l u e n c e o n t h e m ora l e i n bo t h the PLA and i t s fedayeenw in g, t h e P a l e s t i n e L i b e r a t i o n F o rc e s. The PLF o p e r a t e dfrom bases on t h e Jo rdan E a s t Bank, bu t t h roughou t 1 9 6 7and 1 9 6 8 was n o t a p a r t i c u l a r l y p o t e n t f o rc e . Estimatesof i t s s i z e d u r i n g t h i s per iod range f rom 200-500. T h ePLF r ece i ved supp or t from the Syr i an PLA Branch ( t h eH i t t i n Forces ) , which suppl i ed arms, s a l a r i e s , and uni-forms, as w e l l as from th e PLA u n i t s ( t h e Q a d i si y a h B r i g a d e ) ,a t t ac h ed t o I r a q i f o r c e s s t a t i o ne d i n Jo rd an a f t e r t h eJune 1 9 6 7 w a r .By l a t e 1 9 6 8 t h e PLO w a s a d e c l i n i n g o r g a n i z a t io n .D es i gned o r i g i na l l y t o p r e s en t a n a c t i v i s t f ac ad e, it had

never done much of a m i l i t a r y n a t u r e . Even b e f o r e t h ew a r it had been l o s i ng ground t o F a t a h , and a f t e r t h e warw h e n m i l i t a r y a c t i o n became the key t o popu l a r i t y andp r e s t i g e , t h e PLO s u f f e r e d s t i l l more. I n a d d i t i o n , ithad begun t o lose the suppor t even of i t s c r e a t o r , t h eUAR. I n 1 9 6 8 the PLO w a s a t t e m p t in g t o c ha ng e, to becomea m i l i t a n t o r g a ni z a ti o n , b u t it c o u ld n o t c ha ng e r a p i d l yenough.Fatah Takeover of PLO -- February 1969

I n February 1 9 6 9 Fa ta h g ai ne d e f f e c t i v e c o n t r o lof the PLO. Although re l a t i o ns be tween the two organi-z a t i o n s had b ee n a n t a g o n i s t i c i n c e r t a i n r e s p e c t s , manyPLO members f e l t t h a t t h e d i s i n t e g r a t i o n of the PLO a f t e rt h e June war made some form of c o l l a b o r a t i o n e s s e n t i a l ;F a t a h i n t u r n l oo ke d w i t h some envy a t the PLO-'t3 p r e s t i g ea s t h e o f f i c i a l c r ea t i on of the A r a b s t a t e s .

During l a t e 1 9 6 7 and ea r l y 1 9 6 8 bo t h t h e PLO andFa ta h made unsucces s f u l a t t em p t s t o achieve some form ofc o o p e r a t i o n w i t h e a c h o t h e r , as w e l l as w i t h o t h e r f e d a ye e ngroups ; however , n e i th e r wanted t o s a c r i f i c e any of i t s

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own independence.*of u n i t y was achieved i n March 1 9 6 8 when t h e PLO, Fatah-,and the t h i r d major g roup , th e Popula r Fron t fo r t h eL i b e r a t i o n of P a le s t i n e ( P F L P ) , i s s u e d a s t a t e m e n t caX-lkngf o r " u n i f i c a t i o n of t h e P a l e s t i n e s t r u g g l e i n both: t K ep o l i t i c a l and m i l i t a r y f i e l d s . " A new Pa le s t in e Nat ion alCounci l ( P N C ) * * was t o be formed whose approximately 100m e m b e r s would be ap po rt ion ed among fedayeen gro ups andv a r i o u s P a l e s t i n i a n t r a d e and l a bo r- un io n o r g a n i z a t i o n s .P r e p a r a t i o n s f o r t h e Council which m e t i n July 1968 w e r emarked by h o s t i l i t y be tween Fa tah and t h e more r a d i c a lPFLP, and th e mee t ing i t s e l f accompli shed no th ing . Asno agreement could be r eached , t h e former PLO Execut iveCommittee w a s s imply ex tended f o r an o ther s i x months .

A t e n t a t i v e s t e p towards a degree

Negot i a t ions over fo rmat ion o f a new Pales t ineNat iona l Counc i l were dominated by F a t a h , whose c h i e fr i v a l , t h e PFLP, boyco t ted th e mee t ings. Fa tah there-f o r e had v i r t u a l c o n t r o l ov er t h e Council when it con-v en ed i n e a r l y F e br ua r y 1 9 6 9 i n C ai ro .l e a d e r s d i d n o t a t t e n d a n d t h e PFLP boycot ted t h e m e e t -i n g s c o m ple t e ly. F a t ah su c ce ed e d i n p l a c in g t h r e e menon the 11-man Exec utive Committee i n a dd it io n t o Yasi rA r a f a t , who became t h e new Chairman of t h e PLO, as w e l las i t s D i r e c t o r of Mi l i t a r y Affa i r s .*** One of th e f i r s t

Many PLO and PLA

I

*Each had held meetings boycotted by t h e o t h e r , fol-lowing which they had cla imed le a d e r s h ip o f a u n i f i e dmovement. S h u q a y r i ' s p r e s t i g e s u f f e r e d f u r t h e r fromthese a b o r ti v e e f f o r t s , a n d t h i s w a s probably one oft h e f a c t o r s l e a d in g t o h i s removal i n Deeember 1 9 6 7 .e s t a b l i s h e d a n d was composed of 4 5 0 members. I t d i s -p e r s e d a s a r e s u l t of t h e June 1 9 6 7 w a r .t h e PLO had an Exe cut ive Committee charg ed withcconduct-i n g d a i l y b u s i ne s s.

**The P N C w a s t h e supreme body of t h e PLO as o r i g i n a l l yI n a d d i t i o n ,

***Other members of the new Executive Committee wereFa t ah : Faruq Qaddumi - Director of Popular Organi-z a t i o n . Has also b e e n i d e n t i f i e d as amember of Saiqa .K h a l i d Hasan - D i r e c t o r of P o l i t i c a l A f f a i r sMuhammad N a j j a r

( fo o tn o te con tinued on page 1 3 )- 12-

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ac ti on s of t h e new Execu tive Committee was t o m Q ve PLOheadquar te r s f rom Cai ro to Amman, t hu s sy mb ol ic al ly break -i n g t h e t i e between t h e PLO an d t h e UAR. The committeea l s o appointed a group composed of Hamudah (who had re-placed Shuqayr i as PLO Chairman and now served as P N CC ha ir ma n) , a nd t h r e e o t h e r s t o c o n t i n u e a d ia lo g u e w i thth os e who had boyc ott ed t h e P NC . The Executive Committeea l s o s e t up ( i n A p r i l ) c om mi tt ee s f o r p o p u l a r o r ga n i z a -t i o n , m i l i t a r y a f f a i r s , e d u ca t io n al a f f a i r s , re ven ue ,and c u l t u r a l committees .I n F e br u a ry , s e v e r a l d ay s a f t e r the Executive com-m i t t e e ' s f i r s t m eetin g, A r a f a t m e t i n Amman w i t h a groupof PLO o f f i c e d i r e c t or s " i n what tu rned o u t t o be an un-

p l e a s a n t c o n f r on t a t i on : t h e o f f i c i a l s e xp re ss ed t h e i rs u s p i c io n s a b o u t A r a f a t ' s p e r s o n a l a m b i t i o n s and d es i r et o have Fatah dominate the PLO. A l th o u g h A r a f a t t r i e dt o p l a c a t e t h e o f f i c i a l s , t h ey re ma ine d co nv in ce d t h a th e in t en d e d t o r e p l a c e them.T h e i r s u s p i c i o n s were well-founded. Se ve ra l months

Except f o r Sh af iq A l - H u t ,l a t e r t h e PLO Execut ive Commit tee ord ere d t h e reorga niza-t i o n o f i t s n a t i o n a l o f f i c e s .

( f o o tn o t e c o n ti n ue d from page 1 2 )Saiqa :Independent:PLO

*The functions

Yusuf B a r z iAhmad Shihab iI b r a h i m Bakr - V i c e ChairmanKamal N a s i r - Guidance Informa t ion Off ice rYas i r ' A m r - S e c r e t a r yHamid Abu Si t t a h , Di re ct o r of HomelandAbd-al-Majid Shuman - P a l e s t i n e N a t i o n a lA f f a i r sFundo f t h e s e r e g io n a l o f f i c e s were a l l m o b -a b l y s i m i l a r t o t h os e of t h e B ei r u t o f f i c e -- though i h el a t t e r w a s t h e most important . I t s d u t i e s i n c l u d e d l i a i s o nwi th t h e Lebanese government i s s u a n c e of PL O p r e s s re-l e a s e s , l e g a l a i d t o P a le s t i n i a n s i n Lebanon, r e c r u i t i n g ,f u n d- r ai s in g , l i a i s o n w i t h o t h e r P a l e s t i n i a n o r g a n i z a t io n s ,a n d f i n a l l y , as s ee n b e f o r e, l i a i s o n wi th t h e S o v ie t s .

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c h i e f of t h e B e i r u t o f f i c e , and one o t h e r d i r e c t o r , alln a t i o n a l o f f i c e d i r e c t o r s were t o be r e p l a c e d . I n addi -t i o n , each o f f i c e was t o have a govern ing body c a l l e d ' aC o u n c i l f o r PLO A f f a i r s o n which any P a l e s t in i a n memberof t h e PN C r e s i d e n t i n t h a t c o un t ry would s i t , as wouldt h e heads of P a l e s t i n i a n o r g a n i z at i on s i n t h e c ou nt ry ;t h e o f f i c e d i r e c t o r would serve as committee s e c r e t a r y .T h i s new se t - u p d i s t r i b u t e d r e g i o n a l PLO power morewide ly , g iv ing new s t re ng th t o o t h e r o r g a n i z a t i o n s , andp a r t i c u l a r l y t o F ata h. *As Fa t ah took ove r t h e PLO's p o l i t i c a l a p pa ra tu s ,PLO pol i cy s t a t ement s merged w i t h t hose of Fatah'.- I nt h e month a f t e r t h e PNC m ee t i ng t he PLO took t he fo l l ow -i n g pub l i c po s i t i o ns , synomomous w i t h t hose of Fatah.1. It r e j e c t e d the November 1 9 6 7 UnitedN a t io n s S e c u r i t y r e s o l u t i o n an d o t h e rp e ac e p r o p o s a l s , i n c l u d i n g t h e S o v i e tt i m e t a b l e p l a n .2 . I t c a l l e d f o r t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t of a" f r e e , d em oc ra ti c" s o c i e t y i n P a l e s t i n et o i nc l ud e a l l P a l e s t i n i a n s -- Moslem,C h r i s t i a n s , J e w s , t h u s "rescuing Pa les t i n efrom world Zionism. " * *

*For example, in l a t e A p r i l the B e i r u t PLO o f f i c e wast o l d t h a t i t s co un ci l would inc lu de Al-Hut, Khal idY ash ru t i of Fatah , Yahya Ashur, Fa ta h ' s Be i r u t represen-t a t i v e , and Sa lah Da-bagh (an in de pe nd en t) . Al-Hut s a i dt h a t i n s p i t e of t h e new arrangement he h i m s e l f wouldstill have d i r e c t r e c o u r s e t o Khalid Hasan, Chief of t h eP L O ' s P o l i t i c a l A f f a i r s Sec t i on .**m r t i c l e pub l i shed i n t h e I t a l i a n Communist Par typaper , L 'Uni t a on 25 March 1 9 7 0 and a t t r i b u t e d t o Fatahs e t f o r t h F a t a h ' s v ie ws on a f u t u r e P a l e s t i n i a n s ta te .It ca l l ed f o r a s e c u l a r an d de m o c r at i c P a l e s t i n e o fC h r i s t i a n s , J e w s , and Moslems, a s k i n g a n end t o a f e e l i n g

of vengeance and t o t h e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of a l l Jews asZ i o n i s t s . I t sa i d t h a t a l l J e w s and Moslems l i v i n g i n( f o o t n o t e c o n t in u e d on page 1 5 )

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3 . I t s a i d t h a t t h e f u t u r e of t h e Arab n a t i o nw a s d ep en de nt o n t h e " l i b e r a t i o n " o fP a l e s t i n e and c a l l e d on a l l Arab s t a t e s t os u p p o r t t h e P a l e s t i n e movement.g roups t o u n i t e .4 . I t c a l l e d on a l l P a l e s t i n e r e s i s t a n c e

5. I t s a i d t h a t t h e PLA shou ld be i n t e g r a t e di n t o t h e r e v o l u t i o n w i t h a v i e w towardso r g a n i z i n g a p o p u l a r - l i b e r a t i o n w a r .

Fatah At tempts t o C o n t r o l the P a le s t i n e L ib e r a t i o n Army (PLA)While Arafa t w a s t h u s s h a ki n g up t h e P LO'S p o l i t i c a lo r g a n i z a t i o n , h e a l s o b eg an a c am pa ig n t o b r i n g t h e PLAunder h i s c o n t r o l . T h e PLA and PLF h a d b o y c o t t e d t h eP a l e s t i n e N a t i o n a l C o u n ci l m ee t in g , b u t B u d a yr i s t a t e dt h a t th e PLA would c a r r y o u t d i r e c t i v e s i s s u e d by t h ep o l i t i c a l command i f t h e y w e r e based on Counc i l r eso lu -t i o n s . O n e of t h e f i r s t a c t io ns of t h e PLO Ex ec ut iv eCommittee i n F eb ru ar y 1 9 6 9 w a s t o e s t a b l i s h the P a l e s t i n eA r m e d S t r u g g l e Command ( P A S C ) , which w a s t o p l a n andc o o r d i n a t e a l l commando m a t t e r s i n c l u d i n g o p e r a t i on s .Abd-al-Razzaq Yahya , who had served b r i e f l y a s commander

o f t h e PLA i n e a r l y 1968, was named i t s c h i e f o f o p e r a -t i o n s . * T h is o r g a n i z a t i o n w a s c l e a r l y i n te n de d t o counte r -

-

( f o o t n o t e c o n ti n u ed from page 1 4 )P a l e s t i n e as w e l l as t h o s e ex i l ed from it would be e n t i t l e dt o become P a l e s t i n i a n c i t i z e n s , t h u s r e j e c t i n g t h e t h e s i st h a t o n ly t h o s e t h e r e b e f o r e 1 9 4 8 o r 1918 would be a c c e p t -a b l e . It s a i d t h a t pre-1948 P a l e s t i n e must c o n s t i t u t et h e t e r r i t o r y of the new s t a t e , and t h a t t h e a r t i f i c a ls t r u c t u r e s of I s r a e l -- and probably of Jordan (as ite x i s t e d a f t e r 1948) -- would disappear .*In March Yahyai s t a t e d t h a t h e n c e f o r t h a l l communiquesi s s u e d by o r g a n i z at i o n s a f f i l i a t e d w i t h t h e P A S C wouldbe i s s u e d b y PASC; h e a l s o s a i d he w a s p l a nn i n g t o u n i f yarms procurement .-1 -

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b a l a n c e t h e PLA, whose commander Bu day ri r e p o r t e d l yr e sen ted Araf at .I n May 1 9 6 9 , Arafa t and Budayr i a re s a i d t o haveargued a f t e r t h e l a t t e r v i s i t e d Lebanon without f i r s tr e c e i v i n g A r a f a t ' s p e rm i ss io n .b o t h f o r ha v in g made t h e t r i p w i th o u t a u t h o r i z a t i o n a ndf o r hav ing a l l eg ed ly behaved i n Lebanon wi th improperd i g n i t y . S h o r t l y t h e r e a f t e r , i n J u n e 1 96 9, Yahya re-placed Budayr i and became commander-in-khief of t h e PLA.Fath i Sad-a l-Din w a s named h i s d ep ut y an d Uthman Haddadbecame PLA C h ie f o f S t a f f .

Arafa t denounced Budayri

Meanwhile Arafa t sought t o b r i n g t h e PLA in to com-b a t . I n March 1 9 6 9 h e s t a t e d t h a t t h e PLA must changefrom a " c l a s s i c a l r e g u l a r arm y" i n t o t h e " n u cl e u s a ndf o u n d a t i o n s t o n e of t h e P a l e s t i n e r e v o l u t i o n a r y arm y,"a n d a r g u e d t h a t PLA fo rces mus t be moved i n t o s t r i k i n gp o s i t i o n . *would be moved i n o rd e r t o be s t a t i o n e d w i t h the f i g h t i n gf o r c e s of t h e P a l e s t i n e r e s i s t a n c e o r g a n i z a t i o n s . I t alsos a i d t h a t t h e PLO had decided t o a l l o ca t e a m a jo r i t y ofi t s b ud ge t t o t h e PLA. I n e a r l y A ug us t, t h e V oice o fFa t a h p r a i s e d t h e f i r s t i ns ta nc e of P L A p a r t i c i p a t i o n i nfedayeen ac t ion . I n s p i t e of p u b l i c d e n i a l s , t h e PL Au n i t a t t a c h e d t o t h e S y r i a n army, t h e H i t t i n Br ig ad e,r ep or te d ly d i d i n f i l t r a t e i n t o j o r t h e r n Jo rd an i n t h es p r i n g o f 1 9 6 9 . The I r a q i PLA f o r c e ( Q a d i s iy a h B r ig ad e )was a l ready th e re .

I n l a t e 1969 and ea r ly 1 9 7 0 there were r e p o r t s off u r t h e r PLA d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n w it h F a t a h ' s l e ad e r sh i p,c e n t e ri n g s p e c i f i c a l l y on the c h a rg e t h a t F a ta h w a s it-s e l f ac qu ir in g new weapons and denying funds t o th e PLA.I n December 1 9 6 9 PLA o f f i c e r s r e p o r t e d l y s u b m i t t e d a l i s t

In March A 1 Ahram claimed t h a t PLA f o r c e s--

* A t t h i s t i m e abou t 60 p e r c e n t of t h e PLA was a t tachedt o t h e UAR army ( t h e Ain J a l l u t B r ig a de , a b o ut 5 , 0 0 0 men);30 p e r c e n t t o t h e S y r ia n ( H i t t i n B r ig a de , a b o ut 2 , 5 0 0 ) ;and 1 0 p e r c e nt t o t h e ' I r a q i ( Q a di s iy a h B ri ga de , a bo ut1 , 0 0 0 men).

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of comp laints t o Ar af at through Yahya, who sub mit ted h i sr e s ig n a ti o n a t t h e same t i m e .r e s i gn a t i on and p romi sed t o seek f un ds f o r t h e PLA a tt h e Rabat summit con fere nce t h a t month.whether the PLAt h e f edayeen a t Raba t, bu t i n April 1970 Yahya s ta tedt h a t PLA pay w a s o f t e n d e l ay e d b ec au se A r a f a t i n s i s t e don s i g n i n g t h e a u t h o r i z a t i o n hi m se lf a nd t h a t h e hadr e f u s e d t o r e l ea se PLO funds fo r PLA arms purchases.

A r a f a t r e j e c t e d t h eI t i s n o t c l e a rd i d ge t som e of t h e f un ds a l l o c a t e d t o

In any case, t h e c o n f l i c t betw een A r a f a t and t h east D as t l on or oppoAi tion t o Fa tahLA con t i nued .* t he PLA, con-s i de r i n g i t s e l fdominat ion, formed a general s t a f f i n e a r l y 1970 (con-s i s t i n g of Yahya, Colonel Samir Kha tib, and s e v e r a lo t h e r s ) , de te rmi ned t o accep t on l y t hose o r de r s o f t h ePLO Exe cutiv e Committee wi th which they agree d. Althoughthis r e po r t has neve r been s ub s t an t i a t e d , some deg reeof independence w a s e v i d e n t l y t h e r e a f t e r e x e r c i s e d by t h eP L A , f o r i n A pr il 1 9 7 0 A r a f a t r e p o r t e d l y s e n t a l e t t e rt o t he PLA, s a y in g t h a t h e w a s the commander-in-chief,c om p la in in g t h a t t h e PLA h a d ' n o t b e en r e p o r t i n g t o h im,and w ar ni ng t h a t i f t h i s r e c u r r e d , a p p r o p r i a te a c t i o nwoula be t aken .

The co n f l i c t between F a t a h and the PLA was exacer-

In September 1 9 6 9 t h e S o v i e t s r e p o r t ed l yba t ed i n 1969-ea rl y 1970 by ne go t i a t i on s go i ng on w i t ht h e So vie t Union over th e proposed v i s i t of a de leg a t io nt o Moscow.

*The r e l a t i o n s h i p s b etw ee n t h e PLO and PLA a r e f u r t h e rcompl icated by th e f a c t t h a t t h e PLA u n i t s d epend f o rsupp or t on t he PLO and on t h e A rab coun t r i e s i n whosearmies t hey serve.Depending on th e cou nt ry i n which th ey a re s e r v i n g , thePLO l o c a l commanders may i n f a c t have l i t t l e s a y i n t hem a t t e r .of PLA u n i t s a t ta c h ed t o i t s army; tho se a t t ac hed t oS y r i a n a n d I r a q i u n i t s app ear t o have more leeway.

T h u s , t h e i r al legiances a r e d i v i ded .The UAR, f o r example , seems t o keep t i g h t c o n t r o l

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i n v i t e d Yahya a nd K h at ib t o v i s i t Mascow, b u t i n d i c a te dt h a t t he y d i d n o t wish any members of t h e PLO Execu t ive .Committee t o come, inasmuch as they were p o l i t i c a l f ig u re s .By December, however, t h i s i n v i t a t i o n had been extendedt o t h e PLO Execu t ive C o m m i t t e e and included A r a f a t . -There w a s some de lay abou t accep t ing t h e i n v i t a -t i o n , a p p a r e n t ly d ue t o a d e b a t e o v e r w h e th e r a de lega-t i o n s h o u ld go an d i f so, who should be i n it, I t looksas if A r a f a t d i d n o t w i s h t o se nd a d e l e g a t i o n a t a l l ,b u t was f i n a l l y p e r s u ad e d b y o th e r members of t h e Execu-t i v e Committee. A r a f a t ' s r e l u c t an c e a t t h i s t i m e t ov i s i t Moscow was i n s h ar p c o n t r$ s t t o h i s eagerness i n

1 9 6 8 . T h i s change may have i n d j k a t e d h i s skep+ic i sma b o u t r e c e i v i n g any a i d o r p o l i t i c a l s up po rt , o r mayhave r e f l e c t e d c o n c e r n t h a t e i t h e r t h e Saudis o r Chinesem i g h t c u t back t h e i r s u p po r t t o F a t a h as a r e s u l t ofsuch a v i s i t .Having b e e n f o r c e d t o y i e l d on t h e i s s u e o f a c c e pt -i n g t h e i n v i t a t i o n , A r a f a t t r i e d t o keep Yahya off thed e l e g a t i o n . T h e P L A , however , indicated t h a t it wouldn o t p a r t i c i p a t e a t a l l i f Yahya d i d no t go, and Ara fa tc a p i t u l a t e d . Y a h y a himself has confirmed t h i s account,and afterward claimed t h a t t h e S o v ie t s t o l d t h e de lega-t i o n i n Moscow t h a t t h e y c o u ld n o t g iv e any a s s i s t a n c et o th e commando org an iz a t io ns unless they u n i t e d , b u t

t h a t t h e S o v i e t s c o u l d a s s i s t t h e PLA, whic h w a s a l e g a l l yc o n s t i t u t e d a r m y , and were i n f a c t p r ep ar ed t o p ro vi deth e PLA w i t h weapons, t o be d e l i v e r e d v i a S y r i a .a f t e r t h e Moscow v i s i t t h a t F a ta h w a s t r y i n g t o d e s tr o yt h e PLA, c i t i n g F a. ta h' s e f f o r t s t o h ave t h e P a l e s t i n eA r m e d Struggle Command contingent i n Lebanon, which hadbeen drawn from the PLA, r e p l a c e d by F a t ah u n i t s so t h a tF a t a h cou ld . con t ro 1 t h e Lebanese re fuge e camps.more, Yahya s a i d , i n March 1 9 7 0 t h e PLO Execu t ive Com-m i t t e e (c on t r o l le d by Fa tah and Arafa t ) had dec ided t ow i t h d r a w t h e P a le s t i n e L ib e r a t i o n F or ce s f ro m t h e PLA'sc o n t r o l and s u b o r d i n a t e it t o the Executive Committee.Yahya re fused t o comply , and to l d Araf a t t h a t i f th e PLO -p e r s i s t e d i n its e f f o r t s t o d e st ro y t h e PLA t h e r e wouldbe an armed r e b e l l i o n ;

According t o t h i s same sour ce , Yahya a l s o charged

Fur ther -

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I n e a r l y J u l y 1 9 7 0 , A r a f a t i s s u e d a n o r d e r r e l i e v -ing Uthman Haddad as PLA Chief of S ta f f and acc usi ng himof mutiny.* A t t h e t i m e , Haddad w a s i n Damascus; he re-f u s ed t o a c c e pt t h e d i smissa l and r e c e i ve d t h e s u p p o r tof a number of PLA and PLF u n i t s , p a r t i c u l a r l y t h o s e i nSy r ia . Haddad charged t h a t ArafaE had dismissed him a f t e rHaddad had protes ted orders g iven by Arafat banning thepayment of wages t o t h e H i t t i n F o r ce s . I n a n i n t e r v i e won 4 J u ly , Haddad a l s o c h ar ge d t h a t a r e c e n t d e c i s i o n t op u t t r a n s f e r s and a p po intm en ts o f PLO commanders underA r a f a t ' s c o n t r o l was a p r e l u d e t o d i s s o l v i n g t h e PLA.H e asse r ted t h a t commanders and of f i c e r s of t h e PLO d i dn o t r e c o g n i z e A r a f a t as army commander. On 7 J u l y a P LOd e l e g a t i o n m e t w it h Ar a f a t i n Amman and demanded t h a tHaddad be r e t a in e d , t h a t t h e PLA b u d ge t b e ap p ro v ed , t h a tt h e PLA be i nd e pe n de n t, and t h a t A r a f a t ' s d e c i s i o n s c on-t r a r y t o t h e a r m y ' s r e g u l a t i o n s be rep eal ed. The fol low-in g d a y a PLO spokesman reaf f i rmed t h e de ci s i on t o f i r eHaddad. Yahya, who apparently was no f r i e n d of Haddad,remained aloof f r o m t h e d i s p u t e .* * A near-mutinouss i t u a t i o n w a s a p p a r e nt l y c r e a t e d i n t h e PLA 2s a r e s u l tof Haddad ' s d i s m i s s a l .

Thus, w h i l e F a t a h ' s t akeover of the PLO'S p o l i t i c a lmachinery w a s f a i r l y c o m pl et e by mid-1970, i t s e f f o r t st o a c h i e v e c o n t r o l o v e r t h e PLA had no t succeeded. I nf a c t , o n e of A r a f a t ' s t a c t i c s had backf i red . H e hadappointed Yahya Commander of t h e PASC and then o f t h e PLA,o b v io u sl y h op in g t h er e by t o e s t a b l i s h h i s own c o n t r o lover bo th . Yahya had s i n c e shown h i m s e l f independent ofA r a f a t a nd d e s i r o u s of k e e p in g t h e PLA independent. And

Haddad ha d j o in e d i n a p l o tt o (let weapons t o t n e commu!dst fe Cayeen grou p, t h eP a r t i s a n F or c es , a g a i n s t A r a f a t ' s w is he s .**In t h e summer of 1 9 6 9 Yahya i n d i c a t e d t h a t h av in gregained command of t h e PLA and PLF, h e now in t e n d e d

t o e l i m i n a t e t h e s e o f f i c e r s who had abused him dur inghis p r e v io u s br i e f t e n u r e . H e s p e c i f i c a l l y m e n t i o n e dHaddad who had r e c e n t l y be en named c h i e f o f s t a f f .

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t h e s e r e l a t i o n s h i p s h av e b ee n f u r t h e r c o m pl i ca t ed by a na pp a re n t s p l i t w i t h in t h e PLA between Yahya and a Syrian-b a c k e d f a c t i o n headed by Haddad.

Fa tah Re ta ins i t s I d e n t i t yI n t h e p r o c e ss of assum ing con t ro l of t h e PLO'sp o l i t i c a l a pp ar at us , Fa t ah has r e t a i n e d i t s own iden t i tyand independence, even though i t s s t r u c t u r e h as c ha ng edsomewhat. I t s r a p i d g ro wth i n 1 9 6 9 p u t c o n s i d e r a b l es t r a i n on i t s org an i za t i on . By March 1 9 6 9 the Fatah

General Command had reportedly been replaced by a c e n t r a lcommittee, * under which th er e were two "wings, 'I p o l i t i c a la n d m i l i t a r y .K h a l i l Wazir, A ra fa t ' s b ro the r- in - l aw, headed t h e p o l i t i c a lwing, a s s i s t e d by Sa la h K ha la f ( l a t e r d e s c r i b e d as second-in-command of F a t a h and a sympathizer w i t h r a d i c a l v i e w s ) .T h i s w in g r e p o r t e d l y i n c l u d ed a n i n t e l l i g e n c e d e pa r tm e n trun by Hani Hasan, a group fo r o rgan iz ing you th , and a ni n f o r m a t i o n o f f i c e r e s p o n s i b l e for propaganda and com-muniques. The l a t t e r o f f i c e r u ns t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n ' s r a d i opropaganda program, Voice of Fatab which b roadcas t f romC ai ro u n t i l mid-1970- Nasir suspended i t s o p e r a t i o n s .It a l s o p u b li s he s F a t a h ' s j o u r n a l s , i n c l u d i n g b o t h A l - A s i f aMagazine: and t h e Magazine of t h e P a l e s t i n e Revolut ion.It i s probably a l s o r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e d a i l y p a p e r F a t a h ,w h i c h w a s * o r i g i n a l l y a d a i l y b u l l e t i n , and l a t e r ex-

According t o a J o rd a n ia n s e c u r i t y r e p o r t ,

* I n c l ud e d i n th e Central Committee were:A ra fa tK h a l i l WazirHani HasanKhal id HasanFaruq QaddumiHani Qaddumi

Mamduh S a b r i Abu SaydamMahmud MaswadihS a l a h KhalafMuhammad Naj ja rMukhtar Ba 'baDa'ud Qutub

O f these on ly Ar af at , Hani Qaddumi, and Khali d Hasan hadbeen on t h e Gen era l Command i n e a r l y 1968.

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i 1 I1 I

t o become a four-page pap er dur in g t h e June 1970 c r i s i si n Jordan .By l a t e 1 9 6 9 , F a ta h ' s r e g i o n a l u n i t s h ad become

even more complex. I t h e o r g a n i -z a t i o n c h a r t o f t h e Lcgional ap p a r a t us i n s a ? d i A r ab i aresembled a pyramid:f o u r members e a c h, r e p o r t e d t o t h e f l a n k composed off o u r gr ou p r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s ; f o u r f l a n k s c o m p r i s s d as e c k o r ; f o u r s e c t o r s a l o c a l committee; and four l oc a lcommittees a d i s t r i c t s e c r e t a r i a t committee headed by t h e"secre tary g e n e r a l of t h e o r g a n i za t i o n . ''had an information committee and a r e vo l ut i on a ry d i s c i p l i n ec o u r t t o d e a l w i t h v i o l a t i o n s o f r e g u l at i o n s, c o n f l i c t s ,and s o f o r t h .mi t t e e composed of t h e " s e c r e t a r y g e n e r a l o f t h e or g a ni -z a t i o n , 'I t h e i n f or m at io n o f f i c i a l , t h e watch o f f i c i a l(head of t h e c o o r d in a t i o n c o m mi t te e 's R e v olu t io n a ryWatch Committee c h ar g ed wi t h t h e d i s t r i c t ' s s e c u r i t y ) ,t h e f i n a nc i a l o f f i c i a l , and t h e g e n e r a l m o b i l i z a t i o n o f-f i c i a l .t h e h i g h e st F a t a h o r g a n i z a t i o n i n e a ch c o un t ry .

Dur ing the sp r ing and summer of 1 9 6 9 , t h e r e werer e p o r t s of c o n t i n ui n g c o n f l i c t s w i t h i n F at a h, i n c l u d i n gt a c t i c a l d i s ag re e me nt s, i d e o l o g i c a l d i s p u t e s , and t h ed a i l y f r i c t i o n s a r i s i n g from t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f agrowing army.* I n J u l y d i s s e n t was repor ted ly expressedby F a t a h m i l i t a r y f i g u r e s i n Jordan who resented Fataho r d e r s t o c o o r d in a t e t h e i r o p e r a t i o n s w i th J o r d a n i a na u t h o r i t i e s ; t h i s g r o u p r e p o r t e d ly h a d t i e s w i t h F a t a h ' so r g a n i z a t i o n i n S y r i a .

t h e g r o u p , - t h e s ma l l e s t u n i t w i th

E a c h d i s t r i c t

Each d i s t r i c t a l s o had a coordination com-

This commit tee rep or t ed t o t h e reg iona l commit tee ,

T he m a jo r i n t e r n a l s t r u g g l e , h ow eve r, seemed t or e v o l ve a ro un d t h e i d e o l o g i c a l p o s i t i o n o f Fa tah . Agroup of ' ' f a na t ics " wi th in Fa tah apparen t ly began t o

*One of F a ta h ' s l e ad er s , Hani Hasan, s a i d t h a t F a t a h ' sproblem w a s ra pi d growth, which had rendered ina dequ ateF a t a h ' s c o n t r o l and g u id an ce s t r u c t u r e .

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v o i c e i n c r e a s i n g o p p o s i ti o n t o t h e "bourgeo i s " l eade r sh i pr e p r e s e n t e d b y A r a f a t , T h i s r e v o l u t i o n a r y o p p o s i t i o n ,i nc l u d i ng bo th l e f t -w i ng B aa t h i s t s and Marx i st -L en i n i s ts ,a rgued fo r d i s so c i a t i o n from non- revo l ut i ona ry regimesand t h e u se of t a c t i c s s imi la r t o t h o se u se d i n Cubaand i n Vietnam.F a t a h t o e s t a b l i s h and opera te f rom bases w i t h i n t h eI s r a el - o cc u p ie d t e r r i t o r i e s , d e s p i t e t h e d em on st ra te dd i f f i c u l t y i f n o t i m p o s s i b i l i t y of doing sooProbably r e l a t e d t o the development of t h i sr a d i c a l o p p o s i t i o n w i t h i n Fa ta h w a s t h e r e c e i p t of

severa l r e p o r t s d u r i n g t h e summer o f 1 9 6 9 of secre tF a t ah o r g a n i z a t i o n s b e i n g e s t a b l i s h e d i n S a ud i A r ab i a,Kuwait and Jordan. The Jordan group was s a i d t o becha rged w i t h a s s a s s i n a t i n g p e rs o ns c o n s i d er e d l i a b l eto harm t h e P a l e s t i n i a n c a u s e . When Arafat learnedof t h e J o r d a n g r o u p ' s e x i s t e n c e i n e a r l y S ep te mb er 1 9 6 9 ,h e r e p o r t e d l y o r d e r e d t h e a r r e s t of i t s o r g a n i z e r s .I n l a t e 1 9 6 9 and ea r l y 1 9 7 0 , t h e r e were morer e p o r t s of d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h A r a f a t ' s l e a d e r s h i p a n dof p l ans and a t t em p t s t o a s s as s in a te Arafat . One sourcesa id t h a t some members o f t h e Gener al Command f e l t t h a th e had p oo r s t r a t e g i c and t a c t i c a l ju dg me nt, a nd t h a t hew a s b l o c k i n g u n i f i c a t i o n o f v a r i o u s f ed ay ee n o r g a n i z a t i o n s .

On 31 December the Middle E a s t N e w s Agency (MENA) i nDamascus r e p o r t e d t h a t t h e L eb an es e r i g h t i s t p a p e r Al-Jurnhuri a h had s a i d a r e s h u f f l e w ould soon o c c u r i n F a t a h .6 e ould supposedly r e f l e c t F a t a h ' s need t oassume a more rev olu t io nar y po s tur e , f o r which a newp o l i t i c a l a n d m i l i t a r y l e a d e r s h i p was n e ce s sa r y,was i n t e ns i f i ed i n t h e summer and ea r l y f a l l of 1970, w i t hthe pressure aga in coming f rom so-called l e f t i s t s i nthe o r g a n i z a t i o n who r e p o r t e d l y a d v oc at ed r e f u s i n g t ocoope ra t e w i t h A rab s t a t e s and adopting a more r ad i ca ll i n e p a r t i c u l a r l y i n r ig ht -w in g Arab c o u n t r i e s ,c o n s e r v a t i v e f a c t i o n headed by Arafa t i s s a i d t o f av orc o n ti n u in g F a t a h ' s s t r a t e g y o f l i m i t i n g t a c t i c s t o f i g h t -i ng I s r a e l and n o t i n t e r f e r i n g i n t h e i n t e r n a l a f f a i r sof Arab s t a t e s , I n l a t e October , I s a m S a r t a w i of the

T h i s apparen t ly meant t h a t they wished

A pparen t l y, t he p re s su r e on A r a f a t ' s l e a d e r s h i p

A more

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I

A c t i v e O r g a n i z a t i o n f o r t h e L i b e r a t i o n of P a l e s t i n e *i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e c o n se r va t iv e f a c t i o n i n Fa t ah remainedpredominant.V a r i o u s r e p o r t s have s u gg e st ed t h a t A r a f a t hasbeen cha l lenged by h i s second-in-command Sa la h K ha la f,an d t h e w e ig h t of t h e ev idence seems t o c on fir m c o n f l i c tbetween Arafa t and Kh ala f.* * On 4 November 1970 t h eF a ta h organ Fa tah c r i t i c i z e d thos e who had "c ap i tu l a te d"d u r i n g t h e J o r d a n c r i s i s i n September and c a l l e d f o rt he i r removal. T h i s may have been a r e f e r e n c e t o K h al af ,o ne of f o u r f e d a y e e n leaders c a p tu r e d d u r in g t h e f i g h t i n gwho accepted a J o r d a n i a n c e a s e - f i r e p r o p o s a l su b s e qu e n t ly

renounced by Fatah.*** Khalafw a s i n f a c t r e p l a c e d as r ' a t a n ' s ae p u ty c n i e r a n h ea d ofi n t e l l i g e n c e i n l a t e October .I n t e r n a l s t r a i n s w i t h i n F a ta h a re l i k e l y t o con-t i n u e , a nd c o n t i n u i n g p r e s s u r e on F a t a h ' s "old-guard, ''c o n s e r v a t i ve l e a d e r s h i p c a n be expected from t h e younger,more l e f t i s t members.removed as F a t a h ' s leader, t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n c o u ld bee x p e c t e d t o t ake a m o r e r a d i c a l p o s i t i o n i n terms of t h eArab wor ld . F i na l l y , A r a f a Y h i m s e l f , i f s u b j e c t e d t os u f f i c i e n t s u ch p r e s s u r e s from w i t h i n t h e Fa t ah organ i -z a t i o n , cou ld conce ivab ly be f o r c e d l e f tward a g a i n s t h i sow n i n c l i n a t i o n .

I f Arafa t w e r e one day t o be

*This i s a sm al l f edayeen group; see pages 54-56,has a t tempted t og as " i n t e n d e d f o rded any suggestedr e a so n s o r pu rp os e f o r s uc h p r e t e n s e , and t h i s i n t e r p r e -t a t i o n t h e r e f o re seems t h i n .

***The newspaper may a l s o have been c r i t i c i z i n g XamalNasir , long- t ime Fata h and PL O spokesman who wasrepor tedly removed f rom h i s p o s t i n t h e f a l l of 1 9 7 0f o r m aking u n a u th o r i z e d s t a t e m e n t s .

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Fa t a h ' s T a c t i c s and Opera t ions .. - .As s e e n b e f o r e , F a t a h ' s i n i t i a l approach t o hi l i -t a r y o p e r a t i o n s had been t o i n f i l t r a t e s m a l l teams o f 'men i n t o I s r a e l i t e r r i t o r y ; these groups then carryo u t m in e- la y in g and o t h e r s a b o t a g e o p e r a t i o n s , u s u a l l ya g a i n s t m i l i t a r y t d r g e t s ( p a t r o l s , o ut p os ts , m i l i t a r yv e h ic l e s ) , b u t o f t h , i n t e r r o r i s t f as hi on , a g a i n s t t h ec i v i l i a n p op u la ti on as w e l l .* T h i s s t r a t e g y h a s b ee n ac o mp le te m i l i t a r y f a i l u r e . The I s r a e l i s r e p o r t t h a tt he y h av e k i l l e d a n es t imated 1800 fedayeen * * andc a p t u r e d 2500 more s in ce t h e June 1 9 6 7 ' w a r . The I s r a e l i sr e p o r t e d o n l y some 300 k i l l e d by t h e f e da y ee n . Thes i g n i f i c a n c e of t h e s e f i g u r e s i s c l e a r when it is con-s i d e r e d t h a t F at a h had a n es t imated 7,000 armed men i nt h e f a l l of 1 97 0, a nd t h e P a l e s t i n e L i b e r a t i o n F o rc e s ,which use the same t a c t i c s and o f t e n c o o p e r a t e w i t hFatah, had an estimated 1 , 0 0 0 . S in ce t h e Jo rd an c i v i l -w a r of September 1 9 7 0 , n e i t h e r of t hese g roups (nor anyo the r f edyaeen o rgan iza t ion) h -as conduc ted any ope ra t ions .

f r o m i t s t r a d i t i o n a l t a c t i c s h ave n o t be en s u b s t a n t i a t e d .. I n t h e s p r in g of 1 9 6 9 a nd a g a i n i n t h e s p r i n g of 1970,t h e r e were r e p o r t s t h a t F a ta h pl an ne d t o a s s a s s i n a t e .A r a b l e a d e r s who w e r e working for a peaceful s e t t l e m e n t .W h i l e . s e v e r a 1 o f these r e p o r t s came f rom high- level mem-bers of F a t a h , A r a f a t h i ms e lf h a s c o n s i s t e n t l y r e j ec t edsuch t a c t i c s and Ara fa t seems s t i l l t o h av e t h e u p pe rhand i n t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n .

The va r io us rumors t h a t Fa tah w a s a bo ut t o d e p a r t

*On 3 January 1 9 7 0 P ra vd a c a r r i e d F a t a h ' s estimatesof i t s o p e r a t i o n s .2 , 4 4 2 o p e r a t i o n s i n 1 9 6 9 , compared' wi th 59 i n 1966I t h a d e p o r t e d l y conducted someand 727 i n 1968 . P ra vd a d i d n o t s p e c i f y a number f o r1 9 6 7 .**of t hese on ly ' som e 3 0 e v e r p e n e t r a t e d I s r a e l i t e r r i -t o r y a n d 1 8 5 t h e oc cu pie d t e r r i t o r y ; t h e r e s t t h e I srael i sc l a i m t o have k i l l e d on o r n e ar t h e c e a s e - f i r e l i n e s .

- 2 4 -n v r P m i n- r

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Fedayeen Bases and Refugee Camps in JORDAN 3 East Bank

98591 5-70 CI A


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I TOPk!RETI II

F a t a h m a i n t a i n s o f f i c e s i n a l l t h e Arab count r ies"as w e l l as i n a number of European countr ies , includingFran ce, Germany, and va ri ou s Ea s t European s t a t e s . I n1969 and 1 9 7 0 i t s e n t d e l e g a t i o n s t o numerous c o u n t r i e st o n e g o t i a te t h e opening of offices. I r a n and Turkeyhave r ep or ted ly tu rned down such requ es t s ;** M alayas iai n A p r i l 1969 approved the opening of a F a t a h o f f i c e .AS p a r t o f i t s e f f o r t t o g ai n i n t e r n a t i o n a l r e co g ni t io na n d a s s i s t a n c e , Fat4h has i nv i t ed groups of Americansand E ur op ea ns t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t r a i n i n g and i n d o c t ri n a -t i o n c o u rs es i n t h e summers of 1968 th ro ug h 1970 . A c -c o rd i n g t o t h e N e w York T i m e s ( 2 7 August 1 9 7 0 1 , Arafa thas also h a d d e a l i n g s w i t h e Black Pan thers , has m e tw i t h E l d r i d ge C l ea ve r i n A l g ie r s i n t h e summer of 1 9 7 0 ,and has t ra ined some Pan thers a t Fatah camps i n Jorda ni n 1 9 6 9 .

W hile o p en ly o p e r a t i n g o f f i c e s i n a number of coun-t r i e s , F a t ah a l s o en gag es i n i n t e l l i g e n c e o p e r a t i o n s.According t o Hut , t h e PLO r e p r es e n t a ti v e i n B e ir u t ,F a ta h ha s i n t e l l i g e n c e u n i t s i n v a ri o u s Arab c o u n t r i e s ,Western Europe, and the U . S . ; most of the members ofthese g roups have b e e n t r a i n e d e i t h e r i n China o r t h e .UAR. Fa ta h ' s op er at i on i n Amman i s s a i d t o b e t h e moste f f i c i e n t , h a vi ng s u c c e s s f u l l y p e n e tr a t e d J or d an ia n p o l i c e ,army, a nd i n t e l l i g e n c e services . Fatah i s s a i d t o b et r y i n g t o r e c r u i t f o re i gn e rs wi th access t o I s r a e l ,f a c i l i t a t i n g o p er a ti o ns t h e r e. F at ah i s s a i d t o have ap o l i t i c a l o p e r a t i o n i n E ngl an d which i s o r g a n i z e d i n tofour and five-man c e l l s run on a f u n c t i o n a l b a s i s ,

-

t h u s

i t

*The PLO a l s o h as o f f i c e s t h r o u g ho u t t h e Arab w o rld.I n a d d i t i o n , it h as a , N e w York o f f i c e which i n e a r l y 1970was t r y i n g t o g a i n t h e s u p p o r t o f d i s s i d e n t gr ou ps i nt h e u n i t e d S t a t e s . The PLO w a s a l s o e ng ag ed i n 1 9 7 0 i nt r y in g t o e s t a b l i s h o f f i c e s i n L a t in America.b ee n r e c r u i t i n g T u r k i s h and I r a n i a n n a t i o n a l s as t r a i n e e s ;both governments have a r r e s t e d a number of t h e r e c r u i t sand charged them with planning ac t s of sabotage.

**This may be due t o t h e f a c t t h a t F a t ah h a s r e p o r t e d l y

I I-. . . . .- . . -. ..... ~. .


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r e p o r t e d l y m a i n t a i n s a m o n th ly p u b l i c a t i o n i n t h e UnitedKingdom c a l l e d "Free P a l e s t i n e " , s u p p o r t s d e m o ns t r at i o nsand m e e t i n g s , a nd h a n d le s r e c r u i t i n g .F a t a h I s Funding .- . .

F a t a h ' s b b d g e t i s s izeab le . I n a d d i t i o n t o t h es a l a r i e s it pays i t s s o l d i e r s and o f f i c i a l s , F at ah p ay sa l l o t m e n t s t o f a mi l i e s of " m a r ty r s " ( t h o s e k i l l e d i na c t i o n ) . F a t ah a l s o m ust pay f o r most of i t s arms. I n1 9 6 9 F a t a h w a s r e p o r t e d l y u n ab l e t o b a l a n c e i t s budge td e s p i t e r e c e i p t o f p ro mi se s of i n c r e a s e d a i d . Thel a r g e s t s o u r c e of F a t a h f u nd s ( r e p o r t e d l y s up p l yi n g somet w o t o f o u r m i l l i o n d o l l a r s a n n ua ll y ) i s Saudi Arabia .The fun d- r a i s ing mechanism i n t h a t c o u n t r y i s a committeec a l l e d t h e Committee f o r A i d t o t h e F a m i l i e s of Martyrs ;it c o l l e c t s w h a t amounts t o a f o r c e d d e d u c t i o n of f i v ep e r c e n t f r o m t h e s a l a r i e s of P a l e s t i n i a n s i n S au di Arabiaand a one percen t deduc t ion f rom Saudi s a l a r i e s .g ov ern me nt d o es n o t c o n t r i b u t e o f f i c i a l l y , b u t KingF a y s a l a n d o th e r members of t h e . r o y a 1 f a m i ly make p e r s o n a lc o n t r i b u t i o n s .The

F a t a h ' s f i na n c i a l dependence on Saudi Arab ia hasp u t s o m e l im i t a t i o n s o n t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n ' s f r e e d o m ofac t io n . For example , fo l lowing h i s v i s i t t o Moscow i ne a r l y 1 9 7 0 , A r a f a t f e l t compelled t o v i s i t Saudi Arabiat o e x p la i n t h i s v i s i t . There had r e p o r t e d ly b e e n a d r o pi n c o n tr i bu t i on s i n t h e weeks f o ll o w in g h i s Moscow t r i p .Arafa t de fended F a t a h ' s r e l a t i o n s w i t h Communist countriesa s ne c es s ar y t o i n s u r e a s up pl y of e s s e n t i a l arms, b u ta s s u r e d the Saudis t h a t F a t a h remained a lo of f rom so c ia l -i s t d o c t r i n e and k e p t c o n t r o l o v e r l e f t - w in g e l e me n t s i nF a t a h ' s o r g a n i z a t i o n s . The S a u d i s a re r e p o r t e d t o ha veremained unreassured bu t were u n w i l l i n g a t t h i s t i m e t od i s c o n t i n u e l a i d , f e a r i n g t h i s would weaken conservativei n f l u e n c e on Fa t ah . I n l a t e 1 9 7 0 , however, t h e r e w e r eseveral r e p o r t s t h a t S au di Ar ab ia w a s i n c r e a s i n g l y d i s -enchanted w i t h Fa t ah and was c u t t i n g back i n i t s fund-r a i s i n g o p e r a t i o n s .

The e x t e n t of K uw ai t' s c o n t r i b u t i o n t o Fa t ah andt h e PLO i s n o t c l e a r . While b o t h a r e r e p o r t e d t o have

. - _.- _ . j.. . ... .


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b e n e f i t e d f r o m v a r i o u s K u w a i t i taxes and deduct ions asw e l l as from a n o f f i c i a l K uw ai ti bu d g et c o n t r i b u t i o n ,as o f t h e s p r i n g of 1 9 6 9 Kuwait w a s r e p o r t e d l y r e f u s i n gt o re lease t h e funds i t he l d f o r t h e s e o r g a n i z a t io n s .F a ta h r e c e i v e s s i z e a b l e c o n t r i b u t i o n s from t h e g u l f o i lsheikhdoms, mo stl y Q a t a r and Abu Dhabi; most of t h i smoney comes f rom deduct ions f rom the sa l a r i e s of Pa les -t i n i a n s . Before t h e r e v ol u t i o n i n Lib ya i n l a t e 1 9 6 9 ,t h a t coun t ry had been g i v i n g F a t a h abou t 2. 8 m i l l i o nd o l l a r s f r o m i t s a nn ua l bu dg et p e r y e a r i n a d d i t i o n t op r i v a t e d o n a t i o n s . F ol lo wi ng t h e ta k e o v er , t h e new govern-m en t, i n t y p i ca l l y f l am boyant f a sh i on , p romi sed t h e PLO$56 m i l l i o n i n a d d i t i o n t o pe r so n al d o n at io n s; t h e t i m ep e r i o d w a s n o t s p e c i f i e d . I n e a r l y May 1 9 7 0 PrimeM i n i s t e r Q a d d a f i i s s a i d t o h av e d e c i d e d t h a t Libyawould co n t r i bu t e abou t $10 m i l l io n q u a r t e r l y t o t h efedayeen wi th about two- th i rds of t h a t go i ng t o Fa t ahand t he r e s t t o be d i s t r i b u t e d t o o t h e r g r o u p s . How-e v e r , L i b y a ' s l eader s a re famous f o r em ot ional promisesand t he re is some que s t i on w het her o r n o t t hey w i l lca r ry t h rough .U n t i l r e c e n t ly t h e r a d i c a l A r a b s t a t e s were l e s sfor thcoming i n t h e i r c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o Fatah and the PLO.O f a l l t h e r ad i ca l Arab s t a t e s Algeria has emerged asF a t a h ' s b e s t f r i e n d . It h a s g i v e n t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n b o thcon ti nuous p ropaganda supp or t and i n t e r na t i on a l d i p l om a t i c

back i ng . " A l ge r i a is r ep o r t ed l y one o f t h e main cen te rsof F a ta h t r a i n i n g , a nd h a s served both as arms brokerand arms c o n d u i t f o r F a t a h. I n a d d i t i o n A l g e r i a h asi t s e l f s up pl ie d a r m s t o F a ta h ; i n Au gu st 1970,- a sh ip loadof arms was s e n t a s a g i f t t o Fa tah f r o m A l ge r i a andMorocco via Latakia . I n August Boumedienne reporrtedlya g re e d t o c o n t i n u e s u p p o r t i n g Fatah and even to send a" f e w " A l ge r i an t roops to Jordan .

* I n t h e summer of 1970, f o r example, t h e A l ge r i ansmade r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s t o b ot h I r a q i a nd S y r i a n o f f i c i a l st o s t o p s u pp o rt in g t h e i r own org ani za t ion s and su ppor tFa t ah i n s t ead . .

-27-.

I. .- ... .... .. . . . -_.,.-... . . . . . ... . . . .. .


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T h e r i v a l r a d i c a l Baath regimes of I r a q a n d S y r i ahave become somewhat sp ora d ic and u nr e l ia b l e c on t r ib u t or st o F at ah . I n t h e s p r i n g of 1 9 6 9 , I r a q r e p o r t e d l y c u to f f a l l a i d t o Fa ta h i n order t o g iv e a l l i t s a i d t o thePFLP. However i n l a t e 1 9 6 9 Fatah l e a d e r Hani Qaddumii n d i c a t e d t h a t I r a q had a g re ed r e l u c t a n t l y t o a s s i s tF at ah , b u t t h a t it p r e f e r r e d t o c o n c e n t r a t e i t s s u p p o r ton i t s own feda yee n group, t h e Arab L i b e r a t i o n F r o n t ( A L F ) .H e s a i d t h a t Fa t ah had t h e same prob lems wi th Syr ia ,which now wished t o co nc en tr a t e on Saiq a . However botht h e s e c o u n t r i e s c o n t in u e d t o t r a i n F a t a h members a tl e a s t th ro ug h t h e summer of 1 9 7 0 .A t t h e Arab s t a t e s ' s u m m i t c o n f er e n c e h e l d i n

Rabat , Morocco, i n December 1969 , A r a f a t won a majorv i c to r y i n t h a t a i d t o t h e P a l e s t i n i a n movement w a s oneof t h e f e w i t e m s agreed upon. The R a b a t c o n f e r r e e s r e p o r t -e d ly d e c id e d t o a l l o c a t e some 26 m i l l i o n pounds t o t h ef e da y ee n , o n ly f o u r m i l l i o n l e ss than Ara fa t had reques ted ;t h e b u lk of t h i s w a s t o go t o t h e PLO.F a t a h ' s r e l a t i o n s w i t h t h e UAR h av e f l u c t u a t e d o v e rt h e y e a r s . The two have a m u tu a l l y s u s p i c io u s and a n t a -g o n i s t i c r e l a t io n s h i p , as each sees t h e o t h e r as ac h a l l e n g e t o i t s own po p ul a ri ty and dominance. While no te n t h u s i a s t i c a b o u t F a ta h a nd n o t ' s u p p o r ti n g it openly ,t h e UA R h a s p e r m i t t e d F a t a h t o f u n c t i o n ; i t i s t h e

s t r o n g e s t o f t h e P a l e s t i n i a n g ro up s i n t h a t c ou n tr y andhas dominated the l o ca l P a l e s t i n i a n t r a d e union groups.Moreover, as i n d i c a t e d e a r l i e r , the Voice of F a ta h w a sp e r m i t t e d t o o p e r a t e fr om Cai ro .However, following N a s i r ' s a c c e p t a n c e o f t h e U . S .p ea ce p r o p o sa l i n J u l y 1 9 7 0 a n d P a l e s t i n i a n c r i t i c i s mof t h a t move, Nasi r h a l t e d t h e P a l e s t i n i a n s ' u s e of r ad i of a c i l i t i e s and r e p o r t e d ly p u t f e da y ee n i n t h e UA R underc l o s e s u r v e i l l a n c e , even depor t ing some extremists .N a s i r a l s o i n d i c a t e d h e h a d ceased a i d t o t h e f ed ay ee nand would not resume it u n t i l h e had r e a c h ed an agreementwith them. .

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TOP RET-Even b e f o r e t h i s , F a t a h had ne ver re ce iv ed moret h a n l i m i t e d a n d s p o r a d i c a i d from t h e UAR.* Thus i ne a r l y 1 9 6 9 Nas i r had conveyed t o Ara fa t h i s dismay overc e r t a i n a n t i - S o v i e t views b e i ng p u b l i c i z e d i n f e da y ee nc i r c l e s . A s a r e s u l t t h e nex t sh ipm ent of arms w a sl e s s t han had been p romised. Ara f a t i nd ica ted t h a t hef e l t o bl ig ed t o t a k e t h e h i n t i n o rd e r n o t t o l o s e morea id . The UA R h a s p r o v i d e d F a t a h w i t h c o n s i d e r a b l e t r a i n -ing , conducted i n Lebanon em phasiz ing in t e l l i ge nc e ands e c u r i t y serv ices .members as f rogm en and p i l o t s , t hough they r epo r t e d lys t o p p e d t h e l a t t e r i n J u ly 1 9 7 0 .

t h e Communist Chinese ove r th e pa s t f i v e yea r s , pa r t i -c u l ar l y l i g h t arms a n d t r a i n i n g . F a t a h members a l s ot r a i n i n Cuba, and i n t h e s p r i n g of 1 9 7 0 a group of Fa tahcommandos became t h e f i r s t Arab group t o g rad uat e f romHavana mi l i ta ry col l eg e . Fa tah membets rep or t ed ly goi n g roups o f 1 5 t o 2 0 men t o bo th cou n t r i e s o n a r e g u l a rb a s i s . Two teams have gone t o North Vietnam, b u t Fata hl eade rs a re s a i d t o have f e l t t h a t t h e r e was to o muchpropaganda and no t enough t r a in in g i n t h e DRV's courses .

The UA R h a s a l s o t r a i n e d F a t a h

F i n a l l y , F a t a h h a s r e ce i v e d c o n s i d e r a b l e a i d from

*A h i g h - l e v e l UA R Source s a i d in mid-1969 t h a t t h eUAR s u p p l i e d less t h a n 5% of F a t a h ' s s m a l l arms ascompared wi th Alg er i a which s up pl ie s 15%,

' - 2 9 -

. . - . .. ., .. -.- . ._ - . . -..


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TH E A R A B N A T I O N A L I S T MOVEMENT (ANM) AND I T S FEDAYEEN W I N G S -ANM-

I n t h e l a t e 1 9 4 0 ' s a g ro up of y oung i n t e l l e c t u a l sa t t h e Am erican U n iv e r s i t y i n B e i r u t o r g a n i z e d t h e ANM,t h e f i r s t of t h e P a l e s t i n i a n o r g an i z at i on s .by t h e f o r m a t io n o f I s r a e l and t h e e x p u l s io n of t h eP a l e s t i n i a n s from t h e i r hom eland, t h e A N M ' s b a s i ci d eo lo g y r e f l e c t e d w ha t i t s t i t l e im p l i e s -- a d e s i r ef o r t h e union o f a l l A r a b s t a t e s , a w i s h t o e xc lu def o r e i g n i n f l u e n c e f r o m t h e A r a b world , and t h e compulsiont o e r a d i c a t e th e s t a t e of I s r a e l .when many s t ud en ts had re tu rn ed t o t h e i r own cou nt r i es ,t h e movement had e s t a b l i s h e d b r a n ch e s i n v a r i o u s A rabc o u n t r i e s . The o r g a n i z a t i o n w a s never cohes ive and i t sn a t i o n a l c h a p t e r s formed l o c a l a l l i a n c e s on a n o p p o r t u n i s t i c

Mot iva ted

By t h e l a t e 1 9 5 0 ' s ,

-b a s i s . *I n 1 9 5 5 t h e l e a d e rGeorge Habbash, a Pales -t i n i a n C h r i s t i a n who h adbeen work ing i n Jo rda n ,w a s f o r ce d t o l eave t h a tc o u n t r y b e c a u s e o f h i s

i n vo lve m en t i n s u b v e r s iv ea c t i v i t i e s . H e s p e n t ay e a r i n S y r i a , t he n re-t u r n e d t o J o r d a n w i t hS y r i a n f i x a n c i a 1 a s s i s t -a n ce t o o r g a n iz e h i sgroup. Expe l led f romJ o r da n a g a i n i n 1 9 5 9 , hewent t o Damascus where,d u r i n g t h e p e ri o d of t h e*There a re ANM a f f i l i -a t e s i n some 11 Arabs t a t e s , b u t n o t a l l a re ,p a r t i c u l a r l y s i g n i f i c a n t .

I t w a s a r e g i o n al u n i t oft h e ANM which gained poweri n S ou th Yemen i n Novem-b e r 1 9 6 7 , t h e f i r s t ando n l y s uc h s u cc e s s f o r t h eANM t o d a t e .

of t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l A N M ,

GeorgeHabbashLeader PFLP

I I- ..... - - . .. - . . . . . ...... . - . - - .


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Egypt ian-Syr ian union, t h e ANM came under t h e a e g i sof Egypt i an in t e l l i gence , and m any A NM members becameUAR i n t e l l i g e n c e p e r s on n e l. I n August 1 9 5 9 a confe r -ence o f r eg ion a l A N M u n i t s m e t i n Lebanon and ado pteda pro-UAR policy; a t t h i s t i m e t h e c o nf e re n ce a l s oes t ab l i shed the Suprem e Command t o f u nc t io n as a co-ord ina t ing body .When t h e Egypt -Syr ia un ion d i s s o lve d i n 1 9 6 1 ,

ANM he adq ua rte rs moved t o B ei ru t from Damascus, a l -though the UA R c o nt in u ed t o f i n a n c e t h e A NM , a t l e a s tu n t i l 1 9 6 6 . I n 1 9 6 5 t h e UA R t r i e d t o f o r ce t h e mergerof t h e ANM w i t h i t s newly-formed, Egyptian-dominated,in t e r -Arab g roup , t he A r a b S o c i a l i s t Union.* However,t h e AN M c o n t in u e d t o f u n c t i o n on i t s own. Th is cau sedd i f f i c u l t i e s w i t h Egypt and by e a r l y 1967 N a s i r hadbroken w i t h t h e ANM.**A f t e r t h e J un e 1 967 w a r , t h e AN M became t o r n byf a c t i o n a l i s m , w i t h one group w i sh i ng t o a d o p t a morer a d i c a l c o u r s e a d v o c at i n g r e v o l u t i o n t h ro u gh o ut t h e Arabworld, w h i l e t h e o t h e r w anted t o c o n c e n t r a t e on t h e l i b -e r a t i o n of P a l e s t i n e . The l a t t e r f a c t i o n ( w h i c h w i l l

be r e f e r r e d t o i n t h i s c on te xt as moderate) w a s l e d byGeorge Habbash, b u t i n t h e s p r in g of 1 9 6 8 Habbash w a simpr isoned i n Syria, thus c r e a t i n g a le ad er sh ip vacuumi n th e AMN. N a i f Hawatmah, a J o r d a n i a n ANM m e m b e r anda M a r x i s t - L e n i n i st , was more t h a n w i l l i n g t o s t e p i n t othe b reach .

* T h i s is n o t t o be c on fu se d w i t h N a s i r ' s i n t e r n a lE g yp t ia n p a r t y o f t h e same name.**The a t t i t u d e o f t h e AN M toward Nasi r himsel f w a ssomewhat ambivalent through t h e ye ar s . While many ofi t s members saw Nasir as t h e o nl y Arab l e a d e r of s u f -

' f i c i e n t s t a t u r e t o o f f e r - h o pe o f u n i t i ng t h e Arabs, h i se f f o r t s t o a s s e r t Egyptian dominance served t o d i s i l l u s i o nthem. I n t h e a f t e r ma t h o f t h e Ju ne 1 9 6 7 war, many ANMmembers saw Algeria 's 'Boumedienne with his uncompromis-i n g " co n ti n ue t o f i g h t " p o l i c y as a m o r e \ a t t r a c t i v ea1 e r n a t i v e .

-31-

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E l e c t e d a d e l eg a t e t o t h e AN% National Congressi n 1968, Hawatmah ca ptu red t h e supp ort of many de le ga te sand when th e new le ad er sh ip w a s e l e c t e d , a m a j o r i t y wereHawatmah backers.t h i s t a k e o v e r an d a R r o v i s i o n a l l e a d e r s h i p w a s e l e c t e di n which the Habbash f a c t i o n had a one-man majority.t h e r e s t of 1968, however, Hawatmah continued t o g a i ns t r en g t h i n t h e ANM. Following Habbash's escape fromp r i s o n i n l a t e 1968, t h e remains of t h e ANM has beens p l i t i n t o two h o s t i l e f a c t i o n s , w i t h the "moderate"fa c t i o n headed by Habbash p r im ar i ly devoted , a t l e a s t i nt h e o ry , t o r e s o l v i n g t h e P a l e s t i n e i s s u e a nd d e f e r r i n gp o l i t i c a l a c t i v i t y i n t h e Arab w orld as a whole; and ar a d i c a l wing under Hawatmah devoted t o t h e developmentof a Mar xis t movement i n t h e Middle E a s t , w i t h t h eP a l e s t i n e i s s u e t r e a t e d as o n l y o n e p a r t of a l a r g e rg o a l . T h is r u p t u r e v i r t u a l l y d e st r oy e d t h e ANM, b u tt h e l o c a l p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s d e r iv ed from t he o r i g i n a lo r g a n i z a t i o n an d t o t a l l y i n de pe nd en t of it cont inued t of u n c t i o n , t ho ug h some s p l i t a l on g l i n e s s i mi l a r t o t he sed i v id i n g t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l ANM. The s p l i t i n t h e AN Md i d have a s i g n i f i c a n t e f f e c t on th e ANM's p a r a m i l i t a r ym c t u r e .

Habbash 's su ppo r t e r s r e fused t o a c c e p tF or

Background on the ANM's Fedayeen Wings

Before the June 1 9 6 7 war , the ANM had a p a r a m i l i t a r yo r g a n i z a t i o n of abou t 50 men who had received some train-i ng i n Egypt. I n th e f a l l of 1 9 6 7 t h i s group , ca l l ed theVenegeance Youth ( W ) , merged with two others -- the Heroesof t h e Return (an independent group l e d by Faiz Jabir )and t h e P o p ul a r L i b e r a t i o n F r o n t , l e d by Ahmad Jabr i l ,t o form t h e P o p ul ar F r o n t f o r t h e L i b e r a t i o n of P a l e s t i n e( PFL P) . Habbash, leader of the moderate wing of t h e ANM,a l s o

cia 1971 origins.of.fatah top.secret a

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