Terrorism Essay Research Paper The word terrorism — страница 2

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was a feasible cause for the incident. (Clapp, A4) In 1964, the Arab states created the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). While it was supposed to represent the Palestinians, in reality it represented the views of President Nasser of Egypt, who guided the formation of the PLO. Its first leader made threats to drive Israelis into the sea, and had little support among Palestinians for he was seen as a puppet leader of the Egyptians. In the 1960s, Palestinian students began to form their own organizations independent of control by Arab governments (although the Syrians, Libyans, and Iraqis continued to fund and control particular groups). Yasser Arafat founded an independent Palestinian-run party called Fatah. He is said to have the backing, for most of the recent past, of

about 80% of the Palestinian people. (Appendix C) (Nassar, 119) The position of the Arab governments was that a PLO under Arab League supervision would be the best way of satisfying the demands made by an emerging Palestinian national consciousness. In addition, it was felt that through such an organization Arab governments could control Palestinian political activities. (Seymor-Jones, 33-45) Ten years after it?s founding, the PLO was raised to the status of government. Moreover, in 1988, the PLO’s status was to be raised again, this time to a state in exile. After several negotiations, Arafat became a Terrorist leader and administrator of self-rule in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This increase in support was made possible because of the Al-Fatah’s ability to access to

the growing numbers of volunteers from refugee camps, which were freshly swollen due to the 1967 war. Most of these refugees suffered the frustration of having been displaced twice in a lifetime. This generated, especially among the young, a mood of defiance, as they were ready to question the credibility of the idea of relying on Arab governments to liberate Palestine. Furthermore, because of the war a large proportion of the Palestinian community became territorially united. This brought the possibility of direct interaction between the various sections of the Palestinian community that had previously remained isolated from each other. Conversely, the inability of the PLO’s conservative leadership to promote any effective resistance operations culminated in the eventual

transfer of power to the armed-struggle orientated guerrilla organizations. Thus, initially, the PLO had a broad base of support and represented the desires of the majority of the Palestinian people. Prior to the PLO declaration of a state in 1988, it functioned much like one.(Appendix D) This was reflected in much of the powers it possessed. The PLO has been able to exert what amounts to sovereign powers over the Palestinian people in war situations. The PLO represented the Palestinians in wars with Jordan and Lebanon, and during various incursions into Israel. The PLO also exercises extradition powers, as on many occasions Arab governments have turned over to the PLO Palestinians charged with criminal activities. They were tried and sentenced by the PLO judicial system. In

these ways, it was supposed to represent the people. Nevertheless, various problems within the PLO undermined its legitimacy as the sole representative of the Palestinian people. Arafat’s ascendancy to power by using the Palestinian issue had naturally provoked rivals to try the same tack in their own interest. As a result, maintenance of his supremacy within the PLO became Arafat’s full time preoccupation. Far from laying the basis for secular or democratic institutions that one day might serve as a nation, Arafat recruited Sumni Muslims like himself into a body known as Fatah, loyal to him on confessional lines. (Nassar, 150-156) Whether Palestinians outside the Occupied Territories would in fact accept the legitimacy of the PLO as their representative was put to test in

Jordan in 1970. Jordanian frontiers were the result of British map-making, which left half of the country’s inhabitants Palestinian by origin. The rapid financing and arming by Arab power holders of Arafat’s mercenaries offered these Palestinians in Jordan a chance to refute against King Hussein and declare themselves nationalists for the new cause. Unexpectedly, Arafat’s power challenged to replace King Hussein with a PLO state in Jordan. After 18 months, while tensions were running high, the PFLP hijacked international airliners, three of which were brought at gunpoint to Jordan. Taking advantage of this anarchic rivalry between Palestinian groups, King Hussein ordered his army to overpower the movement. Palestinians in Jordan and on the West Bank gave evidence of their