Word: plo
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Syrian initiative, described as an attempt to keep the peace, succeeded in taming the Palestinians. But Assad, who has recently supported Iran against Iraq in order to tip the scales of the balance of power to his advantage, was not sated. He joined the PLO and betrayed the Christian minority. Today more than 30,000 Syrian troops are entrenched in Lebanon; surface-to-air missiles are aimed at northern Israeli cities; 100,000 Lebanese citizens have died...
PALESTINIAN WRITERS in this country have argued that the Palestinian problem is the main root of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Walid Khalidi, who with Edward Said is the PLO's best-known supporter here, argued in last summer's Foreign Affairs that by bringing the PLO into negotiations on a Palestinian state the U.S. could stabilize the region's regimes and thus defend its interests. The currents of nationalism, pan-Arabism and pan-Islam, while undeniable, pale in comparison with the Palestinian issue, he contended. All Arab regimes, whether conservative or radical are united in their support for the PLO...
Jordan: In September 1970, King Hussein killed 10,000 Palestinians and forced the PLO out of Jordan. Since then, Husseins's rule has gone virtually unchallenged. Yet little if any pressure has been placed on Jordan to enter negotiations on the Palestinian question, despite the fact that Transjordan (an emirate created in 1922 by Britain) composes 80 percent of the land mass of historical Palestine, and despite the fact that the West Bank was only lost when Hussein agreed to join Nasser in the folly...
From 1948 until 1967, Hussein not only occupied but also annexed the West Bank, without international assent and without the population's consent. Jordan, an American client, opposed Camp David. Hussein supports the right of self-determination for Palestinians and maintains good relations with the PLO. Why? Perhaps because he'd prefer to let Israel deal with the PLO rather than welcoming the group himself. Or so history would suggest...
Lebanon and Syria: Upon leaving Jordan unwillingly, the PLO set up camp in Lebanon in 1970. Israel had never meddled in Lebanon until that point. Though Golda Meir made it clear that Israel would not sanction terrorists to its north, Lebanon permitted the PLO to gain a foothold. Joining with indigenous leftist forces, the PLO raided Christian cities until Syrian dictator Hafez al-Assad came to the phalangists' aid and began fighting the Palestinians and their Lebanese allies. Assad had observed Hussein's problems and worried about a PLO ascendance...