The PLO

Abstract

This chapter presents the PLO as an example of an organization that pursued strategies that were ineffective at seeking resources domestically, though broadly successful regionally. The chapter begins in 1967 with the radicalization and increased autonomy that the PLO experienced after the Six-Day War. This soon led to a deterioration in relations with Jordan, culminating in the brief but brutal conflict in 1970 known as Black September, followed by the PLO’s relocation to Lebanon, from which it was expelled by the Israel Defense Forces in 1982. Szekely explains these outcomes by tracing the organization’s coercive behavior toward the state and civilian population in Lebanon and Jordan, even as its regional influence continued to increase due to its success in increasing the ideological salience of the Palestinian cause.