HISTORY 244 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Member States Of The United Nations, Bedouin, Great Satan
Outline -- The PLO and Palestinian Resistance to 1982
I. The Big Picture
● Labor gov in israel offered to exchange land for recognition and peace
● Likud did not talk about ethnically changing
○ Likud or PLO had any sympathy for opponents
● Mutual exhaustion and bitter defeats convinced both sides to scale down their efforts in
hope for compromise
II. Overview: Palestinian Nationalism Revives
● Until the arab revolt of 1920-39 the conflict had been chiefly between zionists and arabs
in the mandate within palestine
● The defeat of the arab revolt in 39, palestinians disappeared politically
● Britain in 1939
○ Turned to the arab states for advice on what to do w arabs
○ Failure of the revolt and w anakbah, pal govt collapsed
■ No pal leaders with any influence
■ Jordan and egypt which claimed to speak on behalf of them
■ Palestinian interests were subordinated
■ pan -arabism all arab states should work together
● Pal dreamed that nasser and arab states would liberate pal for them
● Pal were physically dispersed over many countries
● A palestinian identity which was very weak to begin with looked like it might disappear
completely
● In 67 things changed again
○ Bc of their defeat in the 6 day war, arab states were humiliated confused and
weakened
○ A political vacuum opened up which the pal now sought to fill
● The most successful people trying to fill this vacuum were the PLO
● Despite resources, arafat and his leutiennet succeeded in creating a powerful movement
that operated independently of the arab states for the first time
● Arafat and his supporters redefined the struggle
● Between 1948 and 67 had been an interstate conflict between israel and the other states
this was once again seen as a conflict between two political communities
● Pal once again took central stage
● The palestinians definition of conflict is now universal
● Now everyone sees the pal israeli conflict as the core of the problem
● The reframing of the issue wanted ever more sympathy
● In 67 after 6 day war, israel dominated everything
○ By 75 PLO had forced israel on to the defensive automatically
○ Major achievement that re established hope to the pals
○ The plo maximized demand destroyed any hope of peaceful
○ Postponed a negotiated settlement by many many years
○ The rise of the pal national movement was of fundamental importance
III. Fatah Remakes the PLO
● 64- the arab league created the PLO to serve as the official voice of the palestinian
people
● In creating the PLO, arab states gave service to pal
● The arab states, egypt, kept the PLO on a very tight leash
● The PLO was ineffective, passive, and invisible
● Egypt did not let PLO do anything that would ruin egypts plans
● Before 67, small pal guerilla groups rejected PLO and did small scale military attacks on
their own
○ FATAH founded by students in the pal diaspora
■ Fatah means victory
■ W the help of syria, fatah raided israel
■ Helped to poison israeli, syrian relations,
■ Set the stage for war
■ Entirely marginal
■ The 6 day war gave them their big chance
● Nasserism
○ By far the most popular arab ideology
○ Nasser said pan arab unity had to precede palestines liberation
○ Arab unity in turn required egypt to take the lead
○ Nasser and the arab states discredited by humiliation, opened for new initiatives
○ Pal leaders reversing nasser's movements, said liberate pal before the unity of
the arab world
● Pal leaders began to announce that the liberation of their country depended on pals
themselves and not the arab states
○ Could no longer rely on unstable direction
○ Had to rely on own state
● The independent source of wealth
○ Fatah developed social services in the refugee camps of gaza and jordan and
lebanon
○ Built health clinics, schools
○ Organized population into unions, farmers, workers, women, teachers, young ppl
○ Developed a complex grace roots organization
○ Fatah stepped up his armed attacks against israel
○ Operated from bases in jordan and lebanon and syria and west bank
○ March 68- fatah won a moral victory at the jordanian village of karameh
○ Israeli troops came to clear out a base at karameh
■ Fatah ambushed them and killed 25
■ Seized upon this victory
■ Karameh- means dignity or honor
■ Fatah began to fill the vacuum of the collapse of pan arabism and
nasserism
● Fatah now moved to take control of the old PLO
Document Summary
Outline -- the plo and palestinian resistance to 1982: the big picture. Labor gov in israel offered to exchange land for recognition and peace. Likud did not talk about ethnically changing. Likud or plo had any sympathy for opponents. Mutual exhaustion and bitter defeats convinced both sides to scale down their efforts in hope for compromise. Until the arab revolt of 1920-39 the conflict had been chiefly between zionists and arabs in the mandate within palestine. The defeat of the arab revolt in 39, palestinians disappeared politically. Turned to the arab states for advice on what to do w arabs. Failure of the revolt and w anakbah, pal govt collapsed. Jordan and egypt which claimed to speak on behalf of them. Pan -arabism all arab states should work together. Pal dreamed that nasser and arab states would liberate pal for them. Pal were physically dispersed over many countries.
