MIDDLE EAST 17-27 Sep 2010 Region marks 40 years since Jordan violently expelled PLO

Black September, Jordanian King Hussein's war on the Palestine Liberation Organization, happened 40 years ago in September. It still reverberates. Tempers are raw after the deadly Israeli raid in May on a flotilla delivering aid to besieged Gaza Strip Palestinians. And September also sees the 10th anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Intifada and of other events that haven't been forgiven. In a region committed to vengeance, the 40th anniversary represents yet another prompt for retaliation and counter retaliation.

A cursory look at the history of the region shows Hussein's war didn't start the cycle of "eye for an eye" attacks so characteristic of the region. On 11 Sept 1922, despite Arab protests, Britain proclaimed a mandate in the Palestine. In 1948 the United Nations authorized a partition of the territory and the state of Israel was established, cementing the sense of victimization that feeds the region's wars, uprisings, attacks and counter attacks.

On 6 Sep 1970, hijackers from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP) diverted three planes from TWA, Swissair and BOAC, carrying more than 400 hostages, to Jordan's airport. On Sep 17 the same year, King Hussein, seeing Palestinians who had been driven into Jordan with each Arab-Israeli conflict as a threat, drove the PLO out of the country. Palestinian casualty figures are uncertain, but probably numbered thousands.

Avenging the Palestinian deaths, the so-called Black September Movement, a breakaway Palestinian faction, seized eleven Israeli athletes as hostages at the Sep 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. All the athletes and five Black September attackers died during a gun battle with the West German police. Black September was also at the forefront of an underground war of assassination between the Israelis and the Palestinians in Europe and the Middle East. Black September closed down, or was closed down, in Sep 1973 on the anniversary of its creation, but other movements intent on vengeance have taken over.

On 28 Sep 2000, Ariel Sharon, then-leader of the opposition right-wing Likud party, visited the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. His visit, with security forces, angered many Arabs, both Israeli and Palestinian, sparking the Al-Aqsa Intifada. The intifada has cycled through periods of particular violence ever since. Palestinians will mark the 10th anniversary of the intifada on Sep 28.

Israel's interception of ships trying to break the blockade of Gaza at the end of May has increased the likelihood of war in the Middle East, according to Syrian President Bashar Assad in an interview with the BBC on Jun 17. Nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists died when Israeli forces boarded the flotilla. Israel says its troops were acting in self-defense. Subsequent reports say the flotilla was in international waters when its ships were boarded. Ships from several countries, including Iran and Lebanon, have reportedly left or are planning to leave for Hamas-controlled Gaza in defiance of an Israeli maritime blockade on that territory, increasing the odds the Black September anniversary will fall in a fraught period. (Written Jun 2010)

RELATED READING:
'Israeli flotilla raid increased chances of war' (BBC 17 Jun 2010)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10337261.stm

Assorted references to Black September in Encyclopedia Britannica
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/68267/Black-September