PALESTINE ARAB TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00826A001400010080-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 14, 2002
• Sequence Number: 80
• Publication Date: December 2, 1966
• Content Type: IM

o:. 2205/66"'
60y No
,PALESTINE ' ARAB TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS'
GROUP 1
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This Document contains information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
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SECRET
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No. 2205/66
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Directorate of Intelligence
2 December 1966
INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM
Palestine Arab Terrorist Organizations
1. The tradition of terrorism in Arab-Israeli
relations extends back into the 1920's and '30's.
Before the Arab-Israeli war of 1948-49, terrorism
was the principal weapon. of both Arabs and Jews in
harassing the British authorities in Palestine. In.
the early 1950's, the Arab governments organized
paramilitary commando groups -- fedayeen -- which
undertook raiding and sabotage missions into Israel.
Israel's invasion. of Sinai was in. large measure a
retaliation for this fedayeen. activity, and the
terrorist raiding ceased after the 1956 Sinai campaign
The PLO
2. As official support of terrorist operations
ceased, many Palestinian Arabs became increasingly
frustrated at the relative lack of aggressiveness
toward Israel on the part of Arab governments. There
was persistent agitation among Palestinians through-
out the Arab world for some kind of representative
organization, and this culminated in 1964 in the
formation of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
(PLO). The PLO received the formal sanction of the
League of Arab States at an. Arab summit meeting that
year.
NOTE: This memorandum has been produced solely by
CIA. It was prepared by the Office of Current
Intelligence.
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3. The organization is a kind of Palestinian
government in exile, but it has been careful to
avoid such a designation because of King Husayn's
well-founded suspicion. that it posed a threat to his
authority in west Jordan. The PLO's activities are
mainly political and military; it has tried, for
example, to form a "Palestine Liberation Army"
around a core of Palestinian units which had been
formed over the years in the Egyptian, Syrian, and
Iraqi armies. Nasir exercises considerable influence
over the PLO, though he does not completely control
its leaders. The organization's "Voice of Palestine"
broadcasts emanate from Cairo. The PLO is led by a
dynamic super-orator, Ahmad Shuqayri, a Palestinian
who at various times has been a UN representative
for Syria and Saudi Arabia.
4. The PLO's long-range plans for opposing the
Israelis initially omitted sponsorship of terrorist
operations into Israel. PLO leaders and sponsors
recognized that such operations would provoke Israeli
retaliation, and very possibly lead to a war for
which the Arab governments are still not ready.
This policy was a source of frustration to many
activist Palestinians, and it led to the emergence
of the present generation of terrorist groups.'...The
PLO has failed to persuade these groups to submit
to over-all PLO direction, and, to meet their com-
petition, has within the past few months felt com-
pelled to undertake such activities on its own. The
"Organization of Heroes of the Return" (to Palestine)
is the group which appears to be the new PLO ter-
rorist arm. Some of its members clashed with Israeli
forces near the Lebanese border in mid-October.
5. The most prominent of the terrorist groups
is Fatah- (a,'
a , reverse acronym of the Arabic for
"Palestine Liberation Movement"). Fatah is some-
times also known by the name of its commando arm,
Asifa (Storm). Fatah appears to be descended from
a clandestine Palestinian organization -- now
inactive -- which was formed in the mid-1950's.
Some of its members had connections with the Muslim
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Brotherhood, a conservative, strongly anti-Nasir
politico-religious movement. Fatah also may have
had links with the Arab Higher Committee of Hajj:'.
Amin al-Husayni, the ex-Grand Mufti of Jerusalem,
with whom the Brotherhood collaborated in regard
to Palestine affairs.
6. In its present incarnation, Fatah emerged
publicly in January 1965, when it claimed respon-
sibility for terrorist incidents in Israel. Its
leaders had previously participated in the organi-
zation of the PLO, but had become disenchanted.
They are also disgusted with the continuing in-
ability of most Arab governments to act decisively
toward Israel, and are wary of any official control
which might curtail Fatah's operations.
7. Syria, the most bellicose of the Arab states,
is the one government whose policy comes closest to
Fatah's violently anti-Israeli line. Damascus sup-
ports Fatah by providing it with a base for its oper-
ations, training facilities, and a propaganda outlet.
The infiltrations into Israel, however, have been
undertaken from Jordanian and Lebanese territory,
since those borders are more easily traversed. This
has occurred without the approval of either the
Jordanian or the Lebanese government. Most of Fatah's
financial support comes from wealthy Palestinians
living in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
8. The number of people who participate in
Fatah, as well as in other terrorist organizations,
is unknown and probably fluctuates. Many of the
terrorists are professional thugs or smugglers, and
some were active against Israel in 1955-56. The
Israelis say Fatah has been responsible for 61 sabo-
tage incidents. Israeli Foreign Minister Eban
recently stated, however, that Fatah had been in-
active for about six weeks.
9. A rival Palestinian terrorist organization
called the "Palestine Liberation Front" (PLF) has
been credited by the Israelis with the 12 November
-3-
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road mining incident which triggered the Israeli
raid into Jordan the next day. Jordanian officials
also suspected the PLF of having perpetrated that
incident, and they had begun a search for those
responsible at the time Israel attacked. Little is
known about the PLF. Like Fatah, it apparently aims
at provoking a general Arab-Israeli war, but it is
reputed to be more skilled in its operations. PLF
members are said to regard Fatah as an organization
of publicity seekers.
10. Some "terrorism" in Israel is more or less
spontaneous. For years, Arab smugglers and cross-
border operators have occasionally clashed with
Israeli security forces. Incidents of this sort
have been much reduced as the Israelis' security
measures have been tightened. The organized, pro-
fessional terrorism of the Fatah, the PLF, and of
the PLO's new arm, poses problems for Israeli-author-
ities that have no easy solution.
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