Palastine Liberation Organization

Here is a paper I had to write for Sociology.  We have been learning about Cults, Religion, and Terrorism.  I found this terrorist group very intersesting. (If it seems like I have been doing a lot of posts on my sociology class, I have because it is a very interesting class and the teacher is really good.)

The Palestine Liberation Organization was created in nineteen sixty-four by the Arab League as a tool of war and terrorism against the Jewish state of Israel. The Arab League was made up of the countries of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen of which the religious majority was that of Islam. The Palestine Liberation Organization has had a history of terrorism towards the nation of Israel because of their religious differences and land disputes. The PLO has self-proclaimed their organization to include all Palestinians making membership to be an estimated four and one half million and is currently under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas.

A few years after the Palestine Liberation Organization was created the Arab League lost power to a man named Mohammed Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa Al-Husseini or Yassir Arafat. (In Arabic Yassir means “easygoing”.) Arafat began as the founder and leader of the terrorist organization Fatah. Fatah, meaning conquest by means of Jihad (Holy War), was led by Arafat and would commit terrorist acts against Israelis specifically targeting civilians. Arafat became the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization in nineteen sixty-eight and his group, Fatah, became the largest faction of the PLO. Other major factions of the PLO include: Force 17, The Tanzim, and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. These groups and all others in the Palastine Liberation Organization are based out of the countries of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the geographical areas in Israel such as the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The Palestine Liberation Organization has committed many large acts of terrorism in the Middle East and elsewhere. In September of nineteen seventy, members of the PLO hijacked three Jordanian planes and blew them up. The king of Jordan, King Hussein, ordered martial law and defeated the military arm of the Palestine Liberation Organization which was being backed by Syria. Yassir Arafat and other high PLO leaders retreated to the safety of Syria after the defeat. In September nineteen seventy-two at the Munich Olympic Games eleven Israeli athletes were murdered by an arm of Fatah known as Black September. The following year, nineteen seventy-three, on March second PLO members murdered the U. S. Ambassador to Sudan, Cleo Noel.

Under Arafat’s leadership in the nineteen seventies, the Palestine Liberation Organization was recognized by the United Nations. In the nineteen nineties with the help of the United States, Israel gave the Palestinians control of Gaza and recognized the PLO. In return Arafat recognized Israel, renounced the PLO’s terrorism, and promised to revoke the covenant of Israeli destruction.

Conflict Theory can be used to analyze the Palestine Liberation Organization and its interaction with the country of Israel. Between the PLO and the Israelis we see the competitive element of Conflict Theory. When the State of Israel was created by the United Nations many previous occupants or many Palestinians were displaced. Because of the fact that both Palestinians and Israelis claim the area now known as the country of Israel, there have been many conflicts between the two groups and many have been affected.

As a result of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s acts of terrorism towards the country of Israel and others many have been affected negatively by the terrorist group’s existence. The whole nation of Israel has been in fear of those acts of terrorism that have taken place and many are in constant fear of attack by members of the PLO. In the end the area of the Middle East which includes Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel has been in constant turmoil because of the existence of Islamic terrorist groups of which the Palestine Liberation Organization is a very large contributor. The fire of hatred towards the nation of Israel has continued to be fueled by the terrorist group known as the Palestine Liberation Organization.