TENSION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-03061A000400020019-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 4, 1998
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: December 13, 1968
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 1999/08/24 :CIA-RDP78-03061A000400020019-7
25X1C10b
Next 2 Page(s) In Document Exempt
Approved For Release 1999/08/24 :CIA-RDP78-03061A000400020019-7
 TIME ~pYR ~1T
13 Dec~l~~"t1~d For Release 1999108/z4G~GIA-RD~'~A000400020019-7
THE GUERRILLA TI-TREAT I~! TI-,E MIDDLE EAST
The revolution of Ftrtah exists!
It exists here, !here and everywhere.
It i.r a storm, a storrrl in every
house mtd village.
~AITHFUI. and unfailing as the mu-
czxin's c;ill from the minaret, that
heady cry goes out nightly from a radio
station in Cairo to the Arab lands. It is
the "Voice of El Fatah," speaking for
the Arab commando organization whose
bands of raiders cross each night into
hated Israel, bent on bringing death, de-
struction and terror. To Arabs huddled
in wind-chilligg refugee tents outside
1[11[X[[ S-[X[t[
.. f ~fC
-
': T r.
yq. i ~- ~
R- ..M h _.4R ~. r~ '
, ~~
,rI
~~ y an ma 'c cat way in-
land, plant a mine, ambush an Israeli pa-
trol or throw a grenade, then scramble
as best they can for home. The odds
a ns clr ma ?Ing i ac ~,
for many arc caught or killed by ef-
ficient Israeli security forces. IIut the re-
wards arc high, as posthumous com-
pensations go. They are martyrs to all
Arlb~. their photographs and talcs of
and Amman. Under thc~rulcs of jihad,
or holy war, proclaimed against Israel
by Moslem Ieadcrs from 34 countries
last October, ehose Arabs who fall in bat-
tle are accorded the reverence of proph-
ets and go straight to'paradisc.
The Elements of Instobility
a rs c cr re aeons wrt t c ra s
most of whom regard America as sim
ply the backer and ally of Israel. I
this situation, Washington can do littl
balance of arms among the antagonists
hlcanwhilc, the Soviet tTnion, more in
flucntial in the Arab wor1J than ever be
cause of its arms shipments, has stake
its own claim to the use of the Mcd
a an or t s expan ulg navy, s iarp-
Iy increasing the danger of a direct
U.S.-Russian confrontation on the high
seas should a new Middle L"?ast war
break out.
For more than hvclve months, Unit-
ed Nations Special Representative Gun-
nar Jarring has patiently sought grounds
,f..,~.~~~~`
The Fatah is one of several similar
t
~
clandestine organizations. While no one f ,~'~
can be Slli'C nF the eY 9rt nn mhrrc in_ t .n_ ~ ,`^.
skilled in the arts of the commando and ~: i'~ ~`~i,;a.~; ~~
."''`? another, who play a large part in keeping
area in the world. Israel, dcspitc its over- .-,,
__. - - - -
peace with its encircling Arab neighbors ~,,,,,,.,.,_~;;,,;~,r
still beyond reach. The Arab countries, _
j their armies and air forces rebuilding ..__.....~-
, y
~
with major Soviet aid and advice, rc-
'"~-4r-
Amman, sipping thick coffee in the draw-
ing rooms of Damascus, or lounging in
the common rooms of t}IC American
University of IIcinlt, the Voice brings
welcome-if often inaccurate-news.
The fight against Israel continues, it as-
serts, dcspitc the Arabs' humiliating dc-
fcat in last year's war. Each ~ night new
Ar:~l~ heroes arc born, fresh revenge is
meted out to Israel, a portion of Arab
pride is restored. Amid the breathless
bulletins and the florid rhetoric of prop-
aganda, there arc the underground's cus-
tomary coda} messages: "M.H.: the bird
is back in Lhe cage"; "Attention Green
Lion: the gift has hcen received."
On Fatah's signal, a band of Arabs
sets out across the Jordan River on
rafts made from tractor tires, carrying
their Russian-made Kalashnikov assault
rifles in waterproof inner tubes. In the
i ~~ w :`G~.r and the largest of them. To the Is ~' ;..~?'?`'~?---
~ ~ .? = i~ raclis, the raiders arc terrorists and thugs, `, '"~'-~s``~`
~?G11.~? -inept and indiscriminate inrtheir mis- pp, ~~~'~`: ;i
' steer Tn the Ar~}.c eh,.., ., a f~.,..A.,.,, ail a'' "^-~ t7 /
eliminating Israel. The more responsible 14 '`
Arab Icadecs, including Egypt's Gamal
_
Abdcl Nasser and Jordan's King Hus- ~~', L,,, ? i~ % ~~ ? _ ~ ~~
sein, know 'that any early attack on Is- "` ----~ ?? _~~'+
??.~. ~f~~l~ vu,y [[suu rn anomer re- ~t. ,, .~ . ,,,.
sounding defeat. But in a measure they .. ~,(~y~
arc prisoners of their Arab masses, long -- ....? fw,,a%yy
fed on the oratory of hate and revenge
and embittered by the 2ti,000 sq. mi, EL FATAH POSTER PROCLAIMS: "THIS IS THE
of Arab territory-taken from Jordan, WAY TO LIBERATION OF MY I1OMELAND.
Syria and Egypt-now occupied by the AND 50, MY BROTHERS, I'LL FIGHT ON."
Israelis. for agreement, and at Icast succccclcd
Despite their common adversity, the in becoming an iritcrmediary whom both
Arabs arc as quarrelsome and mistrustful sides trust and through wh~>m they have
of one another as ever. Iraq, for ex- begun, in a fashion, to talk to each
ample, has sent troops to bolster shat- other. In the biucr history of Arab-Is-
tered Jordan's defenses against Israel, raeli relations, that is no ,Wean accom-
and King Hussein worries about the plishmcnt. Though his mandate was due
Iraqis in his midst almost as much as he to expire this month, both sides want
dots about Israel. The U.S. is tom- him to stay on the job. One of the rca-
mitted to peace in the arcs aAd to Israel's sons is that 1sr:lcl's stunning victory in
right to exist; but also vitally needs to es- the Six-Day War introduced at !cast a
Approved For Release 1999/08/24 :CIA-RDP78-0~061A000400020019-7
 small clement of reality into the :~Iid-
dle East impasse. Before the 1967 war,
t~4~~-ro?~+~1~~sie~~9g9/08/24
mate clear y not negotra a at a con-
ference table between the Israelis and
the Arabs. But the matter of recovering
the occupied territories is' negotiabtc-
thcoreticaily. In the discussions with Jar-
: ..~`?vt ""C'_`"4""'~ ., l.4.~ y-;.,+.t^.'c~:
JERUSALEM MARKETPLACE BOMBED BY EL FATAH
Outlet for defeat and disillusionment.
ring, the Israelis so fair refuse to give
up any of the occupied territories with-
out guarantees of progress toward a
full Middle East scttlcmcnt. The Arabs
in turn so far refuse to talk about a sct-
tlcmcnt until the Israelis return the Arab
lands.
At times last week it seemed that the
area's fourth war in two decades was al-
ready in progress. Israeli and Jordanian
artillery opened up on two successive
days. Far the firti~ time, Israelis also hit
at the 15,000 Iraqi troops stationed in
Jordan, who recently started firing their
long-range, 122-mm. Russian heavy guns
into Israel. Israeli jets dashed across
the cease-fire lints three times to bomb
the area around the Jord^nian town of
Irbid and hammer at the artillery po-
sitions of the 421st Iraqi battalion. Dccp
inside Jordan, Israeli commandos hlew
up two vital hridgcs connecting Am-
man and the port of Aqaba (see Harp}.
In the past, the United Nations has
merely cp ore vro ahons o e race
and urg~eid alla~pa~ryti~.es to get on with ~n,,er,~-
,i c T~.~~c~rc4~Fitie~t~~~4r4~20
concern that the fighting might get out
of hand. Russia publicly urged a polit-
ical scttlcmcnt, declaring far the first
time that it would not "permit" a re-
sumption of war-whatever that meant.
Washington registered its anxiety by call-
ing in the Israeli and Jordanian am-
bassadors. They were warned against
the dangers of continuing to violate the
tattered cease-fire agreement that ended
the Six-Day War.
It is in this tense milieu that the
Arabs' "men of sacrifice" operate, in a
defiant effort to exploit its instabilities
io their own ends. The fcdaycen, who
owe no fealty to any government, are rc-
sponsible only to themselves, and vices
any scttlcmcnt as a betrayal and a di-
saster. They possess the power to sting Is-
rael into repeated reprrsals, and per-
haps to whip Arab popular opinion to
such a pitch that not even Nasser with
all his prestige might dart a scttlcmcnt
with Israel: In Jordan, their primary stag-
ing area, they constitute virtually a statc-
within-a-state and could probably topple
King Hussein and take over his splin-
tercd kingdom if they chose. And their
power and inttuencc arc increasing all
the time.
The Palestinian Diaspora
The primary sources of fcdaycen
strength are the Palestinian rcfugccs,
now 1,500,000 strong, who for 20 years
have been a scattered and forlorn pco-
plc, possessing neither a country nar
any say in the harsh events profoundly
atTccting them. Dispossessed of their
homes, lands and sense of nationhood
when Jsrael was founded in 1948, they
dispersed throughout the >ttiddlc East,
They endured the scorn of their host
populations toward outsiders, although
the most skilled and educated came to
dominate many areas of Arab intel-
lectual and commercial life. Those that
did not assimilate settled in crowded
camps, mostly in Jordan and the Gaza
Strip, where they lived a miserable, sub-
sistcnce life, fed by the United Nations
Relief and Works Agency.
For 20 years they have been pawns
in Arab politics, naurishcd on promises
of a return to Palestine and a pas-
sionate hatred of Israel. Today the camps
house 540,000, including 350,000 new
rcfugccs who fled the occupied territories
after the June War. The camps seethe
with frustration and anger, and provide
a rieh? source of Fecruits for fcdaycen.
Says the mother of one dead com-
mando: "I am proud that he did not
die in this camp. The foreign press
comes here and takes our pictures stand-
ing in food queues, and they publish
them and say `Look at this nation of beg-
gars.' This is no life. I am proud to
19-7CPYRGHT
Approved For Release 1999/08/24 :CIA-RDP78-03061A000400020Q19-7
 ,end my second son to replace the first, "'
App ~~dr~?i~~ele~l~-Fs~99y9~8124 : CIA ~~.=Q.3061,.i~~Q'0,~~1
year-old boy for the day when he can ~t j,, y.. - - ~= 4-- ~ ' ~ e. `.~ vl
With the fanaticism and desperation `~~ ~ s ~ s ~ v ". ~ ~ , t,,;;, scus 1
of
h
h
hi
men w
o
ave not
ng to lose, the r ;.,,J,~,~,
F t7cs,,; i..;~. ' 1lF,7GJlTS
fedayeen.havc taken the destiny of the -, q
Palestinians into their own hands. Peace ' ~,L[I Qu?~;tr,
in the area would hurt their cause by re- _~ , ~ ?, ,.
..._ ...o ..... ....t,t,.,.. v ..,,.w. ri+uv~. (;'-,...?.~ o/lragiyunt
hey have no brotherly concern for ~~
the ambitions of Nasser-and certainly ~ ? -' '? r~~y;,,,,?:, ~f'~ ?~ ~rbl~
of for, as one fcdayecn communique ::..,. ~;:.~a,,:;;- - ~ ~~, \
uts it, the "slave trafpickers in the ~~~ t?+~ =~??~%~= i, f~ ~; ' ~,
.N. lobbies" and their efforts to act _ _ _ '' ( t 'f~? ,.f~a~~ . ,
in the attermath of the Arab defeat, ~ ~ `{n?aa'/~ yr~~e;%~~~C'n,man
the fcdayecn are today the only enes car. . ~,_~:. [. ~ s~ ,[
scntmcnt of Israel and give an awak- r,.,,,t ~ `,U 1
..~~~u ~a
uac vt
o we w a
w
tc ac-
~~'
.
t
N
~
? ~~
customcd to decades of defeat, dish- ' - ,.~' ~ ,; y .o?
ess, the Arabs have come to idolize ~,~ ,5 ;i~g o~ ;i~
Mohammed ("Yasscr") Arafat, a leader Jodr:~.~_v p; N
pf EI Fatah fcdayecn who has emerged EI Arish ;, , ~r .~' ~ = ~~
+:,orv up
ctcrmined Palestinian, he is enthusi- :-` ~ tpp~~ Ltidros
actir~lly nnrtrovn.l h.. rh.. ~.7...i.:.,.. A~..1. ~90mi. to 1. //
atcd-and fcarccl-foe. SINAI ,
It was the Israeli victory last year PENINSULA
that, as one fcdayecn commander puts
it, "handed us the Arab pcople~on a gold- ,,.-~\;
w sign up as ccrrons[s. uoctors aban- """'+'"~_
oncd their practices in Beirut` and Cairo ~ ~ , lioJ
o come to Jordan to attend wounded
cdayccn. Arab businessmen ofTcred sup- c~z5"??"'?? r'
s~i~~r
tics and purchased weapons, and the ~ t ~ i A, T` t~'Sc .~~t ~!
audi and Kuwait governments began ~ ' F~ ^ i ~r.,, r;. ~,tid Sc.
ivcrting to fcdayecn coffers funds usu- TIME Mapb~2.7AChuBin,1.. ;. ~ ~. -
lly contributed to Jordan's budget. In-
ividual contributions by the thousands
poured in from Arabs throughout the
Middle East and those abroad; the wife
f Saudi Arabia's King Fcisal sent
X4,500. In the coflec bars of Beirut,
Dung Arabs peddle EI Fatah stamps,
o he used like Christmas seals, bearing
picture of :t burned child and the
orcts "Shalom and Napalm"-a rcf-
rence to the use of napalm by Israelis
n last August's reprisal raid on the Jor-
anian town of Salt. Other stamps show
guerrilla fighter, a momiment to mar-
yrs or Jcnrsalcm, with the slogan: "Pal-
. stinian Resistance." The money raised,
f course, goes to buy bullets.
Contributing to the fcdayecn mystique
s their shadowy organization, which
omehow manages to appear to be ev-
rywhere in the Arab countries. At the
the fcdayecn." Customs formalities arc
cut short, and the supplies arc whisked
away. The goods may be headed for
any one of more than 50 bases main-
tained by the fcdayecn in the Jorda-
nian mountains cast of Wadi Araba,
the desert valley that stretches from
the Dcad Sca to the Gulf of Aqaba.
No one knows how many Arab com-
mandos roam about in that desolate
stretch, from which raiders set out night-
ly, but estimates range upward from
10,000. Besides their base camps, tl~cre
are other installations as well, The fcda-
yecn maintain at least a dozen under-
ground field hospitals and supply de-
pots, as well as training camps for n.slr-
bals, or tiger cubs-refugee children
who arc taught the art of guerrilla war
beginning at age eight. `
-7
irport of Amman, dark-suited youths Ambassador Extraordinary
idle up to customs ofTicers as crates
irked "Palestine Nation, Amman" or The fcdayecn are most secretive of
Freedom Fighters against Israei, Am- 'ail about their high command, though-
an'?' arc unloaded, and whisper, "For? the largest organization, Arafat's EI Fa-
tah, is said to be rule
Approved .For Release 1999/08/24 :CIA-RDP78-03061A000400020019-7
 CPYRGHT
Approved For Release 1999/08/24 :CIA-RDP78-0306'~A0004bb0~
JORDANIAN BRIDGE DESTROYED BY ISRAELIS
Response in fradifiona! fashion.
of wealthy civilians in Damascus. Nor
dots anyone really know very much
? about Yasscr Arafat, though everyone
in the Arab world knows who he is. As
E(Fatah grew and felt the need (or a visi-
ble spokesman, he became its ambas-
sador extraordinary to the Arab world,
its chief fund raiser and its field com-
mander in Jordan. Arafat (his code name
is Abu Amm:tr) sits at a wooden desk
in his headquarters in Amman, dealing
with a procession of couric~s like a gen-
eral on a field of battle, which in a
sense he is. When a guerrilla comes in
to report a successful raid, Arafat's eyes,
bulging almost to the panes of the dark
glasses he wears day and night, dance
with delight. He speaks softly and turns
aside all questions about himself:
"Please, no personality cult. I am only
a soldier. Our leader is Palcstinc. Our.
road is the road of death and sacrifice
to win back our homeland. If we can-
not do it, our children will, and if they
cannot do it, their children will."
Arifat's career in a way mirrors the
history and thrust of the fcdayccn. E?orn
in Icrusalem, he spent his tarty child-
hood in a house within a stone's throw
of the Wailing Wall, The area today is
marked by the Israelis for bulldozing.
Of that prospect, Arafat says bitterly:
"We will sec that our homes arc re-
built." Descended from Palestinian no-
bility, Arafat learned early what dis-
possession meant. According to one story
widely told in the l~fiddle East, his fam-
ily has been disinherited of enormous
wealth for 150 years through a legal tan-
gle that deprived it of land ones owned
in downtown Cairo. Arafat's father spent
a lifetime trying to reclaim the land in
the Egyptian courts but was overruled
first by King Farouk and then Nasser.
There are those who suspect that that
may be one factor in Arafat's occa-
sional lack of enthusiasm for Egypt's
ruler.
A teen-age gunrunner in the 1948
war with Israel, Arafat afterward en-
rolled at Fuad I (now Cairo} University,
whcrc he majored in civil enginecring-
and in Palestinian nationalism as presi-
dent of the Palcstinc Student Federation.
After graduating, he worked in Kuwait,
editing an ultranationalist magazine on
the side. In 1955, he appeared in Cairo
attending officers' school, whcrc he spe-
cialized in explosives. He graduated as
a lieutenant just in time to share in an-
other Arab defeat, at Sucz a year later.
That debacle only confirmed Arafat's
conviction that the Arabs could never dc-
fcat the Israelis with conventional ar-
mies. Throughout .the 1950x, he had
organized "cells" among Palestinian stu-
dents abroad and studied the techniques
of Algerian guerrillas. At that time, Nas-
ser had ? organized forerunners of to-
day's fcdayccn among Palestinians in
the Gaza Strip, and used them to stir
up the bottler, a role they took on with
sutlicicnt enthusiasm to help bring about
istte!'s decision to launch the 19SG w?ar.
After Sucz, EI F:ttah" was founded. as
a strictly Palestinian force outside Nas-
ser's reach.
~ The name is an acronym derived frvm the
Arabic words Ilarukat al Tahrir al-Fnlrrstin,
or Movement for the Liberation of 1'alc,tinc.
Its initials, Il.T.F., form the Arabic word fot
death. They arc ingeniously reversible 10
F.T.fI., pronounced "faht," meaning conquest
-;:_ace EI Fatah ot, as it is Icss commonly
spelled, El Fatah.
0019-7
Approved For Release 1999/08/24 :CIA-RDP78-03061A0004000~0019-7
 Ap
Not until 19b4 was El ]=atai~ rt:,
pp'~1/itE~idt'iF.SOraR,ed.BsatS~?n~~A9~Q~31~24:CIA-RDP7Ep~91A000400020048-7.
'
pcrimental era," recalls Arafat, when
El Fatah staged only one raid a wcck,
. testing out attack techniques, taking
notes on Israeli defenses and rcactinn
__
times, and filing away the information
to be used in future battle plans. "We
were also experimenting with public
opinion all through this period," Ara-
fat's top aide told TtMt: Correspondent
Edward Hughes last wcck. According
to the' dictum of Mao Tse-tung, guer-
rilla fighters must be able to live among
a friendly population tike fish in water.
But El Fatah at that time "had no au-
dicncc. Without the people to listen to
us, we had no sea to swim in-the fish
had no oxygen."
7ho Expansion of the Wor
After last year's war, EI Fatah found
itself not only swimming in popular sup-
port but also possessed of a sudden be-
quest of weapons left by the retreating
Arab armies. The battlefields were lit-
fcrcd with arms, and for two weeks, El
Fatah teams took camels into the Sinai
desert to collect machine guns, rifles, gre-
nades and b;,zookas before the Israeli
salvage squads. Four heavy trucks were
found in Golan, along with two tons of
ammunition and weapons. A Bedouin of-
fercd to sell 150 Kalashnikov rifles for
$140. EI Fatah gave him twice as much.
Another Bedouin found a Syrian hel-
icopter and built a tent to hide it for
the EI Fatah men. But when they arrived,
tlicy h:,d no helicopter pilot along, so the
craft was clestroycd. A cache of eight
tons of T'NT, too heavy to carry away,
was buried in the Sinai: "We don't have
to carry explosives into that area. It's
there waiting for us," Araf:-t says.
By August 1967, El Fatah was ready
to try to launch an underground revolt
among the Arabs on the now occupied
West Bank. Hundreds of guerrillas
trekked across the Jordan River, only
to be rounded 'up by Israeli. forces. To
head off any future attempts, the Is-
raelis blew up the homes of any Pal-
estinians who cooperated with Arafat's
men. El Fatah's next phase was a cam-
paign that sent smaller groups to hide
in caves or live with sympathetic Ar-
ahs, and venture out at night to set
mines or time bombs. Israel hit back at
their riverside guerrilla camps, forcing
El Fatah to move its bases farther in- '
land. Despite these setbacks, the feda-
yccn have bccn able to step up their
operations to as many as two dozen a
day. Though EI Fatah hotly rejects be-
ing called terroristic, it has also turned
increasingly to attacking lsracl's civilian
population. The methods are brutal and
indiscrinunate, random terrorism fot ter-
rorism's sake without any military value
x ?
~,.
.~ .t
FEDAYEEN GIRL PRACTICES RIFLERY
Breaking the chains.
-a bomb in a crowded cinema, a grc-
nadc thrown in a schoolyard, a mint
planted for anyone who comes along.
Last wcck a 17-year-old Los Angcics
girl, Sari Roberta, who had gone to Is-
rael to serve as a volunteer worker,
lost her right leg when she stepped on
a mint.
By laying down a strict policy of stay-
ing out of Arab politics on the ground
that, as Arafat says, "one enemy at a
titnc is enough," EI Fatali has so far
bccn able to operate independently in
the host Arab countries-cl~ic(ly Jordan.
Disputes with rival fedayecn organiza-
tions arc another matter, and on one oc-
casion two groups of raiders almost
shot it out, each thinking the other was
Israeli. Last month, the fcdayeen set up
a council to coordinate raids between
El Fatah and its two chief rivals, the Pal-
estine Liberation Force and the Pop-
ular Front for the Liberation of Pal-
estine, or P.F.L.P. (incvitahly pronounced
"flop" by Westerners on the scent), a mil-
itantly leftist mcrgci? of several splinter
organizations on the scene.
Training for Torror
From the refugee camps, and from
universities that arc often staffed with
zealous Palestinian professors, come a
steady stream of several hundred re-
cruits amonth-morc,.in fact, than El
Fatah can handle. It accepts Palestinians
for the most part, and only those who
pass rigorous medical tests and an ex-
amination by a team of psychiatrists. A
recruit must also pass a final, brutal
test of fortitude. He is handed a large
Approved For Release 1999/08/24 :CIA-RDP78-03061A000400020019-7
 box containing; the hotly of a newly '
l~#lp~rao~r~cUIR~~~~I~at~~1~F9^,~9/08/24 :CIA-RDP78-030,6004000200
the land seeps out, he rs told, "(ns+uc
it and carry it around the h}ack and ~ ^- + ~?
Oring it back here." The recruit is not in- ~' _ ~l ... ? "= _ ?-~ ?
''^" '1 `"`' ? ?
clined to ask questions. If he vomits or
faints on the spot, he is gently steered
to an easier job as a courier, or told to
ga home and simply spy on his neigh-
bors. If he passes, he is sent to one of doz-
cns of different training camps in 7or=
dan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.
Outside Amman, children, aged eight
to twelve, from the 13nr1'aa refugee camp,
arc trained in commando techniques.
They arc given rigorous calisthenics and
obstacle-course training, taught to han-
dle rifles and machine guns, and in-
structcd whcrc the larynx, heart, liver
-and intestines are located, the better to
thrust a dagger in the right place. Daugh-
tcrs of dead fcdayccn arc scot to schools
.run by the "Martyr Family Welfare Ser-
'vice," whcrc they arc taught to chant:
"i have broken my chains. I am the
daugtltef of ratans we arc au ~~~~~-_ ,;?,.. ?- :. ,, ..
mandos;' Refugee women arc" trained ;~.~...... y---- -
in first aid and in handling weapons. ASHBAt (7iGER CUB) Ai A7iENTION
In EI Fatah's headquarters buildings Learning the art at eight.
in Amman, a hectic bustle reflects the
K
h
'
growth of the movement. Switchboard
operators bellow into makeshift World
War I[ British field telephones, trying.
to make contact with branch ofliccs in'
Salt or Irbid. Most communicatian is
still by handwritten letter, carried by
ct>uricrs on bicycles, in Jeeps or on
fact. When a dusty Arab arrives with a~
tightly wadded piece of paper, Arafat
scribbles an answer in the margin, then
send>s the courier ofI again. Agents ar-
riving in little black Volkswagens dash
up for conferences. A white" :+mbulance
-pulls up bearing the insignia of the
Rcd Crescent, the >Vioslcm cyuivalent
of the Rcd Cross. When a cargo of
grcan filing cabinets was llnlaadcil last
week, a ? guerrilla with a .45 stuck in
his belt smiled: "Our acco+jntin(; dc-
partrnertt h:+s arrived."
7"tresc days L'1 Fatah hardly has time
to fight as it copes with the avalanche
of aid. Stacks of bandag.:s, food and am-
munition arc pilccl everywhere. Somc-
'times the arriving shipments include
beer. It is not drunk; the fcdayccn sell
it and use the money to purchase arms.
Some of the fcdayccn weapons arcacc ?.cttlemcnt
vas cotirely invisible to Israelis and for-I Thus for -alt the Israelis' contempt might bccomc impossible ;~r,J a new
it;n dignitaries watching rho parade. fifer the raiders, there is evidence that war likely. To avoid such a showdown,
Vhcn a $1,000,000 fire damaged Tcl''thcy arc worried. Recent) Israel closed Washington may be forced to ;cconsidcr
viv's I. `dda Air ors in October, EI Y,
y P the Allenby Bridge over the Jordan Riv- ~ its o(licial policy of leaving the Israelis
~atah promptly took credit for setting cr to truck tratffc, reversing its own pol-;and Arabs to settle their own atfnirs
t. Tho Israelis Insist that the blaze was icy of keeping conncciions between for-?and join with the Russians in an at-
taricd accidentally by a welder's torch. dan and the Wcst Bank open. Now -tempt to impose a peace scttlentent.
Approved For Release 1999/08/24 :CIA-RDP78-03061A000400020019-7
 "I'hc Administration already feels th:,t Is- ton on :t tour of ihc ~Iidclle East to
?l's die?u si s of ar?ous 1?cne tar sra? sot?nd osit? ~t ~ ~ t s~c , ~ ~
"
`
~~-ri~~~~~ei~~~o8i~,~~k ~~-I~~~~=~>3~~~
~~lf~4go
Ara'~~~a~~~.~
bring on irresistiblc popular dcntand+
sor war, Israel has rcacred angrily to
U.S. pressures to return most of the oc-
?atpicd territories. Any adeiition:tl ;tt-
tempt to impose a settlen~tcnt svoul
post several risks for President-elect
Nixon--who last week sent zorrrter
Pennsylvania Govcrnor_William _Scran-
blunder, rcinforcin~ Arch claims tlrtt Is-
rac;l is bent on exlsansian and liilciy to
ish community anal ether pro-Israeli,
sympathircrs. Yet, asks 11'ashington,
what is the alternatiyc to taking a Strang,
diplomatic hand? 1t could be for the
United States to find itself trapped in
the ring with the equally reluctant Ftrs-
sians, should the Arabs and Israelis
square off far another round of fu11-
scale war.
020019-7
1.3 January 169
CPY
~ddBe East: ?~'ha~ I~ ~h~ ~~~~~- Th~~t I~
~n etnhassics and foreign tninistrics
arauud the world last week, diplomats
s yoke soberly of the danger of war in the
Middle Last. In so doing, they were
closing their eyes to an overriding fack:
tltcrc uh?cady is a tvar in the :~Iidd]c
I?ast. And it is a war in which, for the
first tirnc in their twenty-year struggle
with ]sracl, flee Arabs arc scoring some
notable successes.
Al tin: moment, of course, ihc violence
in the diddle L:isl is small bc?cr com-
pared with that ragint; in ~'ictn:nn :uul
;`igeria, lint it is serious enough. Last
week alone, sis israclis were killed by
~a?:ch rockets, shells and mines (map,
page 3J)-and jest how many Aralts dice
at Israeli hands may ucvcr be known.
h'rom Israeli helicopters hovering near
tlrc Jordani:ut city' of Aloha,
front Arah bazookas rcroccl in
e n F: ing Solonxn is :~Iincs, front
artillery chrg in uu both sides
of rho Jord;ut Itivct?, and from
Flnssiutr rocket launchers high
np in the craggy Leboncsc
nunmt:tius, dc?atlt arul dcstS?uc-
t:'on pourcil forth. "11'c stay
borne at nit;hl more than we
used to," one nervous Jrru-
s.tlem housewife :ulmittr^ci.
"11'e listen to the radio eyerY
hour to find out where they
]lave struck this- time-:uul
yrherc we have hit back at
t I u?nt."
isracl's most dramatic ri-
postc against the Aralts, of
c?om:ac, occ?urrcd two weeks
-ago at Iirinrt Tutct?national Airport. That
raid, am of the moll d:u?ing and precise
iu the hislor}~ of :tit ;u?m}? that specializes
i:t d:u?ing :nut precision- came off mili-
t,u?ily like ;ut cacehlicmally clean piece of
surgery. Shortly aftcn? .) p.nt., four hcli-
copters with the Star c>f David am their
sides knifed in fratn the ~Icditcrr:uu?:rte
:ate touched down at Iirirut airport.
1.1'itltin minutes, Israeli anmuandos
ra-tncd ~yith Uii submachine guns ;uul
satnc~h of dynamite were nta ices of
the field. 11y the tune the Israelis headed Pr?cssed the dismay of tl~r. LT,S. "\Ve
for home ~k5 minutes later, half of L~ba_ thatk it is a grays matter,' he said, "for
non's commercial air fleet lay in ruins- regular forces of the goyerntucnt of Is-
yet not a single At?ab or Israeli had lost racl to attack a civil international airport
his life. in a conniry which has been striving to-
"
The 13cirut strike, as the Israelis end-
lessly emphasized, was in retaliation for
ward nuxlcratiou in the \Iiddlr I;axt.
the machine-gunning of an ~l Al jetliner. sttonsr in the t?Wiled Nations, A1'ith the.
ut Athens airport by Arah terrorists-:ut strongly worded approval of U,S. dclr-
attac?k in which one Israeli civilian was gate J. Russell \1'iggins, the ~t?;\. Scru_
killed and another injured. The decision city Council un;minxntsly c?eaulenuu'd the
to launch the retaliatory athrck was made raid on lieirnt airport, said that it ryas
at a night session of the Israeli Cabinet, up to lsract to c?ompcnsatc Lebanon fcn?
There was sonic opposition to the idea its fiuanei:tl losses (whicL amounted to
from a i:c;tv'ntiuisters, including, accordirt~; more than w?f0 million) :tad svarncd that
to Must accounts, Foreign \finistcr Abby the Council might consider imposing
Eban, the percunial dove in the Israeli sanctions against Jrrus:drnt if? the Israelis
li
i
l
po
t
ca
aviary. In ihc end, however, a
maja?ity of the Cabinet approved the
raid-with the stipulations that only Lcba-
nose aircraft were to be attacked :end
that every cllort be Waldo to avoid cas-
ualties on both sides. The Cabinet re-
portedly did not specify the number of
planes the raiders were to destroy and,
in point of fact, the commandos appar.
eutly had no idea how many
aircraft they would find when
they ;u?riyrd al licirut? ',millions of Jews were beta}; murdered."
As things turned ant, the}, ; r1s fur the Sccnrity (;ouncil resolution, it
fomul and destro}?cd thirteen `ntcrely added to ihc contempt with
more than world opinion. con-
diiioncd to the Iiihlical princi-
ple of an eye for an cyc,
could :u?c?cpt. "Sc;uul:dous in-
tcrnational banditry," trunt-
pclcd Moscow. "An esa,~,c;er-
atcd act of violence," itrtune?d
breach President C;hark?s dc?
Gaulle. prom Rome, Pupc
Paul E'I sent a nmssugr to
Leh:utesc Presidc?nt (:h:n?]es
Iielwt deploring tiro ait:tc?k.
:1nc1 in 11?asltinglon, Presiden-
tial aide \\''a1l Rostou? ex-
struck ag;tin.
Prcdic?tabl}?, the Israelis n?rrr furious at
the world rrac?tinn. }k?ligions Alf:tirs \fin-
istrr 7.cralt \V:trhaftig, speal.in}; at a nu?-
morial scrvic?c? fur victims of Nazism,
lasla?d out angrily :rt the I'o~m for fnilini;
to balance his criticism u( Israel with
criticism of :1ral> terrorism. "`1'hc Pope's
"
voice,
said 11';u?haftig, "svgs silent when
Jews were att:tckcd-just as his prcdre?es-
which nutst Israelis now reg.u?cl the iLl\'.
(bus ). I;yrri Israelis who wc?rc privately
willing to conccdr_: tint tltc? lic?irnt raid
might have. been a case. of "ovrrkill'?
thought that the tvarl