THE PALESTINE LIBERATION ARMY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00826A001200010044-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 8, 2004
• Sequence Number: 44
• Publication Date: September 16, 1966
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2004/12/01 :CIA-RDP79T00826A001~00010D44-4
'The Palestine L#.berativn Army
1. the Palestine Liberation Army t~'~11 is a
product of the moat recent Arab +~f forts tea provide
tangible pa3.itioal and m.#.litary exgressxan for
Pal.estinf.ax~ Arab hostility against Israel. the
FL~.~.s the military arm of the Palestine Liberation
4rgan~ation tpL~~ , wh~.ch was establishes in 3.964
by the Leac~u$ ?f Arab States .
F Thus far this Aa~n~ny" essentially e~cists
~y on gaper, zt is b?ing argani~ed primarily as
ti oammandc~ force . there a~ s~or~e un~.ts--~repartec~l.y
tota,l~.ng a~-out 8, t~t?t3 trat~ps--in the arn~i.es of Egypt,.
Syria, anc~ Iraq wh~.ah have been officially a,ttach~d
t4 the E~LA, which is nc~~i.na3.3.y under th$ e4mmand,
e~peratiQnal control of the EgyQtian-dominated
'Qn#.ted Axab t~mmand of the Arab League. ~'heae lines
of command are fuscsy, hc~ever, anal the PLA-desig_
Hated unit8 stir. appear to b? integral parts of
their host a,zmies .
~. ~e PLA dose not presently threaten Israe3.
except as a reservoir for potential, saboteurs anal
terrarist.a. Even in this respect, it has not been
ir~vo3.ved in incidents along the Israeli b?rdez as
have tither unrelated and more a.ggressi4e Pal.est~.nian
gxou~-s, such as the Syria-backed "Fatah?' terrorists.
Indeed:, the status and plans of the PLA here becaanc
stab jests t3f dispute an~vng the Arab states, especially
between Egypt and Jordan.
~ , Jt~rdan 4ppt~ses thc~ PLQ and its g3.ans fur
carganiring separate Palestinian army units ire Jordan,
s.rgui.ng that Paleatin~.ans theta already are serving in
the Jordanian Army. King ~iusayn ~tssent3ally v~.ews the
PLA as a potentf.al subversive threat to Jordaan rather
than. as a n~r~aee to Israel, .even theugh, as an ~~
leader, he su~aports the genera3 Palestinian claim
against Israel.
Approved For Release 2004/12/01 :CIA-RDP79T00826A001200010044-4
 Approved For Releasw.2004/12/01 :CIA-RDP79T00826A001200010044-4
~ . ~vth the PI1~1. anti ~.ts parent rargan.zation,
the PI+O, receive budget support through the Arab
League from contributions by member states, Accard-
iug to the Jordanian press, in September 2964- t11e
Lea+~ue allocated same seven million pounds sterling
{nearly $Zt3 million} to tl~e PLA. Ec3YPt~ Syria, and
Zraq are the PLA's most active individual supporters
but the extent of their aid is unclear. .At varic~ue
times Shuc~ayri haa~ publicly ?riticized delinquent
Arab state. for wiling to contribute. The PLO also
is emdeavcax~ing, with little evi8ent success, to levy
s. "libers:tion tax" on all Palestinians, including
the mare than one million refugees who are scattered;
+~tong the :~rs,b states, Shugayri has stated that the
PLC hopes to transform the refugee camps into mill--
Lary training centers.
~. 4utz~id? 8f the Arab world, the PL{~ has so-
licited support---presumably financial as weld. as
political and material a3.d--from the Soviet Union
end Communist China, and from "nona.ligned" states
i.n Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Only Peking ap-
pe~.rs to have responded in a sub~+tantial dray, how--
ever. ~'he PLO claims that some of its army gerson-
tael have received guerrilla training in China.
earlier this year Shugayri announced that Pales-
tinians would also be trained in Vietnam, where they
m~-uld study the tactics cry the viet Long. Shugayri
c~.early envisages the PLA as a force which shoulel
be level?ped along the lines of the Viet Long.
16 September 1966
Approved For Release 2004/12/01 :CIA-RDP79T00826A001200010044-4