PEACE IN GAZA

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Peace In Gaza: A Lesson From History   


World leaders have no consensus on an endgame in Gaza.    They call for ceasefires, “pauses”, prisoner swaps, “proportionality”, and “humanitarianism” but these are not goals.   They are measures.   Every world leader is trying to manage their own self-interests, as well they should be expected to.    


So I offer an example from recent history of one country’s solution to terrorism in its midst, to the taking of hostages, and a terrorist invasion across its borders.   It is NOT an original plan... it is an ARAB plan:   the plan enacted by Jordan in September 1970.   It is called Black September:   the peace plan offered to a chartered terrorist group:   release all hostages, surrender, and leave.   It caused tens of thousands of civilian casualties, ruinous bombardment of their homes, and thousands of deaths of terrorist combatants.  



Photo:  Palestine refugees resume their daily chores in Jordan the aftermath of the fighting in September 1970.   Source UNRWA ARCHIVE


Jordan was a "colonial creation" of Britain and the UN Partition. (Note to anti-colonialist hipsters feigning disdain for “colonialisms” and unaware of the actual “colonialist” roots of most of the Middle East).  Yasser Arafat's bloodthirsty PLA minions were a de-facto governing body within Jordan in 1970, hell-bent on WIPING OUT the Hashemite "Kingdom" and its leader King Hussein, father of the current king, Abdullah. 


The "Palestinian Liberation Authority" headed by young Yasser Arafat, had multiple strongholds all over Jordan. They tried to assassinate King Hussein several times. They invaded Jordan from their military assets in Syria. The king decided to solve his "Palestinian crisis" with overwhelming force.     Hussein’s forces invaded those cities and towns in force.   The number of deaths is a matter of debate.    He shelled numerous populous Palestinian enclaves, killing as many as 25,000 civilians, though there is no accurate count and others will argue this number.   The CIA believes that 3-4000 PLA-associated fighters died.  the PLA was fighting from behind the cover of civilians as Hamas today. Hussein bombed them without mercy, then invaded.   PLA had taken many hostages, including Americans abducted from a TWA airplane.   After Jordan’s Black September, the hostages were released, and the "Palestinian Liberation Authority" was expelled en masse from Jordan.   The conflict lingered for ten months (not just September of 1970.   


The United Nations saw no problem with the whole affair.  There was no UN simpering about civilian casualties. I searched the 1970 list of UN General Assembly actions and found no mention of Jordan that year.    Today, maybe Iran would like to host exiled Hamas terrorists. Maybe some "humanitarian" Western capital would invite them in, though they all designate Hamas as a terrorist group so that might be tricky.    If history is any guide, “Black September” groups will not be easily expunged by simple exile.   The “Black September” PLO terrorist group was responsible for murdering 11 Israeli Olympians.  They were an offshoot of surviving PLO terrorists routed from Jordan in 1970    


And how have the 3 million Palestinians fared in Jordan since 1970's "Black September"?   They are almost half the population of Jordan.  Yet Jordan is an ACTUAL apartheid state, where 200,000 Palestinian Jordanians have had their citizenship arbitrarily revoked, many without notice, all benefits stripped, underrepresented in government, and generally treated as second-class citizens. Is there a worldwide outcry about Palestinian oppression in Jordan?   No.  


And what of the vanquished PLA in 1970? They moved to Lebanon (mostly), set up shop, and became a nicely functioning terrorist organization again. The PLA morphed into a pseudo-state, terror sponsor, and is now the elected and structurally corrupt government of the West Bank, despite refusing to have elections since 2006. Arafat was said to have a net worth near a billion dollars. Mahmoud Abbas is worth a paltry $100 million. But those Hamas Gucci shoed terrorists do much better.  Khaled Mashal lives in luxury in Qatar, with a net worth of 2.6 billion.   Pretty good for a lifelong civil servant.  


From his luxurious quarters in Qatar, the Hamas leader has said recently that more Gazans must die. There is the illustration of a child who murders his parents and then throws himself at the mercy of the court since he is now an orphan.    Hamas's goal is to be that murderous child.   The US has designated Hamas as a terrorist organization for   


They surely don't care about Gazans. Ishmeal Haniyeh said just recently “We need the blood of Women, children and the elderly of Gaza so it awakens our revolutionary spirit - 10/26/23 as the rationale for blocking their exit from the warzone, assuring maximum casualties.  But one can hope and pray.  



(photo - Palestinian town in Jordan, after Black September)   https://www.palquest.org/en/media/23391/black-september-jordan#&gid=1&pid=1

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