ABSTRACT
Few would doubt that the creation of the PLO marked a watershed in the crystallization of a Palestinian national Diaspora movement. It was also the beginning of a significant attempt to create a state-like military, in the form of the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA). This chapter will move from Gaza to Jordan, Iraq and Syria and back to Gaza again. It will analyze the personalities behind the efforts, identify the spoilers and their motives, and will dwell on the impact of the 1967 defeat of Arab states, and the subsequent rise of guerrilla factions. The effect of the guerrilla factions on the project of developing the PLA will also be considered. The credible military performance of the Palestinian military formations will be contrasted with the guerrilla operations that stole the limelight. This chapter is based extensively on Yezid Sayigh’s path-breaking work Armed Struggle and the Search for State: the Palestinian Movement, 1949-1993.
