ABSTRACT
In reprisal for a PLO attempt to topple King Hussein, Jordanian forces killed thousands of Palestinian refugees. The events of what came to be known as Black September prompted the organization to move its centre of operations to Israel’s northern neighbour, to Lebanon. The long-standing weakness of the central government and the plethora of militias made it easy for the PLO to establish itself there, and the large number of refugees provided a reservoir of recruits for the organization. From 1970 onwards it quickly set up bases in southern Lebanon, took control of many refugee camps and even certain parts of the capital, Beirut. Within a short time the PLO had become ‘a state within a state’.
