ABSTRACT
External support in the specific form of sanctuaries from which to operate freely also becomes crucial in cases where counterinsurgency forces deny the insurgents the ability to operate with impunity in the target country, or area, since the sanctuary then constitutes the main guerrilla base of operations. The response to the Palestinian quest for external support from potentially sympathetic states in the Arab world and the Communist bloc was far from uniform. In order to understand the rather convoluted situation involving fedayeen relations with important donor states, two considerations are important: a brief summary of relations in each case and the identification and analysis of underlying explanatory factors, with particular reference to the some categories of external support. The Syrian position on the fedayeen before the June War stood in marked contrast to that of Jordan and Lebanon. Egypt also disagreed with the fedayeen when it came to the strategy of protracted armed struggle.
