ABSTRACT
The seventh GUPS conference in Algiers was held amidst a difficult period. Topping the agenda of the seventh GUPS conference was the situation of Palestinian students in Lebanese universities, first and foremost among them the American University in Beirut (AUB). The GUPS condemned the expulsion of the Palestinian students and slammed the Lebanese security forces for having forcefully stormed the campus. The shifting of the GUPS political center to Lebanon in the early 1970s required the Palestinian national movement to forge various political alliances in its new host country. Following the relocation of its headquarters, the GUPS began preparing to hold its eighth general conference in Lebanon. The relocation of the union's headquarters and general conference to Beirut helped Fatah to further tighten its grip over the GUPS leadership. The union continued to operate unofficially from PLO offices in Cairo up until the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1979, upon which the PLO cut offrelations with Egypt.
