The Palestinian Liberation Organisation
People, Power and Politics

A comprehensive political analysis of the PLO.

This is a comprehensive political analysis of the PLO. A correspondent in Beirut from 1976 to 1981, Helena Cobban has been able to study developments at close quarters and use documentary sources and first-hand recollections which have never been included in previous Western analyses of the movement. The book maintains that one key to understanding the development of the PLO is an examination of the development of its predominant member-group, Al-Fateh. The first part focuses on the history of Fateh, showing how its interests and the PLO's became intertwined. The latter part discusses the interrelations between the Fateh leadership and various factors which affect and are affected by its performance, such as the internal Palestinian opposition, the Arab milieu, and the resistance movement inside the Israeli-occupied areas. The final chapter draws together all the strands to arrive at the precise sources of the Fateh leadership's relative stability, as well as to assess its effectiveness in key areas of its operations.

List of illustrations
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. The PLO in the 1980s
Part I. History of the PLO Mainstream: 2. The phoenix hatches 1948-67
3. The joy of flying 1967-73
4. Caught in the Lebanon net (1973-76)
5. The net tightens (1977-80
6. The broken wing (1981-February 1983)
Part II. Internal Relations: 7. Non-Fateh guerrilla groups
8. The movement inside historic Palestine
Part III. External Relations: 9. Arab relations
10. International relations
Conclusions
11. The irresistible force and the immovable object
Appendixes
Notes
References and select bibliography
Illustrations.