Black September

This article, Black September in Jordan , describes the events surrounding September , 1970 in Jordan . September 1970 is known as the Black September in the Arab history and sometimes is referred to as the "era of regrettable events". It was a month when Hashemite King Hussein of Jordan moved to quash an attempt of Palestinian organizations to overturn his monarchy. The armed conflict lasted until July 1971.

The term Black September ( ; aylūl al- aswad ) refers to the Jordanian Civil War that began in September 1970 and ended in July of 1971. The conflict was fought between the two major components of the Jordanian population, the Palestinians , represented by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) under the leadership of Yasser Arafat , and the native Jordanians, represented by the Jordanian Armed Forces under the leadership of King Hussein . At its core the civil war sought to determine if Jordan would be ruled by the Palestine Liberation Organisation or the Hashemite Monarchy. The war resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, the vast majority Palestinian. Armed conflict ended with the expulsion of the PLO leadership and thousands of Palestinian fighters to Lebanon .

After Jordan lost control of the West Bank to Israel in 1967 , Palestinian fighters known as fedayeen moved their bases to Jordan and stepped up their attacks on Israel and Israeli-occupied territories . One Israeli retaliation on a PLO camp based in Karameh , a Jordanian town along the border with the West Bank, developed into a full-scale battle. The perceived joint Jordanian-Palestinian victory against Israel during the 1968 Battle of Karameh led to an upsurge in Arab support for the fedayeen in Jordan, in both new recruits and financial aid. The PLO's strength in Jordan grew, and by the beginning of 1970, groups within the PLO had started to openly call for the overthrow of the Hashemite monarchy . Acting as a state within a state , the fedayeen disregarded local laws and regulations, and even attempted to assassinate King Hussein twice—leading to violent confrontations between them and the Jordanian Army in June 1970. Hussein wanted to oust them from the country, but hesitated to strike because he did not want his enemies to use it against him by equating Palestinian fighters with civilians. PLO actions in Jordan culminated in the Dawson's Field hijackings incident of 6 September, in which the PFLP hijacked three civilian aircraft and forced their landing in Zarqa , taking foreign nationals as hostages, and later blowing up the planes in front of international press. Hussein saw this as the last straw, and ordered the army to take action. On 17 September, the Jordanian Army surrounded cities with significant PLO presence including Amman and Irbid , and began shelling Palestinian refugee camps where the fedayeen were established. The next day, forces from the Syrian Army , with Palestine Liberation Army markings, intervened in support of the fedayeen and advanced towards Irbid which the fedayeen had occupied and declared to be a "liberated" city. On 22 September, the Syrians withdrew from Irbid after the Jordanians launched an air-ground offensive that inflicted heavy losses on the Syrians. Mounting pressure by Arab countries (such as Iraq ) led Hussein to halt the fighting. On 13 October he signed an agreement with Arafat to regulate the fedayeen's presence in Jordan. However, the Jordanian military attacked again in January 1971 and the fedayeen were driven out of the cities, one by one, until 2,000 fedayeen surrendered after being surrounded in a forest near Ajloun on 17 July, marking the end of the conflict. Jordan allowed the fedayeen to leave for Lebanon via Syria , and the fedayeen later participated in the 1975 Lebanese Civil War . The Black September Organization was founded after the conflict to carry out reprisals against Jordanian authorities, and the organization's first noted attack was the assassination of Jordanian Prime Minister Wasfi Tal in 1971 who had commanded parts of the operations that expelled the fedayeen. The organization then shifted to attacking Israeli targets, including the highly publicized Munich massacre of Israeli athletes. Even though Black September did not reflect a Jordanian-Palestinian divide as there were Palestinians and Jordanians on both sides of the conflict, the conflict paved the way for the emergence of a distinct Jordanian national identity.

1970–1971 conflict in Jordan This article is about the military conflict. The main phase of the fighting took place between 16 and 27 September 1970, though certain aspects of the conflict continued until 17 July 1971. During the 1967 Six-Day War , Israel militarily occupied what had been the Jordanian-annexed West Bank . Following this development, the Palestinian fedayeen relocated to Jordan and stepped up their attacks on Israel and the newly Israeli-occupied territories . Tensions began when an Israeli reprisal operation took place in Jordan in 1968, developing into the full-scale Battle of Karameh . Within the Arab world , the perceived joint victory of Jordan and the Palestinians against Israeli troops led to a surge in support for the fedayeen in Jordan. Drawing in both new recruits and financial aid, the PLO's strength in Jordan grew rapidly, and by the beginning of 1970, groups within the PLO had begun calling for the overthrow of Jordan's Hashemite monarchy . Acting as a state within a state, the fedayeen openly disregarded Jordanian laws and regulations. On two occasions, they attempted to assassinate Hussein, leading to violent confrontations with the Jordanian Armed Forces by June 1970. Hussein wanted to oust them from the country by force, but had been hesitant to strike; he feared that his enemies would leverage such an offensive by equating the Palestinian fighters with civilians. Continued PLO activities in Jordan culminated in the Dawson's Field hijackings of 6 September 1970, when the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) seized three civilian passenger flights and forced their landing in the Jordanian city of Zarqa , where they took foreign nationals as hostages and later blew up the planes in front of journalists from around the world. Hussein saw this as the last straw, and ordered the Jordanian Army to take action. On 17 September 1970, the Jordanian Army surrounded all cities with a significant PLO presence, including Amman and Irbid , and began shelling Palestinian refugee camps , where the fedayeen were operating out of. The next day, 10,000 Syrian troops bearing PLA markings began an invasion by advancing towards Irbid, which the fedayeen had occupied and declared to be a "liberated" city. On 22 September, the Syrians withdrew from Irbid after suffering heavy losses to a coordinated aerial–ground offensive by the Jordanians. Mounting pressure from other Arab countries, such as Iraq , led Hussein to halt his offensive. On 13 October, he signed an agreement with Arafat to regulate the fedayeen's presence in Jordan. However, the Jordanian military attacked again in January 1971, and the Palestinians were driven out of the cities, one by one, until 2,000 fedayeen surrendered after they were encircled during the Ajlun offensive on 17 July, formally marking the end of the conflict. Jordan allowed the fedayeen to relocate to Lebanon via Syria. Four years later, the fedayeen became involved in the Lebanese Civil War , which would continue until 1990. The Palestinian Black September Organization was founded after the conflict to carry out attacks against Jordanian authorities in response to the fedayeen's expulsion; their first notable attack was the assassination of Jordanian prime minister Wasfi Tal in 1971, as he had commanded parts of the military operations against the fedayeen. The organization then shifted their focus to attacking Israeli targets and later carried out the Munich massacre , in which they murdered 12 Israeli athletes in a high-profile attack at the 1972 Summer Olympics . Though the events of Black September did not immediately reflect a Jordanian–Palestinian divide, as there were Jordanians and Palestinians on both sides of the conflict, it did pave the way for such a divide to emerge subsequently.

1970–1971 conflict in Jordan This article is about the military conflict. The main phase of the fighting took place between 16 and 27 September 1970, though certain aspects of the conflict continued until 17 July 1971. After the 1967 Six-Day War , Palestinian fedayeen guerrillas relocated to Jordan and stepped up their attacks against Israel and what had become the Israeli-occupied West Bank . They were headquartered at the Jordanian border town of Karameh , which Israel targeted during the Battle of Karameh in 1968, leading to a surge of Arab support for the fedayeen. The PLO's strength grew, and by early 1970, leftist groups within the PLO began calling for the overthrow of Jordan's Hashemite monarchy , leading to violent clashes in June 1970. Hussein hesitated to oust them from the country, but continued PLO activities in Jordan culminated in the Dawson's Field hijackings of 6 September 1970. This involved the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) seizing three civilian passenger flights and forcing their landing in the Jordanian city of Zarqa , where they took foreign nationals as hostages and blew up the planes in front of international press. Hussein saw this as the last straw and ordered the Jordanian Army to take action. On 17 September 1970, the Jordanian Army surrounded cities with a significant PLO presence, including Amman and Irbid , and began targeting fedayeen posts that were operating from Palestinian refugee camps . The next day, 10,000 Syrian troops bearing Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) markings began an invasion by advancing towards Irbid, which the fedayeen had occupied and declared to be a "liberated" city. On 22 September, the Syrians withdrew from Irbid after suffering heavy losses to a coordinated aerial–ground offensive by the Jordanians. Mounting pressure from other Arab countries, such as Iraq , led Hussein to halt his offensive. On 13 October, he signed an agreement with Arafat to regulate the fedayeen's presence in Jordan. However, the Jordanian military attacked again in January 1971, and the fedayeen were driven out of the cities, one by one, until 2,000 surrendered after they were encircled during the Ajlun offensive on 23 July, formally marking the end of the conflict. Jordan allowed the fedayeen to relocate to Lebanon via Syria, where they later became involved in the Lebanese Civil War . The Palestinian Black September Organization was founded after the conflict to carry out attacks against Jordanian authorities in response to the fedayeen's expulsion; their most notable attack was the assassination of Jordanian prime minister Wasfi Tal in 1971, as he had commanded parts of the military operations against the fedayeen. The following year, the organization shifted its focus to attacking Israeli targets and carried out the Munich massacre against Israeli athletes. Though the events of Black September did not reflect a Jordanian–Palestinian divide, as there were Jordanians and Palestinians on both sides of the conflict, it paved the way for such a divide to emerge subsequently.