terrorism lec 8

What was the Balfour Declaration?

• British statement promising Jews a homeland in Palestine

• Named after Foreign Secretary Sir Arthur James Balfour

• Also promised Arabs independence — contradicting the promise to Jews

• Planted the seeds for endless future wars

What were Britain's contradictory WWI promises?

• Promised Jews a homeland in Palestine (Balfour Declaration)

• Promised Arabs their independence

• Both promises made to gain wartime support

• Led to generations of conflict and terrorism in the Middle East

Why did Britain side with both Jews and Arabs in WWI?

• Turkey was allied with Germany, so Britain turned Arabs against Turks

• Needed Jewish support too, hence the Balfour Declaration

• Real goal: control the region and protect the Suez Canal shipping route

What was the Biltmore Declaration (1942)?

• Declared by Zionist leaders in New York City

• Demanded Palestine become a Jewish Commonwealth

• Went beyond the Balfour Declaration

• Signaled Britain was now an enemy, not an ally

What was the Stern Gang?

• Extreme far-right Zionist group founded by Avraham Stern in 1940

• Split off from Irgun

• Targeted the British, NOT Arabs

• Assassinated British Minister Lord Moyne (1948) and UN mediator Count Folke Bernadotte

What was Haganah?

• Jewish defense force founded in the 1920s

• Originally farmers with no central command

• Protected British interests by suppressing Arab revolts

• Britain restricted Jewish immigration in 1930, leading to the NMO breakaway in 1931

What was Irgun?

• Zionist militant group targeting Arabs and the British

• Led by Menachem Begin in the 1940s (later Israeli PM in 1977)

• Massacred 250 Arab civilians in 1948

• Disbanded by PM Ben-Gurion and absorbed into Haganah

How did Israel's territory change after 1967?

• Grew from 5,900 sq. miles (1947) to 20,870 sq. miles after the Six-Day War

• Continued building settlements on Palestinian land

• UN condemned settlements but U.S. typically vetoed those resolutions

What were the Oslo Peace Accords?

• Peace negotiations between Israel and Palestinians in the 1990s

• Palestinians felt no real self-determination — terms were too one-sided

• Led Palestinians to see terrorism as their only tool to be heard

What is Mossad?

• Israel's intelligence agency

• Originally under the foreign ministry, later moved to the PM's office

• Handles overseas intelligence and covert operations

What is the PLO?

• Palestinian Liberation Organization, formed in 1964

• Original goal: destroy Israel and re-establish an Arab state in Palestine

• Fedayeen = militant members willing to die for the cause

• Recognized by Arab nations and the UN in 1974 as legitimate Palestinian representatives

Who was Yasser Arafat?

• Took control of the PLO in 1964

• Transformed it into a representative body for Palestinians

• In 1988, declared Israel's right to exist and renounced terrorism

• Criticized for governing in a dictatorial style

• Died in Paris in 2004

What was Black September?

• Military wing of Al-Fatah

• Formed after Arafat was expelled from Jordan by King Hussein

• Massacred 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics

What happened after the Munich Massacre?

• Israeli PM Golda Meir ordered Mossad to hunt down those responsible

• Operation took 7 years

• Mossad mistakenly killed an innocent Moroccan bartender in Lillehammer, Norway

• Ali Hassan Salameh (the target) was eventually killed

Who was Mahmoud Abbas?

• Took over PLO after Arafat's death in 2004

• Supported U.S.-led roadmap to peace in 2005

• Appealed to Palestinians to end armed attacks (end the Intifada)

• PLO and Hamas still feud due to opposing doctrines

What is Al-Fatah?

• Main fighting arm of the PLO, existed 6 years before the PLO

• Took control of the PLO under Arafat

• Could not defeat Israel or prevent its own expulsion from Jordan

• Based in Tunisia; received funding from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Arab states

• Black September was its military branch

What is the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)?

• Founded by Sabri al-Banna (alias: Abu Nidal)

• Considered one of the world's most dangerous terrorist groups

• Based in Iraq under Saddam Hussein's protection

• Attacked in 20+ countries including targeting aviation

• Abu Nidal had no real commitment to Palestine — essentially a mercenary

What is the PFLP?

• Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

• Founded by George Habash and Wadi Haddad (both doctors, extreme Marxists)

• Hated Arafat for cooperating with the U.S.

• Philosophy: Israel won through terror, so Arabs should reclaim Palestine the same way

What is Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades?

• Linked to Fatah

• Sought a sovereign Palestine using Islam, but NOT an Islamic state

• Used suicide bombings against Israelis inside Israel and in occupied territories

• Funded by the PLO

When was Hamas founded and what does its Charter say?

• Founded December 1987

• 1988 Charter: all of Palestine (Jordan River to Mediterranean) is God-given — cannot be negotiated

• Israel has no right to exist there

• Seeks to establish a Muslim government

• Fights with religious zeal

Who was Sheikh Ahmed Yassin?

• Major Hamas leader (wheelchair-bound)

• Called for suicide terrorism

• Sent out Hamas's first female suicide bomber

• Hostile to PLO and all peace accords

• Started in the Muslim Brotherhood

• Founded Islamic Organization (1979) → transformed into Hamas (1987)

• Killed by an Israeli helicopter gunship

What is Hamas's military wing?

• Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades

• Carries out suicide missions targeting Israeli civilian centers

What happened when Hamas won the 2004 election?

• The West stopped funding the Palestinian National Authority (PNA)

• Hamas was still designated a terrorist organization at the time

What was the Corporal Shalit deal?

• Hamas captured Israeli soldier Corporal Shalit in June 2006

• Released in 2011 in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners

What is the PLF (Palestinian Liberation Front)?

• Based in Iraq, formed in 1960 as a split from PFLP-General Command

• Led by Abu Abbas, who led the 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking

• Abu Abbas captured by U.S. forces in Iraq in 2003; died of natural causes

• Received support from Libya and Syria

What is the PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC)?

• Wanted armed confrontation with Israel

• Led by Ahmed Jibril, who took direction from Syria

• Bombed a Swiss Air flight in 1970 — killed 40+ passengers

• First use of suicide bombers against Israel in 1974 — killed 18 near Kiryat Shmona

• Jibril evicted from PLO in 1984

What is the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)?

• Split from PFLP in 1969

• Marxist ideology

• Funded by Gaddafi and Assad

• Most attacks carried out within Israel and occupied territories

What is Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ)?

• Founded in the 1970s by Fathi Shaqaqi and Abd al-Aziz Awd

• Former Muslim Brotherhood members who became disillusioned

• Goal: destroy Israel and re-establish Palestine

• Attacks both Arabs and Jews

• Carried out a suicide bombing at Stage Club, Tel Aviv — February 2005

What is Kach and Kahane Chai?

• U.S.-based organization

• Declared a terrorist group by Israel in 1984

• Goal: restore biblical Israel and remove all Arabs

• Supported Dr. Baruch Goldstein's 1994 Ibrahimi Mosque attack

• Banned from Israeli politics

Why was the PLO expelled from Jordan?

• PLO carried out serious airliner hijackings while operating from Jordan

• King Hussein forcibly expelled them

• Arafat then formed Black September in response

What were the 1970 PFLP hijackings?

• September 6, 1970: hijacked a TWA Boeing 707 and a Swissair DC-8 — both forced to Dawson Field, Jordan

• El Al hijack attempt failed — Israeli sky marshal killed one hijacker, Leila Khaled arrested

• A Pan Am 747 was also hijacked and blown up on the ground in Cairo

• British hostages released in exchange for Leila Khaled

Who was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi?

• Jordanian of Palestinian parentage

• Founded al-Qaeda in Iraq (which became ISIS)

• Linked to the 2002 assassination of a U.S. official

• Set suicide bombers on 3 U.S.-owned hotels in Amman, Jordan (2005) — 57 killed

What is Lebanon's role in Palestinian terrorism?

• Many PLO members relocated to Lebanon after expulsion from Jordan

• Arab Muslims in Lebanon supported the PLO; Lebanese Christians did not

• Arab Muslim population largely lived in refugee camps near Beirut International Airport

What were the Sabra and Shatila Massacres (1982)?

• Christian militia led by Elie Hobeika massacred Palestinian civilians in refugee camps near Beirut

• The militia was armed by the Israeli military under Ariel Sharon

• Israeli investigation (1983): Sharon bore indirect responsibility

What is AMAL?

• Lebanese Shia movement founded by Imam Mousa el-Sadr in the 1960s

• Initially focused on helping the poor

• After el-Sadr disappeared, became Islamic AMAL

• Eventually merged into Hezbollah

What is Hezbollah?

• Lebanese militant group, essentially created by Iran

• Goal: establish an Islamic state in Lebanon and export Iran's Islamic Revolution

• Targets Israeli Jews and non-Muslims in Europe, U.S., and Latin America

• Al Manar TV network promotes martyrdom

• Other names: Islamic Jihad, Ansarollah, Organization of the Oppressed, Party of God

What major attacks is Hezbollah responsible for?

• Bombed U.S. Marine barracks in West Beirut

• Kidnapped British nationals including Brian Keenan (1986)

• Implicated in assassination of Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri

• In 2006, captured two Israeli soldiers, triggering a major military retaliation

What happened in the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel conflict?

• Hezbollah entered Israel and captured two soldiers

• Israel retaliated militarily but underestimated Hezbollah

• Hezbollah gained widespread Arab sympathy

• Lesson: countering Hezbollah requires replacing its social services to the population

What is Syria's relationship to terrorism?

• Supports the Palestinian cause

• Suppresses terrorism on its own soil but sponsors/shelters terrorist groups abroad

• Considered a threat to Israel due to strong ties with Iran

• PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan expelled from Syria in 1998 after Turkey threatened military action

Who was Imad Mughniyah ("The Wolf")?

• Senior Hezbollah leader

• Closely linked to Iranian intelligence

• Killed in Damascus on February 12, 2008, while leaving a Syrian intelligence office

• Widely believed to be a Mossad operation

What happened in Syria after 2011?

• Government tortured 8,000+ protesters in crackdowns

• Three groups sought to topple Assad: al-Qaeda-backed Free Syrian Army, Federation of North Syria/PKK, and Islamic State

• Russia militarily intervened in 2015 supporting Assad

What is Jabhat al-Nusra?

• Al-Qaeda-linked group established in Syria in 2012

• Unlike ISIS, focused only on Syria — not seeking a caliphate

• Goal: impose Shariah law in Syria

What led to President Sadat's assassination (1981)?

• Sadat signed a peace deal with Israel — making Egypt an outcast among Arab nations

• The deal did not reduce Egypt's military spending as promised

• The Muslim Brotherhood played a major role in his assassination in Cairo

What were Egypt's two main radical groups?

• Jamaat al-Islamiyya (JaI): honored a ceasefire in 1991 after violent campaigns

• Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ): had strong ties to Osama bin Laden; continued attacks; sought to establish an Islamic government

What is the Muslim Brotherhood's history in Egypt?

• Most prominent Islamist organization in the world

• Thousands arrested after assassination attempt on Nasser in 1954

• Sayyid Qutb arrested and hanged in 1966

• Military rule followed abdication of King Farouk in 1952

What is Sinai Province?

• Egyptian militant group pledged to ISIS

• Bombed a Russian jetliner in Sharm el-Sheikh in 2015

• This attack triggered Russia to launch airstrikes against ISIS in Syria

What was Gaddafi's Libya and terrorism?

• Gaddafi seized power in a 1969 coup overthrowing King Idris

• Driven by hatred of Israel

• Provided state support and training camps for terrorists

• In 1984, sent assassins to kill Libyan dissidents in Europe and the Middle East

What was the U.S. response to Libya in 1986?

• President Reagan ordered airstrikes on targets near Tripoli and Benghazi

• Gaddafi's adopted daughter reportedly died in the bombing

• France and Italy condemned the U.S. at the UN

What is the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)?

• Attempted to assassinate Gaddafi in 1995 and 1996 — both failed, leader killed

• Relocated to Sudan but were expelled under Gaddafi's pressure

• Bin Laden was also in Sudan at the time

What is the political situation in post-Gaddafi Libya?

• No functioning central government

• Two rival governments: one in Tobruk, one in Tripoli

• Government of National Accord brokered in 2016

• ISIS controlled 160 miles of coastal roads and 2,000–3,000 fighters in Sirte (2016)

How does ISIS expand into new territories?

• Does not operate from a fixed home base

• Moves in, identifies sympathizers, presents a soft image to the community

• Targets and recruits young people

• Once in control, implements Shariah law

What was the Intifada?

• Palestinian uprising against Israeli military occupation

• After 9/11, Israel used the moment to crack down, taking the "War on Terror" directly into Palestinian territory in the following week

What is Hezbollah's leader and Mossad connection?

• Sheik Hassan Nasrallah was Hezbollah's late leader

• He was a known target of Mossad

What is the significance of the Hamas Charter (1988)?

• Declared all of historic Palestine as God-given Islamic territory

• Could not be negotiated away to Israel

• Explicitly called for Israel's destruction

• Framed the conflict as a religious duty, not just a political dispute

Why did young Palestinians abandon the PLO for Hamas/Hezbollah?

• Arafat renounced terrorism and recognized Israel in 1988

• Many young Palestinians felt this was too much compromise

• Turned to Hamas and Hezbollah for more militant approaches

What is the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades?

• Military wing of Hamas

• Carries out suicide bombing missions

• Targets civilian centers inside Israel and occupied territories

What happened to Hezbollah after Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon?

• Hezbollah grew more combatants after the Israeli withdrawal

• Used the opportunity to build strength for continued "Holy War" against Israel

What was the political result of the 1993 Oslo Accords for Palestinians?

• Palestinians felt no real self-determination

• Israeli conditions were described as heavily one-sided

• Groups like PFLP and DFLPH left the PLO in protest

• Continued violence against Israelis, Americans, and PLO members followed

What is the relationship between PLO and Hamas?

• Fundamentally opposed doctrines: PLO recognizes Israel's right to exist; Hamas calls for Israel's destruction

• Fatah (PLO) and Hamas met in Cairo in 2011 to reduce hostilities but tensions remain

• They govern different territories — PLO the West Bank, Hamas the Gaza Strip

What was Ariel Sharon's controversial history?

• Implicated in the 1982 Sabra and Shatila refugee camp massacres

• Had armed the Christian militia involved

• Israeli investigation found he bore indirect responsibility

• Made peace negotiations with Arafat extremely difficult due to deep mutual mistrust