P I B K OU


THE LESSON OF MUNICH


Responsibility for Terrorism Rests with

Arab Governments Encouraging, Supporting

and Harboring Murderers.













EMBASSY OF ISRAEL

WASHINGTON, D.C.


September 14, 1972.


)i


P 0 LI C


B A K GR 0 N











THE LESSON OF MUNICH


Throughout Tuesday, September 5, the civilized world

held its breath. Few can forget the anguish, the horror

and the tension of watching the drama of Munich moving to

its gruesome, murderous end. As the full impact of this

unprecedented crime against the international community

began to sink in, the American nation along with others

in the free world raised a loud and unanimous voice to

convey its sympathy to Israel and to the families of the

11 slain Olympians and, above all, to demand that the

countries inciting, supporting and harboring the perpetrators

of such murders be made to live up to their responsibilities

under international law and to abide by the basic tenets of

human decency.

But from Israel's Arab neighbors with the notable

exception of Jordan there came not a word of condemnation,

not the slightest readiness to clamp down on the hotbeds

of murder and international sabotage flourishing on their

own soil. Rather, there uas a clear note of encouragement

to the murderers, often of unconcealed pride in their

barbaric "achievement" and of a promise of more such exploits

to come all of them, no doubt, hatched, prepared and

organized at the terrorists' headquarters and bases in

Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Libya.


True Background of Arab Terrorism

For the Munich murders showed up the two basic in-

gredients of Arab terrorism, of which the so-called "Black

September" group is an integral part:






-2-


1. The Arab States, primarily Egypt, Syria and Libya,

being unable to achieve their avowed aim of destroying

Israel by military means and unwilling to end the conflict

with her by negotiation, are deliberately using the terrorist

movement as a substitute to fill the resultant vacuum, to

whip up popular feeling in their own countries and to try

to induce the world to force upon Israel the kind of "peace"

that would render her helpless in the face of a subsequent

renewal of the Arab attempt to "liquidate" her.

2. But for a few isolated incidents, occasional raids

across the Lebanese and Syrian borders and the Lod massacre by

three Japanese, the terrorists have been unable to carry

out their missions of murder inside Israel and the occupied

territories. This is due not only to their fear of the

Israel Defence Forces, but primarily to the fact that the

bulk of the Arab population currently living under Israel

rule which also happens to be the majority of the Palestinian

Arabs in whose name the terrorists falsely claim to speak -

refuses to have any truck with them, will not grant them

refuge or support in their midst and certainly is not prepared

to let itself be used as a springboard for missions of crime and

murder that bring nothing but disgrace and damage to Arabs

everywhere. Hence, the terrorists have, in recent years,

confined their activities to attacks on defenceless Israelis

abroad, to the hijacking of aircraft belonging to Western

countries and to sabotage attempts against industrial plants

in the Federal Republic of Germany, Holland and Italy.


P.L.O., "Fatah" and "Black September" Are All One

The true identity of the "Black September" group was,

perhaps, best defined by the Beirut newspaper "An-Nahar",

in its issue of November 30, 1971:






-3-


"The 'Black September' organization is,
in fact, part of the 'Fatah' movement with-
out this being officially admitted".


Just as "Fatah" is the largest of the terrorist groups

comprising part of the so-called Palestine Liberation

Organization, a roof organization for all Palestinian

terrorists, headed by "Fatah" leader Yasser Arafat, so

"Black September" is part and parcel of "Fatah". It was

created by "Fatah" for the express purpose of carrying out

special missions with which the "official" terrorist

leadership did not wish to be formally associated. These

missions fall into four principal categories:

1. Political murder (such as that of Jordanian

Premier Wasfi el-Tel in Cairo on November 26, 1971).

2. Sabotage of Western interests and installations

(such as the gas tanks in Holland on February 6, the

oil pipeline at Hamburg on Feb. 22 and the oil tanks

at Trieste on Aug. 5 of this year).

3. Attacks on Arabs abroad (such as the attempt on

the life of Jordan's Ambassador in London in December,

1971, and the murder of 5 Jordanians in Cologne on

Feb. 6, 1972).

4. Special missions against Israelis abroad (such

as the unsuccessful attempt to hijack a "Sabena" air-

liner on May 8 and the most recent outrage at Munich).


"Black September" also serves as "Fatah's" instrument

for liaison with other extremist organizations practicing

violence in and operating from the Arab world, often

cooperating with such groups in joint operations. The

two surviving members, both of them women, of the group

that tried to hijack the Belgian airliner testified in the

course of their trial in Israel that they had both been

members of "Fatah" but had been told by the planners of the

operation in Lebanon that for the purpose of this task they

would belono to the "Black Seotember" section.







-4-


Thus the so-called separate identity of "Black

September" is but a myth at best it is a code-name for

a section of "Fatah" whose affiliation the "official"

terrorist chiefs wish to conceal for various reasons.

Its members are an integral part of "Fatah" which, in

turn, is part of the Palestine Liberation Organization,

the body specifically created, publicly encouraged and

financed by the Arab states to carry out the kind of

"exploit" which the world witnessed last week.

Commenting on the "Black September" group and the

events at Munich, Yasser Arafat said in Kuwait on Sept.?:

"The Palestinian resistance is one body and

fights for one aim."


Arab States' Roles, Detailed

A close look at some of the principal links in the

close relationship between the terrorists and the host

countries is indicative of the crucial fact that none of

them, including "Fatah" and. its "Black September" section,

could carry out any of their missions of murder without

the close support and protection extended to them by

governments who claim to be respected members of the inter-

national community.

I. Egypt

Apart from supplying the terrorists with arms and

other equipment, the Egyptian government has placed some

of its training facilities at their disposal. Recently,

for instance, "Fatah" members underwent naval commando

courses in Egypt.

The Palestine National Council, embracing the top

leadership of the P.L.O. and its constituent terrorist

groups, convenes regularly in Cairo. Only last April,






-5-


President Sadat used his keynote address to this forum

to announce his decision to break off diplomatic relations

with Jordan. Another example of the direct political

support extended by Egypt to the terrorists can be seen

in its approaches to the Lebanese government last June,

aimed at countering the attempts of the Beirut authorities

to restrain further terrorist attacks on Israel from

Lebanese soil, lest more Lebanese lives be lost as a

result of Israel counterstrikes against terrorist bases

in Lebanon.

President Sadat and Egyptian military leaders were

the first to be visited and consulted by Yasser Arafat

upon his recent return from Moscow. The two terrorists

who murdered the Jordanian Premier in Cairo have been

released on bail and allowed by the Egyptian authorities

to leave the country.

Cairo is the site of several publicly known centers

of the terrorist organizations among them "Fatah's"

offices and military headquarters. It is from Cairo that

the terrorist radio, "Voice of Palestine," beams its daily

broadcasts. It is hardly a coincidence that the terms of

the Munich murderers for the release of their hostages were

broadcast over this station within minutes of their

transmission to the German police in the Olympic Village.

2. Lebanon

Most of the announcements claiming "credit" for actions

of murder, sabotage and hijacking have emanated from publicly

known centers and offices of the various terrorist organiza-

tions in the city of Beirut.

It was from Beirut that the terrorists invariably set

out for their hijacking missions. It was at command posts,

camps and bases in Lebanon that their operations in Europe






-6-


were planned, and all the saboteurs hitherto apprehended,

including the lone survivor among the three Japanese

responsible for the May 30 massacre at Lod airport, have

admitted undergoing extensive training in Lebanon.

As of today, some 5,000 active members of terrorist

organizations remain on Lebanese soil mainly in the country's

Southern and Eastern areas, close to the borders of Israel

and Syria, as well as in refugee camps elsewhere in Lebanon.

The three terrorist targets in Lebanon attacked byIsrael

aircraft last Friday illustrate the type of activity centered

there and at other such bases.

a. Nahr el-Bard a naval training base of "Fatah"

on the Mediterranean coast north of Tripoli.

b. Rachaya el Wadi a regional command post of

"Fatah" to the north of the area of Southern Lebanon

renowned as a springboard for terrorist raids into

Israel and commonly knoun as "Fatahland."

c. Rafid a regional supply and maintenance base of

"Fatah", also strategically situated in the rear of

"Fatahland."

3. Syria.

Since the expulsion of the terrorists from Jordan in

September 1970, Syria has become alongside Lebanon one

of the two major centers of terrorist operations. Command

posts, staging bases, training camps and substantial

concentrations of terrorist groups, totalling about 9,000

men, are located on Syrian soil. Among other purposes they

serve as a strategic reserve both as potential reinforce-

ments for the units operating in and from Lebanon and as

task forces for operations against Jordan.





-7-


President Assad of Syria has put it very plainly:

"Syria not only refrains from limiting or
hampering activity by the 'fedayeen'; it
actually spurs them on to greater efforts."
(Interview in the weekly "Al-Fussauar,"
September 2, 1971.)

To carry out this openly proclaimed policy, the

Syrian government maintains a special office for liaison

with the terrorist organizations, which approves projected

operations by all of them as uell as appointments and

promotions in the ranks of "Sa'iqa," a separate terrorist

organisation fully controlled and directed by the Syrian

regime and based exclusively in Syria. Some of its leaders -

such as Zuhair Muhain, "Secretary-General" of "Sai'iqa," end

Col. Mustafa Sa'ad ed-Din are members of the ruling Ba'fh

party in Syria.

In Syria too, there is, of course, a terrorist radio

station. This is what the "Voice of Palestine," broadcasting

from Dera'a, had to say about the Munich outrage on Sept. 6:


"Praise be to the men of 'Black September' and
to the victory. With armed force and with blood,
we shall prevent Palestine from becoming Israel.
The Munich action is a gold medal for the Arab nation."

Once again, the seven terrorist bases in Syria bombed

by Israel aircraft last week provide representative examples

of the use made by the terrorists of the support end

sanctuary so generously offered them by Syria:

a. El-Mama the principal terrorist encampment

in Syria, also containing "Fatah" command posts,

supply and maintenance depots, situated about 4

miles West of Damascus.

b. Fahm el-Jolan regional command poet of

"Fatah" and base of operations against Israel

targets in the Southern part of the Golan.Heights,

less than 6 miles to the East of the cease-fire line.





-8-


c. Mezrib a "Sa'iqa" encampment is situated

near the village of that name, also facing the

Southern part of the Golan Heights.

d. Soueida a permanent rear staging camp for

"Fatah", including terrorist volunteers from

Libya and major concentrations of motor vehicles.

It is situated to the South of the South Syrian

toun of Soueida.

e. Burj as-Salaam "Fatah's" principal naval

base in Syria, on the Mediterranean coast North

of Latakia, housing nautical and underwater

equipment.

f. Dieble point of departure for seagoing

units of "Fatah", on the coast South of Latakia.

g. Mamantar naval training base of "Fatah",

south of the seaport of Tartus.


4. Libya

"Today we declare that the Libyan Arab Republic
uill be responsible for all the supplies, training,
and expenses of every Arab from the ocean to the
gulf who wishes to volunteer for the sake of liberating
Palestine.

"The sons of the Arab nation from the ocean and
gulf must not hesitate to give their names to the
Libyan embassies, and Fatah offices in any Arab
territory, so that the Libyan Arab Republic may
be responsible for sending them to the battlefield,
arming them, training them and bearing their expenses."
(President Mu'ammar Qaddafi in a speech quoted by
Tripoli radio, June 11, 1972).


Libya is the most active of the Arab governments in

lending political, financial and military support to terrorist

activities and in encouraging other Arab regimes primarily

Egypt, its partner in the projected union of the tuo countries -

to step up their own support of the terrorists. Libyan

President Qaddafi is in constant contact uith Yasser Arafat.





-9-


So far, there are also about one thousand Libyans

serving in the ranks of the terrorist groups in Lebanon and

Syria all of them, of course, fully trained, supplied,

armed and financed by the Libyan government. Libyans are

known to have participated in an attack by "Katyusha"

rockets on the town of Safad, in Northern Israel, last

January.

Two days ago, an elaborate state funeral was accorded

in Tripoli to the five Munich murderers slain by German

police.


Terror Reduces Peace Hopes and Spreads Violence in World

What, then, is the net effect of the Munich outrage

in all its tragic and widely publicized ramifications?

Far from gaining sympathy for the Arab cause, it has brought

the world face to face with a series of destructive and

dangerous symptoms with which it will have to cope effectively

if peace is to be brought to the Middle East and other

countries the world over are to be rendered safe for life

and travel.

1. It is not only that such excesses fail to bring

a settlement of the Arab-Israel conflict nearer the

terrorists have never made that claim because they do not

seek a settlement; they seek Israel's "liquidation." In

fact, they have clearly harmed the Arab case by greatly

exacerbating tensions and thereby reducing the chances of

some initial but tangible step toward peace, which to many

had appeared somewhat brighter since the reduction of the

Soviet military presence in Egypt. Besides, they have

brought misery and the danger of further loss of life and

livelihood to those in whose midst they train and hatch

their murderous plots.





-10-


2. Israel has made considerable strides in improving

the lot of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arab

refugees currently living and, for the first time, working -

in territories under her control. Obviously, a solution

of the entire refugee problem must be part of the peace

we all seek to bring to the region. Hence, the violence

that further puts off the hopes of peace is clearly a

disservice to the chances of a settlement and specifically

to the refugees.

3. For Israel, the tragic experience of last week

raises an even more profound and deeply disturbing issue.

There is obviously no point in signing any kind of peace

agreement with any of the Arab states unless such an agree-

ment provides not only for an end to hostilities by

government forces on both sides but also for a solemn undertaking

in words as well as in deeds, that there will be a cessation

of all terrorist attacks, on Israel and Israelis abroad, by

gangs operating from the same Arab states.

4. Beyond the context of the Middle East, the massacres

at Lod and Munich against the background of such earlier

outrages as the destruction of an entire "Suisaair" plane

in February of 1970, with the loss of all its passengers

of various nationalities, and the blowing-up of four other

airliners in September of that year raise the spectre of

a direct menace to the lives of innocent citizens of

countries everywhere, particularly to civil aviation and

other vital national interests of those countries.


The Remedy A Two-Pronged Approach

Israel's own role in containing the scourge of terrorism

is clear. As the Knesset (Parliament) resolved on Sept. 11,





-11-


"The State of Israel will do its duty and uill
apply its right to protect its representatives
and citizens. It will act constantly against
the terrorist organizations, their bases and
supporters, until an end is put to their criminal
activities."

But the Knesset resolution also addressed itself to

the source of the evil and to the part other governments

must play in suppressing it:

"The responsibility for the crime of Munich
and that for other bloody deeds committed by
the murderous organizations falls on the Arab
states, which provide them with bases of
operations and furnish them with all the
means, political support, arms and money
for the planning and execution of their decisions.

"The Knesset calls upon p11 states and govern-
ments to act effectively against the activities
and existence of the terrorist organizations
and for the elimination of their bases."

The international community can and must act quickly

and decisively to attack both the roots and the branches

oF the monster of terrorism. The United States has given

an initial positive lead in this direction. There are

two principal avenues of action:


1.1Thirrld mustflmandthatthe Arab states concerned put

an immediate end to all forms of terrorism and political

murder by individuals and organizations operating from

their soil. Such a call can and will be heeded if govern-

ments and public bodies in the free world back it up by

concrete steps to bar the offending countries, systematically

and effectively, from the maintenance of normal relations -

on the official, commercial or any other level with the

governments and peoples of nations that continue to cherish

basic values of human decency.

2. The moat stringent and ruthless measures must be

introduced and maintained to bar the entry of potential

Arab terrorists into foreign countries to monitor the





-12-


activities of those already in those countries, to prevent

any link-up between them and local subversive elements,

to enforce stringent security precautions at airports

and other public places that may provide likely targets

for terrorist action, and to mete out swift justice to

any individuals found to be associated with terrorist

crimes or conspiracies.

Firm action along those lines, in every country serving

as an actual or potential scene of terrorist activity, will

not only contribute to ridding the Middle East of a major

obstacle to peace but to cleansing the rest of the world

of the destructive and contagious curse of terrorism and

murder, thus enabling the citizens of this and all other

countries to go about their daily tasks in the freedom and

security which aretheir right in a free society.