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War of Attrition
Between 1969 to September 1970 the PLO, with passive support from Jordan, fought
a war of attrition with Israel. During this time, the PLO launched artillery
attacks on the moshavim and kibbutzim of Bet Shean Valley Regional Council,
while fedayeen launched numerous attacks on Israeli civilians. Israel raided the
PLO camps in Jordan, withdrawing only under Jordanian military pressure.
This conflict culminated in Jordan's expulsion of the PLO in September 1970.
Black September in Jordan
The PLO suffered a major reversal with the Jordanian assault on its armed groups
in the events known as Black September in 1970. The Palestinian groups were
expelled from Jordan, and during the 1970s the PLO was effectively an umbrella
group of eight organizations headquartered in Damascus and Beirut, all devoted
to what they called armed resistance to either Zionism or Israeli occupation,
using methods which included attacks on civilians and guerrilla warfare against
Israel. After Black September, the Cairo Agreement led the PLO to establish
itself in Lebanon.
Ten Point Program
In 1974, the PNC approved the Ten Point Program formulated by Fatah's leaders
which calls for the establishment of a national authority "over every part of
Palestinian territory that is liberated" with the aim of "completing the
liberation of all Palestinian territory". The program implied that the
liberation of Palestine may be partial (at least, at some stage), and though it
emphasized armed struggle, it did not exclude other means. Therefore, it was
considered the first attempt by PLO at a compromise.[citation needed]
This led to several radical PLO factions (such as the PFLP, PFLP-GC and others)
breaking out to form the Rejectionist Front, which would act independently of
PLO over the following years. Suspicion between the Arafat-led mainstream and
more hardline factions, inside and outside of the PLO, have continued to
dominate the inner workings of the organization ever since, often resulting in
paralysis or conflicting courses of action. A temporary closing of ranks came in
1977, as Palestinian factions joined with hardline Arab governments in the
Steadfastness and Confrontation Front to condemn Egyptian attempts to reach a
separate peace with Israel (eventually resulting in the 1979 Camp David
Accords).
Israel saw the Ten Point Program as dangerous, because it allegedly allows the
Palestinian leadership to enter negotiations with Israel on issues where Israel
can compromise, but under the intention of exploiting the compromises in order
to "improve positions" for attacking Israel. This program is coined the
"Step/stage Program" (Tokhnit HaSHlavim or Torat HaSHlavim). During the years
negotiations were made under this suspicion and concern from Israel that the
Palestinians' willingness to compromise is a just a smoke-screen to implement
the Ten Point Program. When the Oslo Accords were signed, Israeli right-wing
politicians have consistently claimed that this is part of the ploy to implement
the Stage Program. The Ten Point Program was never officially canceled by the
Palestinians and it's claimed that many Palestinians saw the Oslo Accords as a
step in the Ten Point Program.
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