Black September

BSO

12/12/2006

In Jordan, following the Jordanian genocide against Palestinians in September 1970, the terrorist organization known as Black September was formed. An outgrowth of Arafat's Fatah, the Arab League's PLO, and Egypt's Fedayeen, they claimed to be descendants of Hasan's Hashshashin/Assassins of Persian and Crusade infamy. Since Black September was formed as a clandestine wing of al-Fatah and the PLO, their initial objective was to avenge the expulsion of the Palestine Liberation Organization from Jordan.

While the exact date of the ghoulish club's founding is suspect, what is clear is that Black September is best known for the kidnap and murder of eleven Jewish athletes during the September 1972 Munich Olympic Games. But that was hardly their only crime against mankind.

In his book Stateless, Salah Khalaf, Arafat's security chief and founding member of al-Fatah, wrote: "Black September was not a terrorist organization, but was rather an auxiliary unit of the resistance movement, at a time when the latter was unable to fully realize its military and political potential. The members of the BSO always denied any ties between their organization and Fatah or the PLO." But Salah Khalaf's confusing claim was confounded by Muhammad Daoud Oudeh, a senior Black September leader as well as a senior leader in the PLO. In his 1972 article in the Jordanian Al-Dustur, he said: "There is no such organization as Black September. Fatah announces its own operations under this name so that Fatah will not appear as the direct executor of the mission." Others say, Arafat formed Black September in part in order to circumvent an al-Fatah declaration that they would not interfere in the domestic policies of Arab/Islamic nations. Since PLO members wanted to assassinate King Hussein, they therefore needed an alias.

While Black September failed several times to assassinate King Hussein, they nonetheless became notorious for a number of brutal, high-profile terrorist incidents. With his involvement obscured, Yasser Arafat used the BSO to expand his list of targets to include U.S. and European citizens. In retaliation for Black September's infamous attack against Israeli athletes and coaches, Israel launched a significant response designed to eliminate the terrorist organization's leadership. Following the Israeli success, al-Fatah dissolved Black September in December 1974.

Most Black September operatives were Muslims who had assumed residence in other countries, especially Europe. They were composed of Islamic students, teachers, and diplomats. At the time, the BSO served as a relief valve for jihadists who were impatient with the Fatah/PLO approach of blending politics, religion, money-making schemes, and terror. They were the purest forum for the wares of the fedayeen. As a result, Black September became uncontrollable. When the PLO shut the organization down, Arafat said that he wanted to withdraw from perpetrating acts of terror abroad so that he could concentrate on tormenting Jews.

Upon al-Fatah's decision to sideline Black September, many of BSO members joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and other active Islamic terrorist clubs. Attacks in the name of Black September continued long after the official dissolution of the Fedayeen revival. And while Black September was originally described as a splinter group of al-Fatah, direct linkages between the groups were confirmed with the arrests of many Black September terrorists who had long and histories with the PLO.

Abu Iyad, a Black September founder, was born in 1934. He fought in 1948 alongside the Islamic Mufti's defense forces during Israel's War of Independence. He would later retreat to Cairo where he became a student in the 1950s. Abu Iyad was Arafat's assistant in the General Union of Palestinian Students in Egypt way back in 1952. He was a Fatah founding member in 1958.

Iyad served as the PLO's security and counter intelligence executive officer and spiritual godfather prior to becoming the commander of Black September, a job he retained through 1974. All the while, Abu Iyad was a Fatah ideologue. Before being assassinated on March 14, 1991 in Tunis, Iyad was the PLO's third-highest ranking member after Arafat and Abu Jihad.

Mohammad Oudeh planned Black September's notorious attack at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. In 1996, Israel allowed Oudeh to attend a PLO conference in the West Bank. He would later publish a book in which he admitted to his role in the Olympics attack. More than a decade late, Germany issued a warrant for his arrest and Israel barred Oudeh from returning to the West Bank.