Black September Research Paper

Black September ID Black September can be referenced to either the Jordanian civil war, or the Palestinian terrorist organization. The civil war in Jordan took place between Palestinian groups and Jordanian military with the majority of the violence happening in September of 1970, resulting in the name “Black September.” The terrorist group that formed almost a year after the civil war referred to themselves as Black September and was mainly known for the killing of eleven Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympic games in Munich. Palestinian refugees had become a majority within Jordan; this along with the strengthening of the PLO tensed the relationship between Palestinians and the Jordanian King Husayn. King Husayn saw a threat in the PLO leader, Arafat, settling for a future Palestinian state in the West Bank, which would take away Jordanian territory and effect their economy. “Husyan wanted the West Bank for himself and at most would permit Palestinian autonomy under the cloak of Jordanian sovereignty. (Smith pg. 314)” …show more content…
The group was committed to attacking Jordanians and Israelis, to represent the struggles of Palestinians and force the international world to recognize them. The group is known worldwide for their attack on Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympics, the group took eleven athletes hostage, and they were all killed. A year later, In March of 1973 the group went into the Saudi Arabian embassy, demanding for the surrendering of Palestinian prisoners being held in West Germany. When the government refused to negotiate, the group killed the US ambassador (O’Kane, pg. 101). These terrorist attacks were damaging to the PLO image while Arafat was speaking to the United Nations about Palestinians wanting peace, and in 1973 Fatah declared a halt to using international