Black September (), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was an armed conflict between Jordan, led by King Hussein, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by chairman Yasser Arafat. The main phase of the fighting took place between 16 and 27 September 1970, though certain aspects of the conflict continued until 17 July 1971.
After the 1967 Six-Day War, Palestinian fedayeen guerrillas relocated to Jordan and stepped up their attacks against Israel and what had become the Israeli-occupied West Bank. They were headquartered at the Jordanian border town of Karameh, which Israel targeted during the Battle of Karameh in 1968, leading to a surge of Arab support for the fedayeen. The PLO's strength grew, and by early 1970, leftist groups within the PLO began calling for the overthrow of Jordan's Hashemite monarchy, leading to violent clashes in June 1970. Hussein hesitated to oust them from the country, but continued PLO activities in Jordan culminated in the Dawson's Field hijackings of 6 September 1970. This involved the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) seizing three civilian passenger flights and forcing their landing in the Jordanian city of Zarqa, where they took foreign nationals as hostages and blew up the planes in front of international press. Hussein saw this as the last straw and ordered the Jordanian Army to take action.
On 17 September 1970, the Jordanian Army surrounded cities with a significant PLO presence, including Amman and Irbid, and began targeting fedayeen posts that were operating from Palestinian refugee camps. The next day, 10,000 Syrian troops bearing Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) markings began an invasion by advancing towards Irbid, which the fedayeen had occupied and declared to be a "liberated" city. On 22 September, the Syrians withdrew from Irbid after suffering heavy losses to a coordinated aerial–ground offensive by the Jordanians. Mounting pressure from other Arab countries, such as Iraq, led Hussein to halt his offensive. On 13 October, he signed an agreement with Arafat to regulate the fedayeen's presence in Jordan. However, the Jordanian military attacked again in January 1971, and the fedayeen were driven out of the cities, until 2,000 surrendered after they were encircled during the Ajlun offensive on 23 July, formally marking the end of the conflict.
Jordan allowed the fedayeen to relocate to Lebanon via Syria, where they later became involved in the Lebanese Civil War. The Palestinian Black September Organization was founded after the conflict to carry out attacks against Jordanian authorities in response to the fedayeen's expulsion; their most notable attack was the assassination of Jordanian prime minister Wasfi Tal in 1971, as he had commanded parts of the military operations against the fedayeen. The following year, the organization shifted its focus to attacking Israeli targets and carried out the Munich massacre against Israeli athletes. Though the events of Black September did not reflect a Jordanian–Palestinian divide, as there were Jordanians and Palestinians on both sides of the conflict, it paved the way for such a divide to emerge after the conflict. Jordan provided Palestinians with seats amounting to half the parliament, This demographic change influenced Jordanian politics. he feared an independent West Bank under PLO administration would threaten the autonomy of his Hashemite kingdom. The Palestinian factions were supported vicariously by many Arab governments, most notably Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who gave them political support. The Samu incident launched by Israel on 13 November 1966 was one such reprisal, taking place after three Israeli soldiers were killed by a Fatah landmine. The Israeli assault on the Jordanian-controlled West Bank town of As-Samu inflicted heavy casualties on Jordan. Israeli writer Avi Shlaim argued that Israel's disproportionate retaliation exacted revenge on the wrong party, as Israeli leaders knew from their interaction with Hussein that he was doing everything he could to prevent such attacks. Hussein, who felt he had been betrayed by the Israelis, drew fierce local criticism because of this incident. It is thought that this contributed to his decision to join Egypt and Syria's war against Israel in 1967. In June 1967 Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan during the Six-Day War.
PLO's growing strength after the Battle of Karameh
After Jordan lost the West Bank, Fatah (under the PLO) stepped up their guerrilla attacks against Israel from Jordanian soil, making the border town of Karameh their headquarters. On 18 March 1968, an Israeli school bus was blown up by a mine near Be'er Ora in the Arava, killing two adults and wounding ten children—the 38th Fatah operation in little more than three months. On 21 March, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) units entered Jordan and launched a reprisal attack on Karameh that developed into a full-scale battle that lasted a day. The PLO suffered some 200 casualties and another 150 taken prisoner; 40–84 Jordanian soldiers were also killed. Israeli losses stood at around 30 killed and 69–161 wounded, and they also left behind several vehicles.
thumb|[[Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein after checking an abandoned Israeli tank on 21 March 1968 during the Battle of Karameh. The perceived joint Palestinian-Jordanian victory led to an upsurge in support for the fedayeen in Jordan.]]
Both sides declared victory: Israel had fulfilled its objective of destroying the Karameh camp, but failed to capture Arafat; while Jordan and the PLO had exacted relatively heavy Israeli casualties. The fedayeen used the battle's wide acclaim and recognition in the Arab world to establish their national claims.
Palestinians and Arabs generally considered the battle a psychological victory over the IDF, which had been seen as "invincible" until then, and recruitment into guerrilla units soared. Fatah reported that 5,000 volunteers had applied to join within 48 hours of the events at Karameh. By late March, there were nearly 20,000 fedayeen in Jordan. Iraq and Syria offered training programs for several thousand guerrillas. After the battle, Fatah gained control of the PLO in Egypt.
Palestinian fedayeen from Syria and Lebanon started to converge on Jordan, mostly in Amman. In Palestinian enclaves and refugee camps in Jordan, the police and army were losing their authority.
thumb|left|Fedayeen of the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Jordan, early 1969]]
The PLO would not live up to the agreement, and came to be seen more and more as a state within a state in Jordan. Fatah's Yasser Arafat replaced Ahmad Shukeiri as the PLO's leader in February 1969. Discipline in the different Palestinian groups was poor, and the PLO had no central power to control the different groups.
Ten-point edict and June confrontations
The situation placed Hussein in a severe dilemma: if he used force to oust the fedayeen, he would alienate himself from the Palestinians in the country and the Arab World. However, if he refused to act to strike back at the fedayeen, he would lose the respect of Jordanians, and more seriously, that of the army, the backbone of the regime, which already started to pressure Hussein to act against them. In February 1970, King Hussein visited Egyptian President Nasser in Cairo and won his support for taking a tougher stance against the fedayeen. Nasser also agreed to influence the fedayeen to desist from undermining Hussein's regime. Upon his return, he published a ten-point edict restricting activities of the Palestinian organizations, which included prohibition of the following: carrying arms publicly, storing ammunitions in villages, and holding demonstrations and meetings without prior governmental consent. The fedayeen reacted violently to these efforts aimed at curbing their power, which led Hussein to freeze the new regulation; he also acquiesced to fedayeen demands of dismissing the perceived anti-Palestinian interior minister Muhammad Al-Kailani. Hussein's policy of giving concessions to the fedayeen was to gain time, but Western newspapers started floating sensationalized stories that Hussein was losing control over Jordan and that he might abdicate soon.
thumb|PLO leaders [[Yasser Arafat, Nayef Hawatmeh and Kamal Nasser speaking at a press conference in Amman after the June events, 1970]]
Libya, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, who were openly supporting the fedayeen, sent Jordan financial subsidies, placing Hussein in a difficult position. Hussein saw no external forces to support him other than the United States and Israel, but that would act as fuel for fedayeen propaganda against him. On 17 February 1970, the American embassy in Tel Aviv relayed three questions from Hussein to Israel asking about Israel's stance if Jordan chose to confront the fedayeen. Israel replied positively to Hussein, and committed that they would not take advantage if Jordan withdrew its troops from the borders for a potential confrontation.
Israeli artillery and airforce attacked Irbid on 3 June as reprisal for a fedayeen attack on Beit She'an, killing one soldier, as well as killing seven and injuring twenty-six civilians. The Jordanian army retaliated and shelled Tiberias for the first time in 22 years; Hussein ordered the shelling but realized it was the start of a dangerous cycle of violence. Consequently, he requested, through the American embassy in Amman, a ceasefire with the Israelis to buy time so that he could take strong measures against the fedayeen. The message to Israel stated that "the Jordanian government was doing everything it could to prevent fedayeen rocket attacks on Israel. The King deeply regrets the rocket attacks. Jordan Army under orders to shoot to kill any fedayeen attempting to fire rockets and fedayeen leaders had been told again evening of 3 June that violators would be shot on sight". Israel accepted Hussein's request following pressure from the Americans.
In the summer of 1970, the Jordanian army was on the verge of losing its patience with the fedayeen. After a provocation from the fedayeen, a tank battalion moved from the Jordan Valley without orders from Amman, intending to retaliate against them. It took the personal intervention of the King and that of the 3rd Armored Division commander Sharif Shaker, who blocked the road with their cars, to stop its onslaught.
Fighting broke out again between the fedayeen and the army in Zarqa on 7 June. Two days later, the fedayeen opened fire on the General Intelligence Directorate's (mukhabarat) headquarters. Hussein went to visit the mukhabarat headquarters after the incident, but his motorcade came under heavy fedayeen fire, killing one of his guards. Bedouin units of the army retaliated for the assassination attempt against their king by shelling Al-Wehdat and Al-Hussein camps, which escalated into a conflict that lasted three days. An Israeli army meeting deliberated on events in Jordan; according to the director of Israel's Military Intelligence, there were around 2,000 fedayeen in Amman armed with mortars and Katyusha rockets. Hussein's advisors were divided: some were urging him to finish the job, while others were calling for restraint as victory could only be accomplished at the cost of thousands of lives, which to them was unacceptable. Hussein halted the fighting, and the three-day conflict's toll was around 300 dead and 700 wounded, including civilians.
A ceasefire was announced by Hussein and Arafat, but the PFLP did not abide by it. It immediately held around 68 foreign nationals hostage in two Amman hotels, threatening to blow them up with the buildings if Sharif Shaker and Sharif Nasser were not dismissed and the Special Forces unit disbanded. Arafat did not agree with the PFLP, but had to play along as he feared public opinion. Hussein compromised and reduced tensions by appointing Mashour Haditha Al-Jazy, who was considered a moderate general, as army chief of staff, and Abdelmunim Rifai as prime minister, who in turn included six Palestinians as ministers in his government. Henry Kissinger, President Nixon's security advisor, gave the following assessment of the events in Jordan:
thumb|Newsreel about King Hussein's challenges in 1970
June 1970 became one of the most uncertain periods for the Hashemite monarchy in Jordan, as most foreign diplomats believed that events favored the fedayeen, and that the downfall of the monarchy was just a matter of time. Although Hussein was confident, members of his family started to wonder for how long the situation would last. 72-year-old Prince Zeid bin Hussein – the only son of Hussein bin Ali (Sharif of Mecca) that did not become a king – was visiting Amman in June and stayed with Hussein in the royal palace. He saw Hussein's management of the affair, and before he left, told his son that he thought Hussein to be the "most genuine, able and courageous Hashemite he had ever met", as well as "the greatest leader among all the Hashemite kings".
Another ceasefire agreement was signed between Hussein and Arafat on 10 July. It recognized and legitimized fedayeen presence in Jordan, and established a committee to monitor fedayeen conduct. The American-sponsored Rogers Plan for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict was publicized in July—based on Security Council Resolution 242. Nasser and Hussein accepted the plan, but Arafat rejected it on 26 July, claiming that it was a device to liquidate his movement. The PFLP and DFLP were more uncompromising, vehemently rejecting the plan and denouncing Nasser and Hussein. Meanwhile, a ceasefire was reached between Egypt and Israel on 7 August, formally ending the War of Attrition. On 15 August, Arafat was alleged to have said that "we have decided to convert Jordan into a cemetery for all conspirators—Amman shall be the Hanoi of the revolution." Paradoxically, Arafat had cautioned Habash and Hawatmeh, the respective leaders of the PFLP and the DFLP, from provoking the regime, as it enjoyed military superiority and could terminate their existence in Jordan at any time. But his calls went unheeded, and they started to call more openly for the overthrow of the Hashemites as a "prelude to the launching of a popular war for the liberation of Palestine". Another engagement between the army and the fedayeen occurred at the end of August, after the fedayeen ambushed army vehicles and staged an armed attack on the capital's post office.
Black September
Aircraft hijackings
thumb|left|Jordanian army unit escorts rescued families back to Amman, 9 September 1970.
Hussein's motorcade came under fire on 1 September for the second time in three months, triggering clashes between the army and the fedayeen in Amman up until 6 September. On 6 September, three planes were hijacked by the PFLP: Swissair and TWA jets that landed at Azraq, Jordan, and a Pan Am jet that was flown to Cairo and immediately blown up after passengers were deplaned. The two jets that landed in Jordan had 310 passengers; the PFLP threatened to blow them up if fedayeen from European and Israeli prisons were not released. On 9 September, a third plane was hijacked to Jordan: a BOAC flight from Bahrain with 115 passengers was diverted to Zarqa. The PFLP announced that the hijackings were intended "to bring special attention to the Palestinian problem". After 371 hostages were removed, the planes were dramatically blown up in front of international press on 12 September. However, 54 hostages were kept by the organization for around two weeks. Arab regimes and Arafat were not pleased with the hijackings; the latter considered them to have caused more harm to the Palestinian issue. But Arafat could not dissociate himself from the hijackings, again because of Arab public opinion.
thumb|[[Dawson's Field hijackings|Dawson's Field aircraft being blown up in Zarqa by PFLP fedayeen in front of international press, 12 September 1970]]
Al-Jazy, the perceived pro-Palestinian newly appointed army chief of staff, resigned on 9 September in the midst of the hijacking crisis, and was replaced by Habis Majali, who was brought in from retirement. Natheer Rasheed, the intelligence director who had been appointed a month earlier, claimed that Al-Jazy was paid 200,000 Jordanian dinars, and that his resignation letter was written by the PLO. Shlaim claims that the prelude consisted of three stages: "conciliation, containment and confrontation". He argues that Hussein was patient so that he could demonstrate that he had done everything he could to avoid bloodshed, and that confrontation only came after all other options had been exhausted, and after public opinion (both international and local) had tipped against the fedayeen.
Jordanian army attacks
thumb|[[Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein on the first day of the operation meeting with his advisors, Prime Minister Wasfi Tal (right) and Army Chief of Staff Habis Majali (left), 17 September 1970]]
On the evening of 15 September, Hussein called in his advisors for an emergency meeting at his Al-Hummar residence on the western outskirts of Amman. Amer Khammash, Habis Majali, Sharif Shaker, Wasfi Tal, and Zaid Rifai were among those who were present; for some time they had been urging Hussein to sort out the fedayeen. The army generals estimated that it would take two or three days for the army to push the fedayeen out of major cities. Hussein dismissed the civilian government the following day and appointed Muhammad Daoud, a Palestinian loyalist to head a military government, thereby declaring martial law. Other Palestinians in the military government included figures like Adnan Abu Oudeh, an officer in the mukhabarat. Abu Oudeh later asked Hussein what the most difficult decision was that he had to make, to which the king replied: "The decision to recapture my capital."
On 17 September, the 60th Armoured Brigade entered the capital Amman from different directions and shelled the Wehdat and Hussein refugee camps where the fedayeen were based with tanks, artillery and mortars. The fedayeen put up a stiff resistance as they were well prepared, and the fighting lasted the next ten days without break. Simultaneously, the army surrounded and attacked other fedayeen-controlled cities including: Irbid, Jerash, As-Salt and Zarqa. The three days estimated by Hussein's generals could not be achieved, and the ensuing stalemate led Arab countries to step up pressure on Hussein to halt the fighting.
Foreign intervention
Jordan feared foreign intervention in the events in support of the fedayeen; this soon materialized on 18 September after a force from Syria with Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) markings marched towards Irbid, which the fedayeen had declared a "liberated" city. The 40th Armoured Brigade managed to block the Syrian forces' advance after heavy fighting. A second, much larger, Syrian incursion occurred on the same day: it consisted of two armored and one mechanized infantry brigades of the 5th Infantry Division, and around 300 tanks. Although the Syrian tanks had PLA markings, the troops were Syrian Army regulars. Syria issued no statement regarding the situation, but it is believed that the purpose of its intervention was to help the fedayeen overthrow the monarchy. Another tentative explanation is that the Syrians wanted to create a haven for the fedayeen in northern Jordan, from where they could negotiate with Hussein.
thumb|left|Map showing fedayeen concentrations in Jordan prior to September 1970, and the Syrian invasion
There were also concerns of Iraqi interference.
David Raab, one of the plane hijacking hostages, described the initial military actions of Black September:
Hussein arranged a cabinet meeting on the evening of the Syrian incursion, leaving them to decide if Jordan should seek foreign intervention. Two sides emerged from the meeting; one group of ministers favored military intervention from the United Kingdom or the United States, while the other group argued that it was an Arab affair that ought to be dealt with internally. The former group prevailed as Jordan was facing an existential threat. On 20 September, Hussein requested "Israel or other air intervention or threat thereof" through the British embassy. Britain refused to interfere militarily for fear of getting involved in a region-wide conflict; arguments such as "Jordan as it is<!--not a mistake--> is not a viable country" emerged. The British cabinet relayed Hussein's message to the Americans. Nixon and Kissinger were receptive to Hussein's request due to worries about regional escalation and Soviet influence. Nixon ordered the 82nd Airborne Division placed on full alert, and the U.S. Navy's 6th Fleet to be positioned off the coast of Israel, near Jordan. Kissinger favored Israeli intervention, while Nixon wanted America to intervene alone. However, Nixon changed his mind when, on 21 September, Hussein renewed his request. "Situation deteriorating dangerously following Syrian massive invasion", Hussein was quoted. "I request immediate physical intervention both land and air... to safeguard sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Jordan. Immediate air strikes on invading forces from any quarter plus air cover are imperative."
The Israeli cabinet was divided; some, including Golda Meir, wanted to overlook the Six-Day War and support Jordan, while right-wingers favored letting Jordan become a Palestinian state. Military commanders also prepared contingency plans to occupy Jordanian territory–including the Gilead Heights, Karak and Aqaba–in case the country disintegrated and there was a land-grab by its Iraqi, Syrian and Saudi Arabian neighbors . The pro-Hussein faction won, and, by 22 September, Israel readied its air force, "ostentatiously" deployed troops next to Syria and Jordan, and flew fighter jets over Syrian troops, using sonic booms as a deterrent. While Israel favored a combined ground/air assault (which Nixon authorized), Hussein requested that Israeli ground troops only enter Syria, leading the Israelis to repeatedly seek U.S. assurances in case of a Soviet response.
thumb|Jordanian soldiers surrounding a [[Centurion (tank)|Centurion tank in Irbid to face off the Syrian invasion, 17 September 1970]]
On the same day, Hussein ordered the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) to attack the Syrian forces. A joint air-ground offensive proved successful, partly due to the Syrian Air Force's abstention from the fight. This has been attributed to power struggles within the Syrian Ba'athist government between Syrian Assistant Regional Secretary Salah Jadid, who had ordered the tank incursion, and Syrian Air Force commander Hafez al-Assad. Al-Assad claimed power after a coup shortly afterwards. Iraqi impartiality was attributed to Iraqi general Hardan al-Tikriti's commitment to Hussein not to interfere—he was assassinated a year later for this. It is thought that the rivalry between the Iraqi and Syrian Ba'ath Party was the real reason for Iraqi non-involvement.
The airstrikes inflicted heavy losses on the Syrians, and on the late afternoon of 22 September, the Syrian 5th Division began to retreat.
Egyptian-brokered agreement
After successes against the Syrian forces, the Jordanian Army steadily shelled the fedayeen's headquarters in Amman, and threatened to also attack them in other regions of the country. The Palestinians suffered heavy losses, and some of their commanders were captured. On the other hand, in the Jordanian army there were around 300 defections, including ranking officers such as Mahmoud Da'as. Hussein agreed to a cease-fire after Arab media started accusing him of massacring the Palestinians. Jordanian Prime Minister Muhammad Daoud defected to Libya after being pressured by Prime Minister Muammar Gaddafi, while the former was in Egypt representing Jordan at an emergency Arab League summit. Hussein himself decided to fly to Cairo on 26 September, where he was met with hostility from Arab leaders. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser led the first emergency Arab League summit in Cairo on 21 September. Arafat's speech drew sympathy from attending Arab leaders. Other heads of state took sides against Hussein, among them Muammar Gaddafi, who mocked him and his schizophrenic father King Talal. On 27 September, Hussein and Arafat signed an agreement brokered by Egyptian President Nasser. Nasser died the following day of a heart attack.
thumb|alt=Three important seated men conferring. The first man from the left is wearing a checkered headdress, sunglasses and jodhpurs, the second man is wearing a suit and tie, and the third is wearing military uniform. Standing behind them are suited men.|Egyptian President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser brokering a ceasefire between Yasser Arafat and King Hussein at the emergency Arab League summit in Cairo on 27 September 1970. Nasser died the following day of a heart attack.]]
The Jordanian army regained control of key cities and intersections in the country before accepting the ceasefire agreement brokered by Egypt's Nasser. Hussein appointed a Palestinian, Ahmad Toukan, as prime minister, instructing him to "bandage the wounds". In the period following the ceasefire, Hussein publicly revealed that the Jordanian army had uncovered around 360 underground PLO bases in Amman, and that Jordan held 20,000 detainees, among whom were "Chinese advisors".
Role of Zia-ul-Haq and Iranian leftist guerrillas
The head of a Pakistani training mission to Jordan, Brigadier Zia-ul-Haq (later Chief of Army Staff and President of Pakistan), was involved on the Jordanian side. Zia had been stationed in Amman for three years prior to Black September. During the events, according to CIA official Jack O'Connell, Zia was dispatched by Hussein north to assess Syria's military capabilities. The Pakistani commander reported back to Hussein, recommending the deployment of a RJAF squadron to the region.