The Soviet Union and the PLO

230 Pages·1998·23.405 MB·English

by  Roland Dannreuther (auth.)

THE SOVIET UNION AND THE PLO
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The Soviet Union
and thePLO
Roland Dannreuther
Lecturer, Department ofP olitics
University of Edinburgh
~
in association with
~
ST ANTONY'S COLLEGE, OXFORD
First published in Great Britain 1998 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-26218-2 ISBN 978-1-349-26216-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-26216-8
First published in the United States of America 1998 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York. N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-17223-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dannreuther, Roland.
The Soviet Union and the PLO I Roland Dannreuther.
p. em.- (St. Antony's series)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-312-17223-7
I. Mun~~t al-Tal)rir ai-Filas!iniyah. 2. Soviet Union-Foreign
relations-Middle East. 3. Middle East-Foreign relations-Soviet
Union. I. Title. II. Series.
DSI19.7.0257 1997
327.47056'09'04~c21 97-37888
CIP
© Roland Dannreuther 1998
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1998 978·0-333-68220-3
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
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with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and
sustained forest sources.
1098765432 1
07 06 05 04 03 02 01 ()() 99 98
To my Mother and Father
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
List of Abbreviations ix
Introduction l
1 Framework of Soviet Engagement in the Arab-Israeli Conflict 7
2 Towards a Reluctant Relationship: 1964-70 30
3 The Relationship Blossoms: 1971-6 48
4 The Lebanese Civil War 69
5 An Opportunity Missed: 1977-80 89
6 The Relationship Deteriorates: 1981-5 114
7 The Final Rise and Fall of a Relationship: 1986-91 143
Conclusion 172
Notes 181
Bibliography 204
Index 216
vii
Acknowledgements
My foremost thanks must go to Professor Avi Shlaim who acted as
my supervisor for the original dissertation upon which this book is
based. Avi provided me with the necessary support and encourage-
ment to pursue research into the seemingly impenetrable and secretive
relationship between the Soviet Union and the PLO. I am grateful for
Avi's thoughtful advice throughout my postgraduate studies at Oxford,
and his diligence and conscientious efforts in guiding me safely through
the pitfalls and obstacles of research.
This book is associated with happy memories of a number of places
and friends. At St Antony's College, I remember with affection the
Middle East Centre and the friends I made there-Maha Azzam, Reem
Mikhail, Khaled Fahmy and Tareq Tell. In Moscow, I had the pleasure
to be a guest of the Oriental Institute and I would like to thank the
friends I made there - Vitalii Naumkin, Irina Zviagelskiaia, Dmitry
Makharov and Brian Harvey. In the Middle East, I would like to ex-
tend my appreciation to Dr Nabil Haidari at the PLO Research Centre
in Cyprus and to Marai' Abd al-Rahman and Sulaymann al-Najjab from
the PLO headquarters in Tunis for all the help they gave me in fur-
thering my research. In addition, I wish to express my gratitude for all
the help and support my friends have given me, in particular Sonali
Wijeyaratne, Julia Hawkings, Laura Monaghan and Agnes Guinebert.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents for all their help and sup-
port during my many years of student life.
viii
List of Abbreviations
ALF Arab Liberation Front
CPSU Communist Party of the Soviet Union
DFLP Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
ICP Israeli Communist Party
INA Iraqi News Agency
JCP Jordanian Communist Party
LCP Lebanese Communist Party
LNM Lebanese National Movement
KUNA Kuwaiti News Agency
MEiMO Mirovaia ekonomika i mezhdunarodnye otnosbeniia
MENA Middle East News Agency
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
QNA Qatari News Agency
MFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR
PCP Palestine Communist Party
PDFLP Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
PFLP Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
PFLP-GC Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General
Command
PLA Palestine Liberation Army
PLF Palestine Liberation Front
PLO Palestine Liberation Organization
PNC Palestine National Council
PNF Palestine National Front
PNSF Palestine National Salvation Front
PPS Progressive Socialist Party
PPSF Palestine People's Struggle Front
PRM Palestine Resistance Movement
SCP Syrian Communist Party
SEATO South East Asia Treaty Organization
SKSSAA Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee
UAK United Arab Kingdom
UNIFIL United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon
WAFA Palestine News Agency
WAKH Gulf News Agency
WCPD Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents
ix
Introduction
In 1988, when I first started to research the subject of this book for
my doctoral dissertation, the Soviet-PLO relationship appeared to be
in an unusually healthy condition. There was a genuine optimism that
the new-found political dynamism of the Soviet Union and the PLO,
which was reflected in their bilateral relations, might herald a break-
through in the Arab-Israeli peace process. Both the Soviet Union and
the PLO were enjoying a political renaissance in the region. While
Mikhail Gorbachev was breathing new life into Soviet foreign policy
through the promotion of his 'new thinking', the foreign policy equivalent
to glasnost and perestroika, the PLO was engaged in a political re-
form process which culminated in the historic decision in 1988 to recog-
nize Israel. During 1989 the dynamic was maintained as the Soviet
foreign minister, Eduard Shevardnadze, embarked on an extensive tour
of the Middle East, promoting the virtues of 'new thinking' for the
resolution of the region's conflicts and regularly praising the PLO's
decision to recognize Israel as an example of such radical new stra-
tegic thinking. During this period, the Soviet and PLO leadership clearly
believed that it was only a question of time before the United States
and Israel would have to accept the logic of the long-standing Soviet
demand for a comprehensive peace settlement which would include
the participation of the PLO.
In reality, Shevardnadze's 1989 tour proved to be a false dawn.
Immediate hopes for a breakthrough subsided as Israel persuaded the
United States that the Soviet Union should remain excluded from the
peace process. As 1989 progressed, the internal crisis within the So-
viet empire increasingly consumed Moscow's energies and, by the end
of the year, the Soviet Union effectively ceased to be a major regional
actor in the Middle East. As Soviet power waned, so the Soviet-PLO
relationship rapidly deteriorated. Relations became increasingly acri-
monious and bitter as Gorbachev permitted the large-scale emigration
of Soviet Jews into Israel. The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991
finally concluded a relationship which was already practically defunct.
During this period, the PLO also experienced a crisis almost as severe
as that faced by the Soviet Union. After the defeat of Iraq in the Gulf
War, the PLO's alliance with the Iraqi dictator exacted a heavy pen-
alty. With the loss of the support of much of the moderate Arab world,
1