Modern Era · Middle East · War

1970

Black September expels the PLO from Jordan

September 1970

Yasser Arafat's PLO had become a state within Jordan, running parts of Amman. King Hussein moved against the fedayeen with his Bedouin army in what Palestinians called Black September. Thousands died, and the PLO was driven into Lebanon. A faction took the month for its name and two years later massacred Israeli athletes in Munich.