A Second Vietnam in the Middle East: The United States and the PLO, 1968–75

In 1968, a loose coalition of guerilla fighters gained control over the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and announced their intention to wage an armed struggle against a supposed Zionist-imperialist conspiracy against the Palestinian people. The Palestinian fighters fashioned their movement in the image of earlier groups, namely the Algerian FLN, as well as the Vietnamese NLF. The PLO was able to mobilize the specter of guerilla resistance and the language of national liberation to generate international support for its struggle in world forums like the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of African Unity, and the United Nations.

While the PLO’s message of national liberation resonated in the global community, it was rejected by U.S. leaders who were understandably concerned by a perceived rising tide of social rebellion around the world. This paper will examine the impact of the PLO’s attempts to associate itself with this transnational wave of radical politics both in the United States and in the Non-Aligned world. While Palestinian fighters managed to secure the support of many states in the global south, their arguments fell on deaf ears in Washington, where leaders were determined to prevent a worldwide domino effect in the wake of a losing war in Southeast Asia. Thus, the PLO’s diplomatic victories in the international community ran up against U.S.-backed counterinsurgency efforts at the local level, creating a crushing stalemate that would have repercussions throughout the region.