Black September was a Palestinian paramilitary organization, founded in 1970. It had links to various groups within the PLO, most notably Fatah and the PFLP. Sources claim that the organization was controlled by Yasser Arafat, the leader of PLO, but this has never been proven conclusively. Mohammed Daoud Oudeh (Abu Daoud), the man who thought up the attack, stated that funds for the massacre were provided by Mahmoud Abbas, Secretary General of the PLO, lead by Yasser Arafat. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The name "Black September" comes from the expulsion of Palestinian refugees and militants from Jordan in September 1970. The month was called Black September because of the heavy loss of life and because of grief over the expulsion of Palestinians from Jordan (See History of Jordan). The group's first operation was the assassination of Jordan's Prime Minister, Wasfi Tel, on November 28, 1971 in retaliation for his leadership in expelling Palestinans from Jordan in 1970-71.
Black September's most well-known operation was the "Munich massacre", the kidnapping and killing of Israeli athletes during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
Other actions attributed to Black September include:
- December 1971: attempted assassination of Jordan's Ambassador to London, Zeid Al Rifai.
- February 1972: sabotage of a West German electrical installation and a Dutch gas plant.
- May 1972: hijacking of a Belgian Sabena airplane flying from Vienna to Tel Aviv.
- March 1 1973: attack on the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum, killing the American chargé d'affaires J. Curtis Moore, the American ambassador, Cleo Noel, and the Belgian chargé d'affaires, Guy Eid.
After the March 1973 attack, the organization was disbanded, apparently under pressure from the PLO, which believed that terrorist acts were damaging public perception of the Palestinan cause.
After 1974, when the Abu Nidal Organization split from the PLO, the Abu Nidal group started associating the "Black September" name with some of its actions. The PFLP also used the "Black September" name on some occasions. Most likely, these groups had little or nothing to do with the original Black September group.