The World: Black September's Ruthless Few

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Fedayeen leaders in Beirut insist, to the contrary, that Black September is less an organization than a state of mind. It has no flag, no symbol, no offices. Its leaders are shadowy, constantly shifting and unknown. Members are drawn from all guerrilla groups and become known only when they are killed or captured. This of course may well be a self-serving defensive explanation to avoid Israeli retribution. Since they began to brag about operations against Israel, leaders of the rival Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine have fallen victim to mysterious attacks. One, Ghassan Kanafani, was blown to bits along with his niece, in Beirut in July, as he started his car. Israeli agents are suspected of planting the explosive.

Black September's first leader was Ali Abu Iyad (real name Mohammed Mustafa Shyein), a deputy of Al Fatah Boss Yasser Arafat. Iyad was wounded, captured and executed in July 1971 after a firefight between guerrillas and Hussein's army. But probably the organization's best-known leader was Fuad Shemali, a Lebanese Christian who masterminded some of the group's earlier operations before he died of cancer last month. Shemali left posthumous instructions to the terrorists to concentrate on kidnaping Israelis held in high esteem by Israelis themselves. He mentioned scholars, scientists and athletes.

Terror for Export. Black September has been difficult to combat partly because its members operate in extremely small cells. It gets its money from Al Fatah—which is largely underwritten these days by Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi—as well as directly from other governments and wealthy Palestinians. Whether Arafat knows what goes on is a closely held secret. Many young commandos now consider Arafat a reactionary, and they may deliberately ignore him when laying their plans. Associates say that Arafat was genuinely surprised and upset when he was told of the assassination of Wasfi Tell—though that could have been an act to deflect criticism from himself.

One of the more frightening aspects of Black September is its ability to export terror. "They will hit anything anywhere if they believe the target is sensitive," says a fedayeen leader. Septembrists, moreover, take pains to point out that "anywhere" includes the U.S. More than that, Black September's planners and operatives are tougher and smarter than guerrillas have generally been in the past. They are frequently the products of the refugee camps in Jordan and Gaza, where more than a million Palestinians still live—and teach their children to hate Israel. Many went to the American University of Beirut and some are at present enrolled in European universities.