Targeted Assassinations: A New Name for Ethnic Cleansing

By Hamid Assaf

March/April 2004

BEIRUT - The Israeli policy of “targeted assassinations” of Palestinian activists is not a new phenomenon; on the contrary, it has been a doctrine that the Israeli had always government sponsored and endorsed. The quandary of the Palestinian people and the refugee problem the rise of the Zionist state in 1948 has lead to the rise of various forms of resistance; among them was the resort to armed struggle.

The operation carried out by the members of Black September in the Munich Olympic Games is one of these operations intended to draw public opinion to the plight of the Palestinian People and as a direct response to preventing the Palestinians from participating in the Olympics. This group was founded after the expulsion of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) from Jordan, as the Jordanian government in September of 1970 confronted the Palestinian armed presence in the Kingdom. The first act of the Black September organization was the assassination of the Jordanian Prime Minister, Wasfi al-Tal, who was instrumental in the expulsion of the PLO from Jordan.

The members of the Palestinian commando unit infiltrated the Olympic village, dressed up as athletes, in an attempt to capture the members of the Israeli Olympic team, to free them when they are in an Arab country, as they demanded that Israel release 234 Arab prisoners in Israeli jails and Germany release two German revolutionary leaders imprisoned in Frankfurt. However, the German government ambushed the Palestinian in the Airport, leading to a firefight that ended with the death of 11 Israelis, 5 Palestinians, and a German police officer.

The Munich incident was to rock the Israeli state as war was declared on all fronts. In response to this, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir announced to the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament on September 12, 1972 that “We have no choice but to strike at the terrorist organizations wherever we can reach them. That is an obligation to ourselves and to peace. We shall fulfill that obligation undauntedly.” The words of Meir would create the Wrath of God operation, which was to eradicate systematically the entire Palestinian leaders involved in the incident.

This task was given to the Mossad, which set up two command units, one unit operated through normal Mossad channels while a second unit recruited staff officers and highly trained specialists anonymously and external to the government, supported financially through covert mechanisms. This second unit the Sayeret Matkal, an elitist special operations and reconnaissance unit, was connected directly to the chief of staff and received its order from the Prime Minister. This Israeli elitist unit would be responsible for tracking down all those responsible for the Munich operation or in Meir’s words would act as the arm of Israeli justice.

The commander of the Sayeret Matkal in 1973 was Ehud Barak, the highest decorated soldier in Israeli military history and would later assume the position of Prime Minster would engineer and carry out the operation. The Spring of Youth operation would target three important PLO leaders (SEE Names) in their new founded heaven, Beirut. Kamal Nasser, an official spokesperson for the PLO, Mahmoud Youssef Najjar, the PLO's "Foreign minister," and Kamal Adwan, Fatah's director of sabotage. In February 1973, Barak obtained photographs and precise information about the whereabouts of these three PLO senior officers. His team immediately got to work, brainstorming ideas about how to take the PLO men out.

The Israeli intelligence through its loyal operatives in Lebanon were able to locate the three men as two of them lived in the same building while the third lived in an opposite building. In addition, they were able to obtain the exact architectural plans of the buildings, which helped them in constructing a duplicate Crime Scene for them to practice on. The Sayaret Mitkal would move on April 9, 1973.

The operation would be carried out by three groups that would attack the three apartments, and a fourth guard unit lead by Barak would coordinate the units activities as well as maintain contact with the intelligence ships which brought them to the Lebanese shores. They decided on three cars in the end, which would be driven by Mossad operatives who knew the city well. They would drive the fighters to the apartments and pick them up after the operation was finished. The Sayeret Matkal units, disguised as civilian tourists, would be equipped with Uzis, small arms, and explosive charges, all hidden under their clothes.

The place of the operation would be in the heart of West Beirut and particularly Verdun a place that was supposedly heavily guarded by the PLO. Nevertheless, the skilled Mossad drivers maneuvered the Israeli commandos into the heart of the city. The three units simultaneously stormed the apartments and executed their targets while the guard unit at the foot of the buildings clashed with a Lebanese police patrol that had arrived at the scene. The commandos evacuated the area and headed back to the beach were a ship awaited them. At the end of this operation, the spring of youth operation was a success as the Israelis were able to eliminate three of the most prominent leaders in less than thirty minutes as the Lebanese government stood idle and faced accusations of collaborating with the Israelis. This incident would be a major blow to the PLO that was now faced with a new challenge, as none of its members was safe from these savage commando attacks.

Hamid Assaf is a student at the Lebanese University. He wrote this article for Alternative.