Fedayeen: The Arab-Israeli Dilemma

by John Laffin

In "Fedayeen," John Laffin studies the rise and development of the movement that has come to be known as the "liberation of Palestine," a campaign that could claim conception in 1948 when the State of Israel came into existence and a million Palestinian Arabs became refugees. The "fedayeen" were first to come to public notice in Egyptian raids on Israel in 1955. Gradually, organized movements for the "liberation of Palestine" sprang up - Black September, Fatah, the Heroes of the Return, the Palestine Liberation Organization and numerous others. Their story is an extraordinary contrast of success and failure. At the outset they aroused world sympathy for the Palestinian plight - but have since alienated most of it by their world-wide terrorist activities. They have thrown the Arab community into turmoil, using violence to obtain support and funds; they have been bloodily crushed by fellow Arabs. These apparent paradoxes have served to disguise the true aims, beliefs, and motivations of the fedayeen, and their extensive use of propaganda has further confused their image in the eyes of the world. It is this confusion and prejudice that John Laffin seeks to overcome in an assessment of the fedayeen struggle based on his research in the Middle East. His interviews with Arabs and Israelis, including key figures who for security reasons are usually inaccessible, have made this study a true insight into an Arab-Israeli dilemma which increasingly involves the rest of the world.

Hardcover

First published March 1, 1973

About the author

John Laffin was a prolific author with nearly 130 books to his name. Many of his books concerned military history.

Laffin's parents both served in WWI, his father in the 20th Battalion and his mother as a nurse. In 1940, aged 24, having worked with Smith's Weekly and The Wagga Advertiser, he enlisted in the 2nd AIF. He trained as an infantryman and later completed an officer course before serving in New Guinea. While convalescing in Sydney in 1943 he met his wife Hazelle.

After the war Laffin worked for a number of newspapers and magazines, wrote short novels and began his own feature service and editing unit. With his family he left for England in 1956 where he resided for nearly 40 years. He wrote articles for Australian newspapers and taught English, history and geography in secondary colleges.

Laffin traveled extensively in Europe, especially the Western Front areas of WWI and in the Middle East. He returned to Australia in 1995 but Hazelle developed heart problems and died in early 1997. He is survived by his two daughters, Bronwen and Pirenne, and a son, Craig.