PLO Messianism: Diagnosis of a modern gnostic sect

Placed against the backdrop of the recent war in Lebanon, this original analysis of the PLO rests upon the conviction that this movement is not merely a military-political body, but is a kind of "religious" sect in meaning, intent, and form. This philosophical interpretation of the PLO draws upon a gnostic model in order to uncover the psychological universe of the PLO. In so doing, the author employs the interdisciplinary method of linking religion and politics (which is a view of political culture in the Arab-Muslim world) to penetrate to the ultimate inner reality of the PLO. In this search, it is difficult to avoid concluding that the PLO represents a highly disorderly force in the Mideastern and global settings.