TO PROVIDE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE DYNAMICS OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN PALESTINIAN GUERRILLAS AND THE GOVERNMENT OF JORDAN, THE MILITARY CLASHES OF THE TWO GROUPS ARE RECONSTRUCTED. AN EXAMINATION OF THE CONFLICTS REVEALS THE TACTICS AND COUNTERTACTICS USED AND INDICATES THEIR EFFECTS ON THE PALESTINIAN AND ARAB PEOPLES. ALTHOUGH MUCH OF THE VIOLENCE COMMITTED BY TERRORISTS SERVES ONLY PERSONAL ENDS, THE PALESTINIAN GUERRILLAS APPLIED VIOLENCE FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES. BOTH THE PALESTINIAN AND JORDANIAN FORCES DESIRED TO MINIMIZE THE USE OF FORCE. THUS, VIOLENCE WAS NEITHER UNAVOIDABLE NOR INESCAPABLE. ALTHOUGH THE INTRODUCTION OF HEAVY WEAPONS INTO THE REGION PRECIPITATED SOME OF THE FIGHTING, THE MOST IMPORTANT CAUSE OF THE CONFLICT WAS THE EMERGENCE OF DISTINCT PALESTINIAN SUBGOALS WHICH DIFFERED FROM THE GOALS OF THE JORDANIAN GOVERNMENT. THE PEACE INITIATIVES IN THE MIDDLE EAST ESCALATED THE VIOLENCE AS JORDAN ATTEMPTED TO PROVE ITS PEACEFUL INTENTIONS TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, AND THE PALESTINIANS SHOWED THEIR DETERMINATION TO REGAIN TERRITORY LOST TO ISRAEL. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS PLAYED NO PART IN THE CIVIL WAR, BUT THE POLITICAL DIVISION OF THE EAST BANK OF THE JORDAN RIVER CONTRIBUTED TO THE CONFLICT. THERE IS A STRONG CORRELATION BETWEEN THE INCREASING POSSIBILITY OF PEACEFUL RESOLUTION TO THE MIDDLE EAST PROBLEMS, AND THE INCREASING VIOLENCE OF THE PALESTINIAN LIBERATION ORGANIZATION. FOOTNOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE PROVIDED. (TWK)