Just two mentions, but it looks like the book is actually titled 1000 Years of Annoying the French (source), and it's definitely not an unbiased source. Are there any other sources that describe the situation and back up that narrative?
It's definitely a cool story though!
Arafat wasn't leftist.
The PLO had two wings, the pro-Saddam wing and the pro-Hafez wing. The pro-Saddam wing were the ALF, Fatah, PLF, PPSF, PLA.
The pro-Hafez wing were the DFLP, as-Sa'iqa, PFLP-GC and Fatah al Intifada.
And then there were neutral Palestinian groups like the PFLP, PFLP-EO, PFLP-SC, May 15th Organization, and Black June Organization who played both sides.
The pro-Saddam wing weren't socialist. The pro-Hafez one were.
https://www.amazon.com/Armed-Struggle-Search-State-Palestinian/dp/0198296436
I still need:
The Canadian Party System: An Analytic History Hardcover – Sep 1 2017 by Richard Johnston (Author)
and
Origins and Evolution of the European Union (New European Union Series) 2nd Edition by Desmond Dinan: https://www.amazon.ca/Origins-Evolution-European-Union-Desmond/dp/0199570825/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1515562311&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=Origins+and+Evolution+of+the+European+Union+%28New+European+Union+Series%29+2nd+Edit...
ISBN: 978-0199570829
As always I recommend the book Dirty War,
https://www.amazon.com/Dirty-War-Strategies-Political-Conflicts/dp/041592281X
seriously bat shit crazy stuff happening there and the British public need to learn about it before they begin having opinions on that region.
For a more full accounting of what I'm talking about re hubris:
Not sure how many were Stasi but I read in this book that only 2% of the population dealt with the Stasi (spied on, interrogated, etc.).