[_alxk]

> PLO tried to distinguish itself from Hamas by claiming to be more secular

Hamas was founded in 1989, a bit late for participation in the Lebanese civil war.

> Arafat, the leader of the PLO, wasn't christian. That's ... weird you claim this.

I'm talking about the leader of the PFLP, George Habash, which was the second largest Palestinian force at the time and operating in Lebanon during the civil war.

> they were trying to kick the non-muslims out of Lebanon by force.

I'm not disputing that the intention of the PLO was to anchor themselves in Lebanon (out of the control of the Lebanese state, even if that meant toppling it) and use it as a base, but I'm going to need some sources for the claim that the PLO wanted to "kick the non-muslims out of Lebanon".

[babarock]

Fair, not Hamas, the Islamic Jihad that came before it. It's not nearly the point of my reply, but good gotcha.

As for sources of how the PLO treated non-muslims during the civil war of lebanon, it's tough to find what you want. The whole civil war was about the christian factions vs the palestinian factions, with different entites in between with rapid shifting alliances.

[_alxk]

There was no "Islamic Jihad" in Palestinian groups before the 90s. Religion wasn't a factor in Palestinian politics or militancy before Hamas, and Hamas only became a big player during the second intifada in the 2000s.

I understand you are from Lebanon and from a sectarian background, but that's maybe partly why you have a biased understanding of the groups, ideologies and foreign players involved. You may want to read some background on the history and the conflict from some other sources maybe starting with [1]. Palestinian militancy played a big role, but their religion did not and they were not trying to ethnically cleanse Lebanon or establish a theocracy.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_Civil_War