Arab-Israeli wars
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AuthorTopic: Arab-Israeli wars
topic by
William
3/27/2002 (1:04)
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Four wars have occured between the Arabs and Israelis. It amazes me that despite the historical record, from the UN or any other source, supporters of Israel believe (and I don't mean pretend to believe) that Arabs started each of these 4 wars. I just wanted to review them.

The 1948 war is the only controversial one as there weren't any international observers. The jews claim the arabs started it and vise versa, but what we do know from British census figures is that while Jews made up about 30% of the population, mainly in the cities, they owned 6% of the land of Palestine and yet at the end of the 1948 war they owned 78% of the land. From this data it is difficult to determine who was the aggressor.

The second Arab-Israeli war in 1956 is better known as the Suez Canal crisis. The French built the canal, but the English maintained control of it. It was a sticking point after WWII, when England was giving soveignty to it's former colonies, as Egypt demanded control of the strategically important canal. England finally agreed with the stipulation that should a foreign power attack, England had the right the defend the canal. It was turned over in 1956 and less than 1 month later, Israel invaded Egypt in a coordinated move with England and France. English paratroopers jumped in to 'protect' the canal as Israel took most of the Sinai. The USSR was not amused and threatened to get involved in the issue. The US, not seeking the upset the Soviets and also not happy to see the French and English exert influence in the region, demanded that Israel leave the Sinai. That ended the second war of the 'Arab agressors.'
reply by
William
3/27/2002 (1:20)
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The third war of 'Arab agression' was launched by Israel in June of 1967. They 'anticipated' an attempt by the Arabs to drive the Jews into the sea and attacked Egypt, Syria and Jordan destroying their air forces on the runway. The war lasted 6 days, during which time Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and the entire Sinai penisula. A ceasefire was then signed between Israel and the Arabs, after which Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria. Syria and Israel remain technically at war today, over this issue.

reply by
The Hawk
3/29/2002 (15:06)
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And this information was obtained where?
reply by
egyptian
3/31/2002 (2:52)
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Suez 1956
by Chris Leininger
The second half of 1956 marked a turning point in the Cold War and the balance of power in the Middle East. On July 26, 1956, Gamel Abd al-Nasser defied the West and nationalized the Suez Canal. This act eventually led to an Israeli-British-French attack on October 29,1956. The Crisis ended quickly with all sides agreeing to a cease-fire November 6,1956. The US found itself in the middle of the Crisis from the moment it began. The US faced the seemingly impossible choice of abandoning its allies or standing on principle. The two men guiding US foreign policy were John Foster Dulles and Dwight Eisenhower. Their handling of the situation, albeit not perfect, showed a depth of understanding not only of the specific crisis but the US position in the Middle East. It has frequently been argued that not only did Dulles initiate the controversy with his renege on the Aswan Dam offer, but that he abandoned our allies and placed NATO in grave danger. I hope to prove that Dulles and Eisenhower were, throughout the Crisis, the only Western voices of reason, Dulles' decision to pull the plug on the Dam was the right thing to do, and that neither man abandoned Britain or France. They responded logically to a legitimate claim by a legitimate power, and Britain and France must shoulder responsibility for the debacle known as the Suez Crisis of 1956.

The Players
In 1952, Nasser helped lead a group of army officers, known as the Free Officers, in a revolutionary coup in Egypt. Their revolution was part of the general post war restructuring of the Middle East that had begun during World War I and continued through World War II. Nasser hoped to carry this revolution beyond the borders of Egypt, and into the entire Arab world. For the Suez Crisis to be understood, one must first grasp the message Nasser was sending to the world with his actions.

Nasser hoped that he would be the one to reunite the Arab people; therefore, he developed a foreign policy that would place him in the position to do that. The essence of Nasser's policy was a return to dignity.i The primary objective of his policy was independence from external control -- military, political, and economic.ii Thus, he hoped to restore the dignity of the Arab people by removing the corruptive influence of all types of foreign entanglements. He hoped to create an Arab bloc, which could protect, police, and finance itself. Central to his policy was the principle of positive neutralism or non-alignment.iii In Nasser's mind, any Arab country that aligned itself with a major power gave up their sovereignty, and subjected itself to the will of the stronger.

Following WW II both Britain and France attempted to maintain their influence in the Middle East. These two colonial powers would be severely tested by the rise of nationalism in the region. Many have defined the Crisis in terms of the end of an era (colonialism), and the beginning of another (Pan-Arabism); however, the Crisis did not occur in such a neat little vacuum. Britain had developed a number of ways to maintain its influence without abject political control. The very concept of the Commonwealth was one example. Another example was the Baghdad Pact, which Britain hoped to use to keep its foot in the Middle Eastern door. Nasser's reaction to the Pact should have alerted the two colonial powers to the type of opposition their actions would receive.

Anthony Eden was a central figure throughout the Crisis. He was the last prime minister to consider Britain an equal power to the US and USSR.iv He openly criticized Dulles and accused him of abandoning his closest allies, but it was Eden who lost control of Suez.v Blinded by ghosts from the past -- appeasement, colonial glory, and his own success -- he lost touch of the great game and played an extremely sloppy hand.

US foreign policy, as it often was in the Cold War, was in a state of transition. The Eisenhower Doctrine would follow on the heels of this Crisis and the Rollback policy had conveniently been rolled under the White House carpeting. Much has been made about Dulles the moral crusader, he has been portrayed as one who based his foreign policies on his personal beliefs about good and evil.vi This paints a rather anorexic portrait of Dulles' actual policies. I believe that portrayal was due to the combined effect of relying too heavily on European versions of the story, and an inability to separate Dulles' rhetoric from the meat of his policies.

If Dulles was truly the moral crusader he was made out to be, clearly Nasser's non-alignment policy would be unacceptable. The facts tend to show this was not the case. Although Dulles was not a fan of non-alignment, he recognized Egypt's freedom of choice. A closer look at the Czech arms deal and the Dam offer reveal that Nasser's 'aggressive non-alignment' in the latter would not be tolerated.vii

Further, US estimates of Nasser and the overall situation in the Middle East were closer to reality than any of the allies. From the outset of the Crisis, the US sought to isolate Nasser and was concerned about: 'making Nasser a much more important figure than he is.'viii Although Dulles and Eisenhower sought to solve the present Crisis, they kept their eye toward the future and their expanding role in the region.


The Antecedents
No one predicted Nasser's nationalization of the Suez Canal on July 26,1956. It was the most flagrant in a series of bold acts of defiance against the West. What led Nasser to this ultimate test of wills? Four interconnected events prepared the way for Nasser's greatest moment: the Evacuation Treaty of 1954, the Baghdad Pact, the Czech arms deal, and the Aswan Dam negotiations.

The Suez Canal represented a remnant of the colonial era -- built on the backs and with the blood of the Egyptian people it was a constant reminder of their loss of dignity. That Britain's military base at Suez housed 80,000 troops made things worse; thus, Nasser began a diplomatic campaign to restore Egyptian dignity and get the British out of Egypt.ix The US helped pressure the British to reach an accord for two reasons. The US was historically anti-colonial, and the US hoped to gain a quid-pro-quo from Nasser.x

The British planned to create a Middle Eastern collective security organization similar to that of NATO and SEATO to protect their interests in the region. The US supported the idea in principle but would not consider joining any such agreement. Dulles traveled to Egypt in 1953, because be believed Britain should consider Egypt for the base of the organization. He quickly realized that neither Nasser nor his people would ever consent to such a thing.xi On January 12,1955, Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, and Britain inked their fateful pact. Dulles called in his chip and asked Nasser to join, he refused.xii

Nasser stated he would have no part in this 'imperial device' that further eroded Arab unity, was another insult to Arab dignity, and was an attempt by the West to build up Iraq as a competitor to Egypt in the Arab world.xiii Ironically, his reaction to the British ensured Egypt would not be the center of the Pact, and he was dead on in his concern that the US and Britain were attempting to isolate him. His version of collective security: 'give us weapons and we will defend ourselves' had about as much chance of succeeding as a third world leader taking on the combined forces of Israel-Britain-France and winning.xiv

The British evacuation of the Suez Base had begun, the Baghdad Pact was signed, and Nasser now turned to the US for arms. The US government considered the proposal, but the pro-Zionist movement in the US quickly pushed the proposal off the table.xv Nasser and his generals clearly wanted US arms -- they were trained to read the English manuals; further, Nasser feared that with Soviet arms would come Soviet ideologues -- a situation he did not want.xvi However, the US made no offer. Nasser knew he needed weapons, he had to turn somewhere, and Russia was the logical place.

Moscow was careful. The Kremlin desired an 'in' in the Middle East, but wanted to move quietly into the region. Moscow decided to work the arms deal through Czechoslovakia. When Dulles heard of the deal he was 'simmering with anger.' He immediately sent Kim Roosevelt, who two years earlier led a CIA coup that toppled the government of Iranian nationalist leader Mossediq, to visit with Nasser.xvii Nasser was warned by his advisors: 'Remember Guatemala, remember Guatemala,' to which he replied simply: 'To hell with Guatemala.'xviii He then proceeded directly outside and announced the Czech arms deal. Thus, he again defied the West as he had over the Baghdad Pact. The arms deal was more than mere defiance, however, it was a proclamation: 'we are independent of the West.'xix

To his credit Dulles recognized Nasser's right to acquire the arms: 'Arab countries were independent governments and free to do whatever they wished in the matter...it is difficult to be critical of countries which feeling themselves endangered seek the arms which they sincerely need.'xx Dulles seemed to sense that Nasser's non-alignment was serious business, and that a harsh response would push him farther into the Soviet orbit. The British were incensed: 'we may have to get rid of Nasser, especially if he becomes publicly committed to the arms contract.'xxi This was said by Eden's top aide only two days before Nasser's announcement.

Britain had one final hope of bringing Nasser to heel -- the long talked about Aswan Dam project. British intelligence had received reports in November of 1955 that the Soviets were ready to make an offer to finance the Dam.xxii Eden became intent on convincing Dulles that the project was worthy of their mutual support. Dulles needed the convincing, he did not like the idea from the beginning. There were three reasons Dulles initially backed off: he tended not to associate himself outwardly with Britain in the Middle East -- he feared guilt by association, he did not want to place himself in the middle of the ongoing dispute between Iraq and Egypt, and finally the sheer magnitude and time frame of the project worried him.xxiii Although he agreed in December to make the offer, he was adamant about attaching strings to protect the huge investment. Nasser delayed, saying he needed time to consider all his options.xxiv

The Aswan Dam issue has been a center of controversy. On July 19, 1956, Nasser 'accepted' the offer, but Dulles pulled it off the table. Nasser used the Aswan incident as an example of the West's lack of respect for his people, and a week later he nationalized the Suez Canal saying he would use the extra money to finance the Dam himself. Dulles has been blamed by virtually every nation involved for initiating the Crisis. Was it an example of lack of respect and was he responsible? It was not meant to be an affront to the Egyptians, and Dulles was not responsible for initiating nationalization.

Dulles was never convinced about the soundness of the project, thus he conditioned his offer with strings. Although Nasser wanted the money, he refused to accept the strings attached to it. Nasser was the first to delay. He wanted to play all his cards, he likely hoped to take the US offer to the Soviets and see if they would one-up it.

In the meantime, a number of factors came together that cast a darker shadow on the prospects for the US backed loan. Congress became increasingly concerned with the project. Dulles was confident but not certain he could persuade Congress to go along at this time, however, Nasser's reputation and unreliability made the ten year time frame of the project imposing -- especially if Congress planned to fight the outlay every year.xxv Nasser aggravated the situation even more by going out and recognizing Red China, and again publicly stating that Egypt was: 'still considering a Soviet offer to build the Dam.'xxvi

Finally, on July 13, 1956, Dulles sent word to Nasser that the US was not able to deal with the matter, because Congress was in the middle of a pitched battle over the Dam that was threatening the entire Mutual Security Act.xxvii Nasser chose to ignore the warning and decided to press the issue. He sent Ambassador Hussein to Washington to get a definite answer. Hussein told Dulles that Egypt would accept the offer, and he hoped the US had not decided to renege because Egypt (patted his pocket) had an offer from the Soviets.xxviii Dulles had been pushed to the limits of his patience. He had allowed the arms deal with a virtual no comment -- non-alignment was one thing, this was blackmail. He told Hussein to take the Russian offer, but added that the US would still consider smaller projects in the future.xxix

It was Nasser who pushed the issue; he demanded a 'yes' or 'no' at a time that Dulles simply could not give a definite answer. Some have said that Dulles should have somehow delayed a decision, but that assumes anyone could have predicted Nasser's next move -- and no one did. Dulles wondered if he had done the right thing.xxx He had. The Dam was a loser. It would have been a ten year ordeal. The Soviets eventually did finance the Dam, and I found no tangible long term benefits accrued to them from the project. Nasser, on the other hand, gained immediate and immense dividends from this not very suprising rejection.


Nationalization
Dulles reneged on the Dam offer July 19,1956. The British followed suit the next day. Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal on July 26, 1956. Nasser viewed the Western rejection as a purposeful slap in the face and a deliberate blow to his policy of neutralism and his leadership position in the Arab world.xxxi Furthermore, Nasser sensed a conspiracy. He believed: 'the necessary consequences are that you fellows are out to kill me. And all I can do is protect myself...I am not going to be killed.'xxxii It seemed logical that Nasser feared a plot (maybe CIA) was bearing down on him, he feared the people would be so deflated from the news that they might just join in, and so he nationalized the Canal. Of course, it was also possible he had planned on doing so for a long time, but was awaiting the right moment.

Nationalization produced a general uproar in the West, but the volume of the roar varied depending on the locale. Nasser's action created a crack in the Western power structure. Three areas of difference became immediately apparent between the US and Britain. First, they differed in their interpretations of the Soviet threat. Eden viewed Nasser as a Soviet puppet: 'he is in Russian hands, just as Mussolini was in Hitler's.'xxxiii Dulles viewed the Soviet threat as more long-term, he believed that nationalization had nothing to do with Russia, and everything to do with colonialism.xxxiv Second, Eden was convinced that Nasser was the second coming of Hitler, and in no way could he be appeased.xxxv Eisenhower disagreed: 'This is a picture too dark and severely distorted.'xxxvi Finally, the two previous differences conditioned the degree to which the two countries were willing to respond. If Nasser followed through with his pledge to keep the waterway open and compensate the shareholders, Dulles was willing to accept Egyptian control -- although he preferred international control.xxxvii Eden believed that force was the only response (as did France and Israel), and he immediately ordered plans be drawn for an adequate response.xxxviii

Thus, the use of force quickly became the central issue as the Crisis moved into August and beyond. Nasser had placed himself in a dangerous position, but he did so only after considered calculation. His action was clearly legal -- US and British international lawyers agreed on at least that much (to the chagrin of Eden).xxxix Nasser had made certain that neither France nor Britain could launch an immediate attack,xl he fully intended to do whatever it took to keep the Canal open, and he began working on the means to compensate the shareholders.xli Nasser relied on the belief that by the time France or Britain could attack, the Canal would be running so well that no justification would exist for such an overt act of aggression. He miscalculated the time factor, and he could not ever have guessed the excuse that would eventually be created to justify the allied attack.

Eden proved willing to risk Britain's entire future in the Middle East over the Suez Canal. He viewed the Canal as the 'jugular vein' of Britain's global empire.xlii Nasser guessed right about one thing: Britain was not prepared to respond in August. Nationalization caught Eden off guard and this forced him to react irrationally. Eden's irrationality directly led to the real crisis in October-November of 1956.

Two days after the nationalization, Eden called Captain Liddell-Hart into his office and ordered him to develop a plan to regain the Canal and force Nasser out of power.xliii Hart developed four plans for Eden, who rejected each in order. The fifth plan Hart presented Eden was exactly what he wanted. It was a duplicate of the first plan and Liddell-Hart told Eden that -- Eden responded by throwing an ink well at Hart to which Hart: 'picked up a government issued waste paper basket, and jammed it over the prime minister's head.'xliv

Eden was losing it, as Dulles discovered when he arrived in London for meetings on August 1-2. Dulles was intent on keeping the resort to force as only a last ditch option, Eden was equally intent on using force.xlv Eden began their meeting by telling Dulles that Nasser's act was illegal and a violation of Britain's most recent treaty with Egypt. Dulles asked to see the treaty, it took Eden a half-hour to produce it, and it was clear to Dulles that: 'Eden nor his staff had really read the darned thing.'xlvi

Finally, Eden's desperation can be surmised from the fact that he opted to be a part of the French-Israeli invasion plan. Frankly, this was unforgivable. Acting alone would have been bad, but acting in collusion with France and Israel so endangered Britain's position in the Middle East that even Nasser refused to believe that any type of collusion with Israel would be a possible alternative.xlvii

Dulles' response to nationalization showed he grasped both the US position and Nasser's positioning in the region. After the October-November enterprise failed, both Britain and France condemned Dulles for abandoning them. Those accusations were categorically false.

Throughout the Crisis both Eisenhower and Dulles continually stated that their goal was to solve the Crisis through diplomatic means. It was clearly not the time nor the manner in which to remove a leader of Nasser's stature. Before Eisenhower sent Dulles to London for the August meeting, he told Dulles the British resort to force was 'unwise policy' and 'out of date.'xlviii Eisenhower sent Dulles to London with explicit instructions: 'to let the British know how gravely we view the matter, what an error we think the decision is, and how this course of action would antagonize the American people...and that every peaceful means of resolving this difficulty must be completely exhausted.'xlix Dulles stated: 'I had come to the conclusion that, regrettable as it might be to see Nasser's prestige enhanced even temporarily, I did not believe the situation was on which should be resolved by force...the Soviet Union would reap the benefits.'l The US position was made crystal clear early on in the Crisis, and equally important, Dulles and Eisenhower agreed both on the real issues involved and the best means to solve the problem.

Dulles set out to solve the problem through normal diplomatic channels. Meanwhile, the French, British, and Israeli's were working out their plan of attack, and neither Eden nor Nasser budged from their positions. Dulles never wavered and neither did the US position, in mid-September he stated: 'the US did not intend itself to try to shoot its way up the Canal.'li Thus, time passed but the 'three' sides were not getting any closer, however, both the US and Egypt believed that time was the perfect remedy for the problem. They were wrong.


The Attack
On October 29,1956, Israel attacked Egypt. The following day Britain and France issued ultimatums to both sides to immediately stop the fighting. The actual words of the ultimatums warned that French and British troops would be landing whether or not the fighting stopped.lii Everyone from Cairo to Washington saw through this poorly concealed ploy and the collusion that had occurred. Dulles and Eisenhower met immediately and decided to take the initiative. They first brought action to the Security Council and when that failed, they took their case to the General Assembly of the UN.liii The move forestalled a Soviet action, and was meant to clearly distance the US, in a manner the whole world would see, from its allies. The US was not about to go down with the HMS Former Colonial Powers. The timing of the invasion could not have been worse from the US perspective for two reasons: the presidential election was only a week away, and the Soviets were beginning their crackdown in Hungary.

The upcoming presidential election meant that Eisenhower was in no position to stand pat. He had to comment on the situation. It was not feasible for him to condemn the Russians for their wanton acts of aggression in Hungary, and condone his allies for their actions in Egypt.liv With a 'heavy heart' Dulles told the General Assembly: 'the Israeli-French-British invasion is a grave error inconsistent with the principles and purposes of this charter.'lv Eden's expectation that his old friend Eisenhower would 'lie doggo' were dashed.lvi

Nasser and the Arab world responded as one might expect they would -- with shock, repulsion, and anger. Nasser closed down the Canal, cutting the invasion force off from the oil needed to continue the operation for any extended period. The Egyptian people decisively rallied around their leader -- millions joined on to resist the invasion.lvii The Baghdad Pact crumbled, as Iraq refused to sit with the British and severed ties with the French.lviii The Arab world surrounded Nasser with encouragement and cut the pipeline running from the Gulf to the Mediterranean.lix

Russia remained relatively quiet during the Crisis. On November 5, 1956, she sent letters to London and Paris threatening 'rocket attacks' if the invasion did not end.lx By this point however, US and UN pressure made the cease-fire agreement of November 6 inevitable, and the US position had been made painfully clear. By doing nothing really yet appearing to seriously threaten the West, Russia stepped into the now gaping power vacuum that was the Middle East. Both during and after the Crisis, Nasser built up the Soviet role. This opened the door for a counter-balance to the US in the region -- which was exactly what both Nasser and the Soviets wanted.lxi


Conclusion
The Suez Crisis was a turning point in the Middle East because it heralded the beginning of a series of new eras. Nasser would use his successful handling of the Crisis to catapult himself into the position of leader of Pan-Arabism. It remained to be seen if he could do what none had been able to do in modern history -- unify the Arab people under one flag. He could not. Ironically, if the Middle East had been democratic it might have been possible, but as it stood the US was not the only country that feared Nasser. Most Middle Eastern leaders, although they respected Nasser, also feared and did not trust him. Thus Pan-Arabism never took off in the manner Nasser hoped it would, yet its form and substance still exist in the Middle East today.

Britain and France were finished in the Middle East for all practical purposes. Their attack on the Suez and their collusion with Israel sealed their fates. Eden's political career was over, and De Gaulle was just coming to power in France. Their collusive action further de-legitimized Israel in the eyes of the Arab world by proving its dependence on the West.

The power vacuum created by the British and French evaporation in the Middle East was used by Dulles, Eisenhower, and the US to further entrench itself into the region. The Eisenhower Doctrine of 1957 grew directly out of the effects of this Crisis. The stature and statesmanship of Dulles have suffered due to the 'errors' he made here. Eden went to his grave condemning Dulles for abandoning him at Suez, but unless new documents somehow reveal a promise Dulles made behind closed doors to Eden the abandonment argument can safely be set aside.

Dulles' decision not to finance Aswan was equally sound. The only conceivable way to do the project was with the very types of strings Dulles attached to the US offer. Besides the fact that it was not yet definite that Nasser could be trusted, these 'strings' would have tied the US government to the Egyptian government and vice versa. The inherent danger of this was all too obvious. Those 'strings' could easily be turned against the US by Nasser some time down the road as 'just another example of Western colonialism.'

Finally, US silence or involvement in the British-French-Israeli use of force was out of the question. The future of US foreign policy in the Middle East would have been destroyed. By standing up for principle, Dulles left the door open for continuing and increasing involvement in the Middle East, even as it reacted against the West in general. Thus, Dulles and Eisenhower handled the Crisis suprisingly well considering the event in its totality and with an eye toward the future. Certainly misjudgments were made -- both in regards to Nasser's response to pulling the Aswan offer, and the British response to nationalization -- but in the shifting sands of the Middle East it was the overall consistency of US policy from beginning to end that insured the Suez Crisis did not turn into the Suez War it easily could have become.


Endnotes:
i Ali E. Hillal Dessouki, 'Nasser and the Struggle for Independence,' Suez 1956: The Crisis and Its Consequences, eds. Wm. Roger Louis and Roger Owen (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989) 32. ii Dessouki, 33. iii Michael A. Guhin, John Foster Dulles: A Statesman and His Times, (New York: Columbia UP, 1972) 256. iv Wm. Roger Louis and Roger Owen, 'The Historical Context,' Suez 1956: The Crisis and Its Consequences, eds. Wm. Roger Louis and Roger Owen (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989) 11. v Robert R. Bowie, 'Eisenhower, Dulles, and the Suez Crisis,' Suez 1956: The Crisis and Its Consequences, eds. Wm. Roger Louis and Roger Owen (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989) 213. viJohn G. Stoessinger, Crusaders and Pragmatists: Movers of Modern American Foreign Policy, 2nd ed. (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1979) 126-127. viiGuhin, 274. viii Keith Kyle, 'Britain and the Crisis: 1955-1956,' Suez 1956: The Crisis and Its Consequences, eds. Wm. Roger Louis and Roger Owen (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989) 123. ixDessouki, 34. xLeonard Mosley, Dulles: A Biography of Eleanor, Allen, and John Foster Dulles and Their Family Network, (New York: Dial Press, 1978) 384. xiWm. Roger Louis, 'The Tragedy of the Anglo-Egyptian Settlement of 1954,' Suez 1956: The Crisis and Its Consequences, eds. Wm. Roger Louis and Roger Owen (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989) 60. xiiDessouki, 35. xiii Dessouki, 35. xivDessouki, 34. xv Mosley, 384. xviMosley, 397. xvii Mosley, 388. xviii Mosley, 388. xix Dessouki, 37. xx Guhin, 255. xxi Kyle, 106. xxii Kyle, 108. xxiii Guhin, 266-267. xxiv Guhin, 268. xxv Guhin, 272. xxvi Guhin, 268. xxvii Guhin, 273. xxviii Mosley, 402. xxix Bowie, 195. xxx Mosley, 403. xxxi Dessouki, 38. xxxii Mosley, 404. xxxiii Guhin, 287. xxxiv Guhin, 288. xxxv Louis and Owen, 4. xxxvi Guhin, 288. xxxvii Guhin, 289. xxxviii Mosley, 408. xxxix Amin Hewedy, 'Nasser and the Crisis of 1956,' Suez 1956: The Crisis and Its Consequences, eds. Wm. Roger Louis and Roger Owen (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989) 166. xl Mosley, 405. xli Hewedy, 165. xlii Louis and Owen, 22. xliii Mosley, 409. xliv Mosley, 409. xlv Bowie, 197. xlvi Mosley, 410. xlvii Hewedy, 169. xlviii Bowie, 198. xlix Bowie, 199. l Bowie, 201-202. li Bowie, 205. lii Winthrop W. Aldrich, 'The Suez Crisis: A Footnote to History,' Foreign Affairs XXXVI (1967):548. liii Bowie, 208-209. liv John C. Campbell, 'The Soviet Union, the United States, and the Twin Crises of Hungary and Suez,' Suez 1956: The Crisis and Its Consequences, eds. Wm. Roger Louis and Roger Owen (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989) 245. lv Guhin, 291. lvi Mosley, 407. lvii Hewedy, 170. lviii Dessouki, 39. lix Hewedy, 171. lx Albert Hourani, 'Conclusion,' Suez 1956: The Crisis and Its Consequences, eds. Wm. Roger Louis and Roger Owen (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989) 403. lxi Rashid Khalidi, 'Consequences of the Suez Crisis in the Arab World,' Suez 1956: The Crisis and Its Consequences, eds. Wm. Roger Louis and Roger Owen (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989) 380.


Bibliography
Aldrich, Winthrop W. 'The Suez Crisis: A Footnote to History,' Foreign Affairs, XXXVI (April 1958), 371-82. Bailey, Thomas A. A Diplomatic History of the American People. 10th Ed. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1980. Bill, James A., and Spingborg, Robert. Politics in the Middle East. 4th ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1994. Cleveland, William L. A History of the Modern Middle East. Boulder: Westview Press, 1994. Eden, Anthony. The Suez Crisis of 1956. Boston: Beacon Press, 1960. Guhin, Michael A. John Foster Dulles: A Statesman and His Times. New York: Columbia UP, 1972. Hoopes, Townsend. The Devil and John Foster Dulles. Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1973. Louis, Wm. Roger., and Owen, Roger., eds. Suez 1956: The Crisis and its Consequences. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989. Lesch, David W. 'Gamel Abd al-Nasser and an Example of Diplomatic Acumen,' Middle Eastern Studies. Vol. 31 April 1995: 362-375. Mosley, Leonard. Dulles: A Biography of Eleanor, Allen, and John Foster Dulles and Their Family Network. New York: Dial Press, 1978. Stoessinger, John G. Crusaders and Pragmatists: Movers of Modern American Foreign Policy. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1979. 'President Gamel Abdel Nasser.' http://www.mordor.com/hany/egypt/nasser.html (25 April 1996).


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This paper was sritten May 1, 1996, by Chris Leininger (cl1@acusd.edu)
reply by
egyptian
3/31/2002 (3:03)
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To hawk :- And this is just in case you only beleive spin rather than history.
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http://www.adl.org/ISRAEL/Record/sinai.html



THE 1956 SINAI CAMPAIGN
In the early 1950s, Egypt violated the terms of the Egyptian-Israeli armistice agreement and blocked Israeli ships from passing through the Suez Canal, a major international waterway. It also began to block traffic through the Straits of Tiran, a narrow passage of water linking the Israeli port of Eilat to the Red Sea. This action effectively cut off the port of Eilat -- Israel's sole outlet to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Closure of the Suez Canal and the Tiran Straits damaged Israel's trade with Asia, for it meant that foreign ships carrying goods bound for Israel and Israeli ships carrying goods bound for the Far East had to travel a long and costly circuitous route to the Atlantic and Israel's Mediterranean ports.

At the same time, Palestinian Arab fedayeen launched cross-border infiltrations and attacks on Israeli civilian centers and military outposts from Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Arab infiltration and Israeli retaliation became a regular pattern of Arab-Israeli relations. Israel hoped that its harsh reprisals would compel Arab governments to restrain infiltrators into Israel. In 1955 alone, 260 Israeli citizens were killed or wounded by fedayeen.

In July 1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, threatening British and French interests in oil supplies and western trade. Their interests converging, Israel, Britain and France planned an attack on Egypt, with the former seeking free navigation through international waters and an end to terrorist attacks and the latter two hoping to seize control of the Suez Canal.

On October 29, 1956, Israel began its assault on Egyptian military positions, capturing the whole of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. On October 31, France and Britain joined the fray and hostilities ended on November 5. The U.S. was caught completely by surprise and voiced strong opposition to the joint attack. The U.S. pressured Israel to withdraw from Egyptian territory. United Nations forces were stationed along the Egyptian-Israeli border to prevent an Egyptian blockade and deter cross-border infiltrations. Israel declared that if Egyptian forces would again blockade the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba, it would consider this a casus belli.

In the years following the 1956 Suez crisis, Arabs and Israelis maintained an uneasy truce. Tensions began to escalate in the mid 1960s as a result of domestic, regional and international factors independent of the Arab-Israeli conflict. In particular, Arab states competed against each other for dominance in the Arab world. Egypt's Nasser struggled to maintain his position as leader of Arab politics. Facing internal social and economic problems as well, Arab governments increased their anti-Israel posture as a means of quieting internal dissent. In February 1966, for example, a new Syrian regime facing growing economic problems raised the volume of anti-Israel rhetoric and increased cross-border raids on Israeli territory.

In keeping with their attempts to manipulate and control the Palestinian cause, the Arab states created the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Cairo in 1964. The goal of the PLO, according to its founding charter, was to use violence to liberate Palestine. In 1965, Fatah, the main faction of the PLO, began terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and civilian installations.

Soviet-American competition in the Middle East contributed to Arab-Israeli tensions too. While the Soviets lent political and military support to radical Arab regimes, the United States provided the same to conservative Arab states and to Israel.

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reply by
The Hawk
3/31/2002 (12:02)
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'To hawk :- And this is just in case you only beleive spin rather than history.'

I see that this is the only line that you wrote in the whole thing. I guess you suspect me to cringe at this knowledge that you have cut and paste. You are wrong. Allow me to reply.

Quotes from my College text: 'A Concise History of the Middle East' by Arthur Goldschmidt Jr.:

'While the Arabs viewed Israel as an agent of Western inperialism, the Israelis saw themselves as an embattled nation seeking to ensure the survival of the Jewish people in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust. They regarded their war for independence as a struggle by an opressed people for freedom from outside domination.'

'Who looked out for the Palestinian Arabs? No Arab government heeded the needs or the interests of these people who, up to 1948, had formed the majority of Palestine's population.'

This is an interesting one: 'The 400,000 Arabs who lived in those parts of Palestine not taken by Israel (including the old city of Jerusalem) came under the military occupation of the Arab Legion.'

'No Arab state was willing to confer directly with Israel.' Oh yea... they didn't recognize them as a state.

'It is true, though, that Arab hostility complicated Israelis life. All road and rail connections between Israel and its neighbors were cut. Planes going to and from Israel could not fly over Arab countries, let alone land in their airports. The Arab states refused to trade with Israel and boycotted the products of any foreign firm doing business there. Israeli citizens, Jews from abroad, and even foreign Gentiles whose passports showed that they had visited Israel were barred entry to many of the Arab countries. Ships carrying goods to Israel could not pass through the Suez Canal or even enter Arab ports. Egypt blockaded the Tiran Straits between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, stiflinng the growth of an Israeli port at Eilat. Arab diplomats abroad shunned their Israeli counterparts. Arabic books, newspapers, and radio broadcasts virulently attacked Israel and its supporters.' So I ask you... Whose the more foolish, the fool who attacks, or the fool who instigates the attack? (Like my Star Wars pun??)

Now for the more objective view of the Suez war: 'Eisenhower was then seeking reelection on a slogan of 'peace and prosperity.' This was no time for a Suez war. Britain and France disagreed with the United States (They needed the Suez Canal because their oil tankers passed through it). They prepared openly to retake the canal by force, despite logistical problems that kept delaying the date of their attack. Israel, eager to clean out the fidaiyin bases in Gaza and to break Egypt's blockaid of the Gulf of Aquaba, mobalized for a preventative strike against Egypt.'

You have to remember that no Arab country wanted to speak with Israel. Military force was their only means of solving the problem. Kind of like terrorism today. Nobody listens to them until they blow up a few civilians. I believe Leininger failed to mention the reason behind the attack in his, otherwise brilliant and informative, paper. Correct me if I am wrong...

One more thing... Instead of posting entire lengths of papers and articles that nobody apparently reads, how about we state the article, and then quote certain points about it like I just did. This forces a better conprehension of the article for both the person posting and the reader. This will then lead to a better discusion. Can we please stop with the cut and paste???

Oh, and I like to mention something about the authors that I quote when I do quote. All the information on Arthur Goldschmidt Jr. can be found at his websight:

http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/a/x/axg2/INDEX.HTM

reply by
egyptian
3/31/2002 (15:10)
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Dear Hawk:-
ok let me copy and paste again while it is still allowed under this forum rules.
this is the references of what I posted ..

----
Aldrich, Winthrop W. 'The Suez Crisis: A Footnote to History,' Foreign Affairs, XXXVI (April 1958), 371-82. Bailey, Thomas A. A Diplomatic History of the American People. 10th Ed. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1980. Bill, James A., and Spingborg, Robert. Politics in the Middle East. 4th ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1994. Cleveland, William L. A History of the Modern Middle East. Boulder: Westview Press, 1994. Eden, Anthony. The Suez Crisis of 1956. Boston: Beacon Press, 1960. Guhin, Michael A. John Foster Dulles: A Statesman and His Times. New York: Columbia UP, 1972. Hoopes, Townsend. The Devil and John Foster Dulles. Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1973. Louis, Wm. Roger., and Owen, Roger., eds. Suez 1956: The Crisis and its Consequences. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989. Lesch, David W. 'Gamel Abd al-Nasser and an Example of Diplomatic Acumen,' Middle Eastern Studies. Vol. 31 April 1995: 362-375. Mosley, Leonard. Dulles: A Biography of Eleanor, Allen, and John Foster Dulles and Their Family Network. New York: Dial Press, 1978. Stoessinger, John G. Crusaders and Pragmatists: Movers of Modern American Foreign Policy. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1979. 'President Gamel Abdel Nasser.' http://www.mordor.com/hany/egypt/nasser.html (25 April 1996).



and here is the resume of the author whose work you have copied and pasted:-
Dr. Arthur Goldschmidt Jr.
Professor of Middle East History
Department of History and Religious Studies
303 Weaver Building
University Park, PA 16802-5500
phone: 814/863-0086; fax: 814/863-7840
send me an e-mail at axg2@psu.edu
...
translation is this is some one who claimed knowledge and unbiased while teaching generations of Americans what Zionism wants them to know about the middle east in the same period of which the US missed out completely on establishing any useful relationship with emerging democracies in middle east .. allowing the whole newly born Arab governments (created by retreating colonialism) to be best clients of the soviets and adopt against all odds a communistic godless approach which is the legitimate father of all so called radical pseudo -Islamic violent movements.
to which I tried to give you access to in another post only to be thanked by you in a manner that would equate the delivery method of the message as more important than its content.
I always assume the best in people.. If you this forum is about pushing a hate message against certain race or religion. as a Muslim I can not be a part of it. if it is about Americans trying to do the effort to get the truth about how people think all over the world to help deal with the huge shock of sept. 11th massacres.. I would still try to contribute. And I am even encouraged by the existence of such a forum.
What will it be?
p.s. I only copy and paste because I think this is much more important than my humble years of life would justify forming an authoritative opinion on. Other than the existence of god .. I always keep an open mind about every thing I believe to be true.
Peace.
reply by
The Hawk
4/1/2002 (1:35)
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Well, I must say it is pleasent to hear your own words... :o)

For one thing, I could not even find a resume on Chris Leininger... As a student of history, I find historiography to be most important, and not finding anything on Leininger, I was a bit uneasy (Historiography is the study of historians). However, when I read what he had to say, I thought it was accurate and too the point. There was one thing he lacked, and that is why I quoted (not copied and pasted... quoting is something you use to back yourself up... I also had to type it all out) from Goldschmidt.

What I feel he lacked was cause and effect. There are reasons behind everything. Israel had a valad reason for attacking the Sinai Penninsula. Goldschmidt made this very clear. However, if you wish me to be more objective, I will list an additional quote from the text (Shifting to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict):
'The Palestinian refugees, whose numbers are widely disputed, suffered the most. The actual figure at the end of 1948 was somewhere between 550,000 and 800,000. Some had voluntarily left their homes even before the struggle started, whereas others fled (or were forced to flee) during the fighting. Who forced their flight? Israel's supporters claim that Arab governments broadcast orders to Palestinian civilians to get out so their armies could more easily move against Israel. The Arabs reply that Jewish extremests terrorized the Palestinians up to 14 May 1948, and that the Israeli defense force drove out other Arabs during the latter phases of the war. It is hard to determine who is right.'

This is a very objective quote that kinda makes this textbook so wonderful. Also, it brings up an interesting point about history. One common misunderstanding that we all make is that history is the study of events while it really is not. When we pick up a book to study history or research events, we are not picking up the word of God. A human being writes these histories, and like all the rest, the human being has biases and stereotypes, and perspectives that are percieved in their writing. Therefore, to say we are studying events in history is untrue. Rather, we are studying perspectives of the historians on the event they have writted about. This is why historiography is so important. I have actually learned a lot in that class.

What I am trying to say is that there is no answer to things leading up to these events, there is no clear cut good and evil in these events, there is no scapegoat, and these events need to be solved expediently. We cannot quarrel about whose fault this really is because WE WILL NEVER KNOW! We can theorize, we can point fingers at different sides and call them names like 'Zionist Thugs,' we can only look at one side of the story like many Americans are doing to both sides, we can make assumptions, educated guesses, ect... BUT WE WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED!

With that said, we need to talk about solutions instead of who started it. This name calling and assumptions that I see so much on the news, in the forums, and in life in general just leads to more hatred and resentment. It's too bad that pride is a human virtue. Without it, we just might have had world peace. With it, innocent people are dying, and will continue to die. That is unacceptable... This is blood on OUR hands people. All we do is sit and bicker about who started what and what happened first. We have to talk about solutions so that the East and the West can live together in peace.

In these forums, I am only stating one side of the story because you people are so elequent on the other side. (I must learn to be objective and play devil's advocate for when I start teaching in a year and a half).

In my personal opinion, I don't believe Sharon's intentions in what should be Palestine are entirely honorable. I think both sides are working in fear of the other. We are at a point where the children of both sides are all grown up and hate each other even more. They grew up in a war, and this will not be easily solved. Even if there is a Palestinian state, I don't think the terrorism against Israel will be stopped. I don't think the US should have supported Israel in the first place, but now the US is their lifeline. Without the United States support, I do feel that the Arab nations will go in and slaughter the Jews. Many Arab and terrorist leaders have stated this intent. Overall the situation is grim. There seems to be no end in sight. It is unfortunate because the people of Israel and Palestine have known only war in their lives. They know no peace, so how could they possibly know how to obtain it?

Oh, and one thing I absulutely hate is stereotyping. At college, most of my friends and professors are quite objective, but I do have one Jewish teacher... If I hear him say Islam is a militant religion one more time, I think I am gonna shoot him with a potatoe gun. He also states that we should force our western ideals onto Arab civilization... I shoot him down in flames on that every time he mentions something in that nature.

On the other hand, I have one teacher who feels that Israel shouldn't even exist. He's just crazy, so I try and stay away from him... But it just shows you how awful stereotyping really is. If I catch anyone doing it here, I will mention it... Especially Cowboy's 'Zionist Thugs.' That is the most demoralizing and stereotypical term I have heard in a long time. But I bet he has too much pride to stop using it. He hasn't replied to a single thing I said, I don't think... I am beginning to wonder if the only posts he reads are his own.

I will end by saying Happy Easter to all! I donno about you guys, but those stuffed mushrooms I made really kicked butt... That was my favorite food of the day!
reply by
The Hawk
4/1/2002 (1:52)
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Oh, and the references to the particualar chapter I took quotes from were two full pages long. I don't really feel like typing them out... I can probably find it on a websight if you don't trust my word. But trying to attack a legitimate historian by calling him bias and listing a list of references used by another historian does not work. In fact, I can probably pick out a bunch of sources that were used by both.

Also, I didn't mean to push the delivery method (It's the potential history teacher in me I swear!) I just like to hear the person I am talking too actually talk back instead of using other people's words. Then they can use quotes from an article to back themselves up. I feel this makes the conversation much more meaningful then trying to find the reason that someone had posted this long rambling story.

Of course, that's my personal opinion... and like my father always says: Everyone has an opinion and an asshole.

ok... It is 2 AM and I am gonna go to bed now... Who'da thought I would be having a political discussion at 2 AM instead of hanging out with my girlfriend or playing a wargame... I donno... I come from a family of teachers, so it's in me... the quest for knowledge. But right now, I must go and dream about how I am gonna consume all those jelly beans tomorrow... So many beans, so little time... ::sigh::

Happy Easter to ALL, even if you are not Catholic! We should all respect the holidays of EVERY religion.
reply by
egyptian
4/1/2002 (2:25)
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Well, .. Hawk I could not agree more. Well copied and pasted. JOKE :).
I have always played devil’s advocate myself. Except in my case.. you could get killed/avoided/condemned for it.

However, .. Don’t you agree that the way things started and developed .. constitutes a decisive scenario of which things will shape in the future ???
From theology it seems.. (Assuming you really believe to the last word of the holly scripts .. not withstanding the small % variation of translation and in my belief some more % on top for mischievous translation in case of Talmud and bibles .) it seems that we ( the world) are doomed to an Armageddon all three major monotheist religions agree on this. Different views of course and different interpretations for same events. It also seems that it will not even be an honorable Armageddon for that matter.
Let me explain..
Instead of the worshippers of god fighting the non believers.. all 3 religions agree on one thing that they will fight among themselves ..
I am not sure weather or not our future is preset for us .. most Islamic sheiks never really nailed that concept down. But I am sure that if god was just .. and he is . we probably will get pretty much what we deserve in the end.
Children massacre is a bad thing . period .. no matter what color or language or heritage they belong too .. no matter if it comes from a suicide bomber or from a merkava tank or die from lack of anti cancerous drugs for Iraq babies after debilitated uranium shells infected Iraq in gulf war.
The child whose father is a serial killer is as pretty and holly in my eyes as a child born to my prophet.. Who is the most beautiful human I can imagine.
In the wake of things coming to bare after sept 11 … what is going on in Palestine right now is kind of a common crime that we all share in .
I wish some one would think of a way to make it easy to do your part so one can become at least NEUTRAL to the guilt of those children being blown up to pieaces… some times by other children too.
I do not know of any single stock .. forget that .. I am not aware of a whole industry that is worth in dollars /year more than the life of a single human being.
I am not naive .. to have faith is to have the courage to stand up for the new capitalistic imperialism spirit . I have seen it with my own eyes. the greed of money when it turns life into a calculator and a % yield annually . There is no space for collateral damage statistics in a business quarterly ledger. Except of course.. if you have to pay insurance for each human killed.
but if you steal the land of Palestine to park yet another persecuted people from your area into that land .. then use it as a monitoring-terror post to make sure the natives “behave”.
What if ? in the year 2002 and humans can taste the joy of technological applications and advanced science these unthankful people will want to also get JUSTICE.!
Blacks in Americans will want payment for suffering during slavery.. Vietnamese government is getting aid already from US.
And some one might think of putting Sharon on the same court as Mr. Slobodan.
And Palestinians will rise and follow Lebanese model when they kicked Sharon out.
If those masters ( the weapons /industrialists/energy people Kenny boys) do not exist then I guess this post is useless ..
But if they do exist and they are within reach from president bush. ..
Please tell him that Golda Mayer said after 1948.. (Maybe I will forgive the Arabs killing our children one day … but I will never forgive them making us kill there children.).
I think I heard a Palestinian mother of a suicide bomber say the same thing on TV tonight. In Arabic .. I doubt if she knew about golda’s statement before.
Stop the killing now.! It is even more viable economically. And Rev graham will understand.. Since he is a man of religion after all!
Peace
reply by
The Hawk
4/1/2002 (10:44)
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I agree with you whole heartedly. It seems that religious conflict is going to be out demise. Ironic that the institution in which we look to for answers is going to give us the ultimate answer sooner or later.

I don't know if I am as religious as you in my religion, but I do believe in the essentials, and like everyone else, I do have questions I would like answered. However, I do feel that in order to better the country, a seperation of religion and state should be implimented. In this scenerio, religious wars would be harder to procreate and maintain. Of course this is hard to do in the Arab world because their religion is not just a religion but a way of life. They would also have to have more religious toleration in order to seperate church and state. I feel that this is the answer, but I also feel that not many people of the Arab World would agree. I donno... you must tell me how you feel about that.

If it means the demise of the human race, we cannot believe the prophesies in any religious scripture. The minute we succomb to fate, we will destroy ourselves, and the prophesy WILL come true. I believe armageddon is coming, and when it does, I hope that it is not of human origin.

Also, what did you mean when you said you can get killed/avoided/condemned for it?