Transcript Slide 1

The Middle East to 1956
Kevin J. Benoy
Two Forces
• The fate of the Middle
East in the 20th Century
has been dominated by
conflicting movements
that drive the politics of
the Semitic people – both
Arabs and Jews.
• Pan Arabism and Zionism
– and both of them
transformed by the great
transformative force of
the 20th Century –
Nationalism.
Pan Arabism
• In its initial period of
expansion, Islam was a
unified political entity – the
Ummah.
• It later fragmented, first
into racial units (Arab, Turk,
Persian and other) and later
into even smaller sovereign
units.
• A constant theme in at least
Arab history has been the
dream of re-uniting Arab
lands, or even all of Islam.
Pan Arabism
• The dream of unity was
further complicated until
recent times by the European
imperial presence in Africa
and the Middle East.
• In a 1931 Islamic conference
in Jerusalem, the participants
announced: “The Arab lands
are a complete and
indivisible whole...all efforts
are to be directed towards
their complete independence
in their entirety and unified.”
Pan Arabism
• The foundation of the Arab
League in 1945 was a first
step toward this goal –
uniting Egypt, Syria, Jordan,
Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia
and Yemen in a common
organization.
• By 1980 it had 20 members,
but internal divisions still
prevented real political
unification of its parts,
despite several efforts to
achieve integration.
Pan Arabism
• An important proponent of
Pan Arabism was the
Egyptian leader, Gamal
Abdel Nasser, who,
throughout the 1950s and
1960s, directed his energies
toward unification of Arab
lands under the direction of
its strongest state – Egypt.
• Little was achieved of
lasting effect, but the
tension between
nationalism and Arab
internationalism is a
constant factor in Arab
history.
Zionism
• The other key influence in
the region, and one
diametrically opposed to
pan-Arabism, is the notion
of establishing a Jewish
homeland in the Middle
East.
• Since the diaspora in
ancient times, when Jews
were forcefully disbursed by
the Romans, Jews have
sought to re-establish a
national homeland in
Palestine/Israel.
Zionism
• In the late 19th Century,
Jewish communal
settlements – farming
communities called
kibbutzim – were
established in Palestine.
• The first settlement was in
1879 at what is now Tel
Aviv.
• By 1914 there were 40
kibbutzim and the Jewish
population of Jerusalem
and other Palestinian towns
was swelled by immigration.
Imperial Control
• The British, who
controlled the Palestinian
mandate after WW1,
made conflicting wartime promises to Arabs
(post-war selfdetermination) and Jews
(a homeland) during the
war years.
• Now they had to balance
them.
Imperial Control
• Britain responded to
pressure from the
Egyptian nationalist Wafd
Party by granting
independence there in
1922.
• Trouble in Iraq led to
independence there in
1932.
• Palestine was much more
difficult to deal with.
Imperial Control
• Arabs and Jews fought
each other and both
fought the British.
• Britain tried to placate
the Arab majority by first
insisting that a Jewish
homeland did not mean a
Jewish state.
• Allowing high levels of
Jewish immigration was
not enough for the Jews,
but it alienated Arabs.
Imperial Control
• At the end of WW1, 93%
of Palestinians were
Arabs.
• By 1939, fully 28% were
Jewish.
• The British plan of 1937
to divide Palestine into 3
states – Arab, Jewish and
mixed – remaining under
British control – was met
with universal
condemnation.
Imperial Control
• In 1939, the British
sought peace by
banning Jewish
immigration.
• WW2 brought a
temporary respite as
the disgruntled Jews
allied themselves with
the British against a
common foe – Hitler.
Imperial Control
• Arab opinion regarding the
war was mixed, though
most felt it was none of
their business.
• The Mufti of Jerusalem,
Amin al-Husseini, who spent
the war years in Italy, saw
an opportunity to rid
Palestine of the British and
to deal with the Jews, by
supporting Hitler. He even
encouraged the founding of
a Muslim Waffen SS unit.
Imperial Control
• After the war, the Arab
League was formed, having
as a goal resistance to the
creation of a Jewish state in
the region.
• Arab violence, including the
sabotage of oil pipelines, was
intended to demonstrate
their determination.
• Jews too resorted to violence
as the Irgun Zwei Leumi and
the Stern Gang used terrorist
tactics to force the British to
act.
Imperial Control
• Pressed by the American
Zionist lobby, Truman
encouraged the British to
relax immigration
requirements, but Atlee’s
government refused.
• A Wave of Jewish
terrorism now swept
Palestine, with the
blowing up of
communication facilities
and the King David Hotel
– killing over 100.
Imperial Control
• Illegal Jewish
immigration was
stepped up.
• The British were in an
intolerable position.
• In 1947, they
announced they were
giving up and were
passing the problem
over to the UN.
Partition
• UNSCOP (United
Nations Special
Commission on
Palestine)
recommended a
solution much like
Britain’s 1937 proposal
– though it was more
generous to Jews,
expanding their zone
into the Negev Desert.
Partition
• With no agreement on the
part of the Arab Palestinians,
the British withdrew anyway.
• On May 14, 1948, David Ben
Gurion announced the
formation of the Jewish state
of Israel.
• The next day, it was invaded by
surrounding Arab countries,
with Arabs claiming they were
responding to the Irgun and
Lehi (Jewish extremist) killing
of Palestinian Arabs in the
village of Deir Yassin – where
107 of the 600 inhabitants
were slaughtered.
Partition
• Egypt invaded from the SouthWest, Jordan from the East,
and Syria and Iraq from the
North.
• The Israeli’s resisted strongly,
many having combat
experience from WW2.
• Politically divided and
inexperienced, the Arabs had
little success.
• By February, 1949 the Jews
drove the Egyptians out, but
faced stalemate in the East,
having lost much of
Jerusalem.
Aftermath
• The ultimate outcome
of the war was the
complete loss of a
Palestinian Arab state.
• Egypt retained the Gaza
Strip and Jordan held
the West Bank and East
Jerusalem.
• A million Palestinian
Arabs were refugees in
neighbouring countries.
Aftermath
• Arab states did little to
alleviate the distress of
Palestinians within
territories they
controlled, while those
Arabs who found
themselves in Israel
were now powerless 2nd
class citizens in their
own homeland.
Aftermath
• Arabs – Palestinians and
neighbouring states –
did not accept the war’s
result as final.
• For its part, Israel
declared itself a Jewish
homeland, opening its
borders to Jews from
any nation.
The Suez Crisis
• This was a complex
problem rooted not
only in the Arab-Israeli
dispute but also in Arab
nationalism, European
imperialism and Cold
War politics.
The Suez Crisis
• Nasser, who came to
power in 1954, soon
after the overthrow of
the unpopular and
incompetent King
Farouk, sought to unite
Arabs in the cause of
Pan-Arabism and
Palestinian liberation.
The Suez Crisis
• To this end, he
organized guerilla
groups called fedayeen
(self-sacrificers) to
launch terrorist attacks
against Israel.
• He also blockaded the
Gulf of Aqaba, cutting
off trade to the Israeli
port of Eilat.
The Suez Crisis
• Nasser also sought to unite his
country by fostering nationalist
opposition to the continued
British presence in the Suez
Canal Zone.
• When the 1936 agreement
expired in 1956, he insisted the
British leave their base at Suez.
• He further angered the British
by opposing the Britishsponsored Baghdad Pact and by
pressuring King Hussein of
Jordan to dismiss his British
Chief of Staff – Sir John Glubb
(Glubb Pasha).
The Suez Crisis
• Nasser angered the
French by encouraging
Arab nationalism in
Algeria.
The Suez Crisis
• In late 1955 Nasser shocked
the West by signing an arms
deal with Czechoslovakia,
buying 2nd hand Soviet
equipment – planes, tanks
and small arms.
• In 1956, to force him to
abandon his new Soviet ties,
the US cancelled a $56
million loan for the
construction of the Aswan
Dam – which was to provide
power for industrialization
and control the flooding of
the Nile River.
The Suez Crisis
• Nasser upped the stakes by
announcing nationalization of
the Suez Canal – to secure
funding for dam construction.
• Compensation was offered to
share holders.
• The British & French
governments were convinced
Nasser was bent on creating a
pro-communist, antiWestern, pan-Arab state in
the Middle East that would
threaten the flow of oil to
Europe.
The Suez Crisis
• British Prime Minister Anthony
Eden regarded Nasser’s
Philosophy of the Revolution as
paralleling Mein Kampf – a
blueprint for foreign conquest.
• United in opposition to Nasser,
the British, French and Israelis
held secret negotiations to
formulate a plan to bring down
Nasser.
• Eden denied collusion with the
Israeli’s, but French Foreign
Minister at the time, Pineau,
confirmed that Eden lied.
The Suez Crisis
• On October 29, 1956
the Israelis attacked
Egypt.
• Israeli forces seized the
Gaza Strip and struck
deeply into the Sinai
Peninsula.
The Suez Crisis
• The US proposed a cease
fire in the UN Security
Council – vetoed by the
British and French.
• Claiming only to be
interested in protecting
the canal, the British and
French sent Israelis and
Egyptians an ultimatum
demanding that they
withdraw from the canal’s
vicinity.
The Suez Crisis
• British and French
bombers attacked
Egyptian airfields on
October 31 .
• On November 5, AngloFrench forces landed at
Port Said.
The Suez Crisis
• Nasser called for UN help –
and also blocked the canal
by sinking ships in it.
• The Soviet Union went
further, threatening nuclear
attacks on the aggressor
nations.
• Though the Americans
made it known that they
would not tolerate an attack
on Paris or London – they
made no such assurance
about Israel.
The Suez
• For once, the US and the
USSR were united in
opposition to something.
• With the support of most UN
states, they called for an end
to hostilities and withdrawal
of British, French and Israeli
troops.
• After not handling events
before the crisis well (it being
an election year), the US was
anxious not to have a
situation allowing expanded
Soviet influence in the
Middle East.
The Suez Crisis
• Adopting a plan brokered by
Canada’s Lester Pearson, the
UN called for the placement of
UN forces to police the
Israeli/Egyptian frontier –
reducing the fedayeen threat
to Israel and protect the canal.
• With this face-saving measure
in place, the aggressors
withdrew – though not before
the Israeli’s destroyed
Egyptian military installations
in the Gaza Strip and Sinai.
• Egypt promised not to resume
its blockade of the Gulf of
Aqaba.
Aftermath of the Crisis
• Far from humiliating
Nasser and causing his
downfall, the British &
French added to his
prestige in the Arab
world.
• The blocking of the canal
led to reduction in oil
shipments to Europe and
made gasoline rationing
necessary for a time.
Aftermath of the Crisis
• The pro-British Premier of
Iraq, Nuri-es-Said now faced
huge opposition and was
murdered in 1958.
• The French position in
Algeria was further
undermined, culminating in
independence in 1962.
• British and French interest
were undermined
throughout the Arab world.
Aftermath of the Crisis
• Nasser became an Arab
celebrity, with supporters
throughout the Arab
World.
• Pan-Arabism grew.
• In 1958, Syria joined with
Egypt to form the United
Arab Republic, with
Nasser as President.
• The experiment failed,
however, as Syrians came
to resent Egyptian
domination.
Aftermath of the Conflict
• The USSR gained
enormously from its
assistance to Egypt.
• For the first time, it had a
client state in the Middle
East – compensating it for
its loss of influence in Iran
at the end of WW2.
• As the USA moved closer
to Israel, many Arab
states turned to the
Soviets for help.
finis