Results of the Suez Crisis

The lull before the next stormThe Palestinian Problem

Recap

Egypt •Defeat in war but hero to the Arabs although his position somewhat tarnished•Regains Sinai but Str. Of Tiran opened•USSR supports Egypt, provides funds for Aswan Dam

Israel •Gives up all gains. Regarded as the strongest military power in the region•Accepts presence of the UNEF•In return for giving up gains, guaranteed use of Straits of Tiran

UK and France

•UK and France lose out. •Loss of influence in the region

•Becomes another CW battleground

The Cold War

•A percepion in the US that the GB and F withdrawal had created a vaccuum•US felt a more direct action needed….. Hence the Eisenhower Doctrine…..Its primary

objective to roll back Nasserism•Attempts to build up leaders in the region who would provide a counter to the growing

popularity of Nasser

Palestine •Once again it was demonstrated that the Arab states did not have the time or the will to deal with the refugee problem

•Formation of the Fatah

Israel post 1956• Post Suez crisis a time for consolidation for

Israel• Granted economic aid from the USA in return

for withdrawal from Sinai• Sinai and Gaza patrolled by the UNEF. The area

was also demilitarized. Acc. To David Lesch , Israel learned one valuable lesson

• Greater support for Israel from the US• Growing feeling that Israel rapped on the

knuckles while the USSR escaped regarding Hungary.

Nasser and Egypt• David Lesch says “ Nasser’s popularity skyrocketed to

astronomical heights as he took on not one enemy but two: European imperialists and Israel and survived

• It was not longer Arab nationalism or pan Arabism but Nasserism

• Nasser became the guiding light in the Arab world. If he was viewed as a threat earlier, that threat increased tenfold. Nasser appeared in the Arab world to be the conduit through which real Arab integrity could be achieved . It also created expectations for Nasser that he was never quite willing or able to reach.

The US and the Cold War• Formulation of the Eisenhower Doctrine not too popular with the Arab world.• Claims to be anti-communist, yet Egypt was attacked not by communism but

by GB and France• The US seen as trying to take over from the British.• D.Lesch says To the Arabs, Zionism and Western imperialism were the main

threats. The Eisenhower Doctrine was one of the many instances when the US and many of the Arab states were on totally different wave lengths. At the international level it was against communism and at regional level with Israel and imperialism as the enemies of communism

• Now it seemed that the US more than Europe assume the burden of responsibility for dealing with instances of Nasserism

• However, very shortly that perception was to change as the USSR began to play an active role in the region. … In Iraq the new regime , the Baathist, welcomed communism. The emergence of Iraq began to weaken Nasser’s position in the Arab world.

• There was a shift in perception….US needed to work with Nasser and the non aligned movement more closely

The creation of the PLO• Acc to Kirsten Schulze, the war

demonstrated yet again that the focus of the Arab leaders was on their domestic concerns rather than any desire to liberate Palestine.

• It seemed as if the Arab world had forgotten about the plight of the Palestinian refugees

Palestinian view of the conflict

• Growing feeling that the world was forgetting them and ignored by both the Arab governments and the world.

• The Fatah was formed in 1958 -1959 ( the term when the arab initials are reversed means the movement for the liberation of Palestine) Haraka Tahrir Filastin

• Formed by three men all of whom had fled to Gaza at the creation of Israel and then moved to Cairo in the 1950’s where they dominated the Palestinian Students League at Cairo Uni.

• All left Cairo following the Suez crisis and settled in Kuwait and published a journal called Our Palestine ( Filastinuna)– Yasser Arafat – Salah Khalaf– Khalil Wazir

• Yasser Arafat was a minor branch of the Husseini clan on his mother’s side

Significance of the formation of the Fatah

According to T.G.Fraser ‘The Arab Israeli conflict’ the formation of the Fatah signalled

1. the revival of Palestinian awareness. It had taken about 10 years to evolve

2. Indicated a growing Arab hostility to Palestinian issue. The movements for Palestinian causes incurred the hostility of arab intelligence services

Aims of the Fatah• Liberation of Palestine had to

precede Arab unity• Militancy and military action were

precludes to politics• In a sense this was the thinking of

the time..Algerian Revolt under Franz Fanon was one such example

Fatah Ideology • While initially it was a more militant movement,

later writing reveal that the groups philosphy of action changed according to the circumstances.

• By mid 1965 when the Fatah m.o changed and it attacked Israeli installations , it argued that tensions with Israel would promote Arab unity to confront Israel which would result in an Arab victory and the liberation of Palestine from Israeli control.

• It assumed Arab military superiority over Israel in conventional weapons. War seemed desirable sooner rather than later.

Arab National Movement• Several factions merged later, under

the rubric of the Arab National Movement ( ANM) led by George Habash. Formed the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Eventually a rival of the Fatah

• Within this framework the liberation of Palestine would occur only after Arab unity had been achieved

Israel’s Actions• By 1963, Israel had reached a critical stage in its

plans for a National Carrier which would channel the waters of the River Jordan to the Negev

• Arab reaction was angry as this would provide more water resources and help Israel to absorb its immigrants

• The Arab world saw this as water theft since the source of the River Jordan lay in Jordan and not in Israel

• Of all the Arab powers, Nasser was the only one who knew that the Arab world was not in a position to fight Israel.

Arab Summit Cairo 1964

• Nasser covened the Arab summit in Jan. 1964 with the intention of creating a political organization for the Palestinians

• The proposed organization was to be very much under the control of Nasser

• PLO set up in May 1964 with a Nasser crony called Ahmed Shuqairy as its head.

• PLO=Palestine Liberation Organization

Kirsten Schulze• In her book Kirsten Schulze says:In an attempt to control the Palestinian Fedayeen

and to prevent their actions from completely desatabilisng the region,

Nasser established the PLO…. The new organizaiton provided Nasser with leadership credentials in his regional rivalry with Iraq and Syria ( both had pro-Communist Baathist regimes). Thus it is not surprising that the PLO soon became an object of an inter Arab struggle for influence between Egypt, Syria and Iraq as well as an Arab-Palestinian struggle for control.

The role of the PLO• The Charter of the PLO had the usual goal: the partition

of Palestine was illegal as was the creation of Israel.• Acc to Schulze it was a political manifesto and a

Constitution at the same time, laying claim to Palestine as a future state and designating armed struggle as the means to this end.

• The PLO was never designed to be an effective voice of the Palestinians, it was to be a safety valve

• It was to bolster Nasser’s faltering image as a pan-Arab leader

• Shuqairy failed to be an effective leader but his virulent anti Israel rhetoric provided Israel anti Arab propagandists much material

Set up of the PLO• Main body of the PLO was the PNC

or the Palestinian National Council• AT first PLO had a 100 members• AS PLO grew more popular had up

to as many as 600 members• Real power was in the hands of a

small committee headed by Shuqairy.

Arafat 1964 Arafat 1995

Arafat• The Fatah and the PLO were at odds, they

regarded Shuqairy with contempt• The new Palestine Liberation Army ( PLA) a

part of the PLO was causing the Fatah alarm as they were aggressively recruited from the Fatah

• Arafat determined to provoke war in a bid to halt the bleeding of Fatah activists, while Nasser determined to prevent it.

• Arafat chose to exploit the Nasser Assad( Syrian) rivalry to attain his aims

Syrian Fatah Alliance• Syrian sponsorship of the Fatah was a part of the struggle for

Arab leadership• Union of Syria and Egypt had collapsed in 1961. Nasser’s image

had been tarnished• While Syria may not have necessarily accepted Fatah’s armed

resistance nevertheless it saw the Fatah’s role as helping it in the water diversion issues with Israel.

• It enlisted Fatah’s aid in reprisals against Israel.• By the end of 1965 close to 39 raids on Israel. Israels reaction

was maximum response, what was worrying to Israel was it was not clear who was the sponsor since the raids were carried out from Jordan while the backer was Syria.

• It was this alliance between Syrian Baathists ( ruling party) and the activities of the Fatah that set the stage for the next war in this region.

HW• Group Presentations

• PLO 1965-1982 • PLFP under George Habash• Black September and its activities