The Middle East from 1956

History 12Ms Leslie

Since the creation of Israel the Arab reaction has been a problem

1948 Israel created and attacked 1956 Suez Crisis Shaky cease-fire agreements Guerilla attacks

1960’s

New anti-Israel terrorist group Al Fatah

Called the PLO after 1964 and led by Yasser Arafat.

Hafiz Hasad, defense minister of Syria, 1966

We say: we shall never call for nor accept peace. We shall only accept war and the restoration of the usurped land. We have resolved to drench this land with your blood; to oust you, aggressors, and throw you into the sea for good. We must meet as soon as possible and fight a single liberation war on the level of the whole area against Israel, imperialism and all the enemies of the people.

Israel’s Future looks bleak They have to counter attack guerilla raids Syrian shelling of Israeli settlements from the

Golan heights also brought retaliation. 1967 Nasser removes UN peace keepers form the

Sinai - Egyptian troops take their place Nasser again sealed off the Gulf of Aqaba (straits

of Tiran) by moving artillery into the strategic base at Sharm-el-Sheikh.

100,000 Egyptian troops and 1300 tanks in the Sinai, with 500 planes ready for action

Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi troops also preparing for action,

Israel decided to launch a pre-emptive strike.

The 6 Day War, 5-10 June, 1967

Greatest mobilized attack since WWII Within 2 hours Israel fighter-bombers had

destroyed the Egyptian air force El Arish fell in a day (North) Sharm-el-Sheikh on the following day

Day 3 Israeli troops were

again on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal

Key objective to control Jerusalem

City had been in Jordanian hands since 1948

Desperate hand to hand combat led to Israel capturing the city in 3 days

Last 3 days - Israeli armoured divisions captured the Golan Heights

June 10 - Syrian resistance also collapsed with Israeli forces only 20 miles from Damascus, the Capital.

Results of the 6 day war

1.Palestinian refugees finally realized that Arab states could not win back Palestine

2.Israel had secured stronger borders.

World is shocked at scale of Israeli victory Arab worlds failed against a tiny opponent UN proposed they withdraw in Resolution

272 - Israel refused, giving them enemies in their borders

Palestinians without a state = terrorism

At the 1972, Munich Olympics a faction that called itself Black September murdered 11 Israeli athletes before security forces killed them.

At Lydda airport, 100 casualties resulted for a gun battle between another group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and security forces.

Bombings and aircraft hijackings became a regular occurrence at Palestinians focused world attention on their problem

USSR’s reaction

Defeat of Egypt an embarrassment USSR had mobilized troops to counter

attack Israel, but USA made them back down

USA got Israel to halt their attacks.

1970 Anwar Sadat replaced Nasser. Nicer to Israel (at first) Didn’t want to be

dependant on USSR, but wanted aid

In 1972, kicked out all soviet advisors when the aid stopped.

Anti American

Yom Kippur War - 1973

1. PLO putting pressure on Arab states

2. Russia warns Arab states Israel may attack

3. Sadat wants to take back lost territories

Egyptian, Iraqi and Syrian forces attacked during the Jewish fast of Yom Kippur, hoping to catch the Israelis off guard.

At first the Egyptians experienced great success, with most Israelis attending synagogue, the Israeli Bar Lev line on the Suez canal was breached.

Thus Israelis lost many aircraft to Egypt’s Soviet-built SAMs (Surface to air missiles)

Israel turned to USA for help

Massive airlift takes place to help turn the tide

US forces go on alert to keep soviets at bay

Counter-attack

Israeli air force developed tactics capable of handling Syrian SAMs, soon 1,000 Syrian tanks were destroyed

In the Sinai, and Israeli counter-strike crossed the Canal and cut off the Egyptian 3rd army on the other side.

Soviets and the Americans jointly arranged a cease-fire, but again the two sides were unwilling to compromise.

Israel refused to give up conquered territory.

Egypt and Syria refused to accept the existence of a Jewish Israeli sate.

OPEC - Oil Embargo organization of Petroleum

Exporting Countries During the whole war OPEC raised the price of crude

by 70%. The embargo lasted 5 months

and in the next 2 years the price of oil quadrupled

Massive line ups to get gas

Peace?

Sadat and Egypt were aligning with USA and away from USSR.

Made talks between Israel and Egypt possible

1977

President Anwar Sadat made an unprecedented trip to Israel, where he addressed the Israeli Knesset, appealing for peace between the two countries.

Was an enormous personal risk for Sadat because it alienated Egypt’s Arab allies and had no guarantee of success.

Soon after, Begin returned the visit, becoming the first Israeli Prime Minister to visit Cairo.

Camp David a mountain-based

military camp in Frederick County, Maryland used as a country retreat of the President of the United States and his guests.

Camp David Accords 1978 - President Carter

invited Begin and Sadat to draft a treaty

Agree to: Not make war, Negotiate the refugee problem, Israel can use the Suez Canal, and Israel would get their oil from Egypt.

Sadat ended the 30 year state of war between his country and Israel and offered final diplomatic recognition.

Begin agreed at pull out of the Sinai in 3 stages, restoring it to Egypt even at the cost of bulldozing Israeli settlements in the region.

He also promised autonomy for Arabs living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Results from Camp David

Egypt was kicked out of OPEC. – other Arab countries did not like their dealings with Israel.

Resurgence of Islamic fundamentalist groups.

Sadat gets a Nobel Peace Prize

Arab extremists within and without Egypt were appalled by Sadat’s actions.

The Headquarters of the Arab League were pulled out of Cairo and moved to Tunis.

All of the Arab states except the Sudan and Morocco condemned the treaty

Did Israel stay true to the treaty?

Israel made new Jewish settlements on the West Bank

passed the Jerusalem Law, which moved the national capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

In 1981, Israel also formally annexed the Golan Heights.

End of Sadat Gave sanctuary to the

Iranian Shah Accused of corruption 1981 was gunned

down in a military parade

Replaced by Hosni Mabarak

Lebanon

Became independent from France in 1945. After being thrown out of Jordan the PLO

moved its operational headquarters here PLO upset racial and religious balance Land fought over by Muslims, Christians

and Palestinians

1975 civil war broke out between left Wing Muslims and the Christian Phalange. Cease fires were arranged, but the didn’t stick. (doesn’t really end until 1991)

500,000 Palestinian refuges in the South

1976 the Syrians intervened to restore order, but they came into conflict with the Palestinians in doing so.

A wider Arab peace-keeping force was sent in, with the Creation of the 10,000 man Arab Deterrent Force (ADF).

But the presence of this largely Syrian force alarmed the Israelis, who were already unhappy about PLO raids from Israel.

1978 the Israelis launched a full scale invasion of Lebanon, hoping to weaken the PLO.

Israel occupied all of the country south of the Litani River,

Israel would not withdraw until after the UNIFIL (UN Interim Force in Lebanon) convinced them to hand over control to the right wing Christian militias (who had strong ties with and were supplied by the Israelis.)

Israel effectively partitioned the country by encouraging the setting up on an ‘Independent Free Lebanon’ in the south.

The Syrians took over much of the northeast, including the important Baka’a Valley

1982 the Israelis returned in force. goal was to destroy the PLO in Lebanon. 6,000 PLO fighters found themselves

trapped in Beirut. Eventually US intervention (with UK,

France, and Italy) brought a cease fire

Start to see suicide bombers in Beirut – 200 US marines killed.

1987 - Yasser Arafat and the PLO were relocated – some to Syria, but the key leadership moved to Tunisia.

Peace isn’t reached until 1991. Still has problems with Palestinian terrorist

groups in the South launching attacks on Israel

Arafat died in 2004

Lebanon now Unstable government Sunni Muslims fight Shiites, or Druzhe, or

Christians. Fundamentalists fight moderates. Syrians sometimes intervene and restore

order, while Israelis frequently send in forces to eliminate the omnipresent guerillas.

The Iran-Iraq War 1980-88

Saddam Hussein feared Islamic revolution Oil tankers in the Persian Gulf were

threatened by mines. The USA, and UK supported Saddam

because of the treatment Iran was giving them.

Saddam and Donald Rumsfeld

Chemical weapons used Oil platforms burned Iran lost about 1 million

civilians and soldiers Iraq lost about 350,000 Both spent $500 billion

Mustard gas was used Causes burning and

yellow blisters on skin Can blind Burns the lung tissue Heal extremely slow

By 1988 the UN had to intervene as neither side was going to win

1990 – peace terms agreed to.

Build up to the Gulf War

Threat of Islamic Revolution Saddam wants more power in the area Iraq was in debt after the Iran-Iraq war Saddam had Treated the Kurds badly Iraq making WMDs (maybe)

The First Gulf War 1990-91 Aug 1990 – Iraqi

government ordered troops to invade Kuwait.

Hussein said that it ‘belonged’ to Iraq historically.

Did not expect international community to react because USA had stated they don’t care about Kuwait

Saddam was broke after war with Iran

Thought he could take Kuwait and make Iraq the #2 oil producer

This would give Iraq political power and $

UN put sanctions on Iraq – cutting off oil trade

UN demanded Iraq leave Kuwait by Jan 15, 1991

The sanctions failed by 1991 which led to the USA led UN attack

Counter - Attack Led by President George

Bush Sr. Supported by UK and

later Saudis, Syrians and Egyptians (out of fear of Saddam)

Force of 950,000

Kuwait had asked for help and got it End of Cold War meant USA had troops to

spare Bush collected political debts to make the

coalition Paid for by USA and Saudi Arabia

Iraq has no help except for the voices of Jordan and south Yemen

PLO offered help but it was refused

Operation Desert Storm Begins Feb 24. Bombed Baghdad and

other locations for 1 month

A 4 day ground campaign chased Iraq out of Kuwait. Iraq lost 90,000 men.

Bush called a ceasefire in fear that the Arab countries in the Coalition would leave.

Iraq had tried to distract by unleashing SCUD missiles on Israel

Iraq on verge of having Nuclear weapons

Did have chemical weapons

US air superiority won the war

Iraq forced out of Kuwait 1992- economic sanctions placed until

Saddam got rid of his arsenal World waited for Israel to respond to the

SCUD attack USA missed chance to remove Saddam

Was it all about resources? Iraq needed $ Oil prices had fallen in the 1980’s Iraq demanded Kuwait’s oil fields and $2 billion When defeated, Iraq burned oil fields in retreat US/UN reaction swift because oil supplies at risk

(would it be the same reaction if Kuwait grew broccoli?)

No, it wasn’t about resources

Iraq’s real motive was domination For Arab sates, it was self defense UN action about ‘collective security’ not oil Israel got involved only after missile attacks Many involved did not rely on Persian Gulf

oil Military just wanted to test their weapons

Issues during and after the Gulf war

1.Weapons of Mass destruction threat. Saddam trying to develop nuclear weapons in the 1980’s. he did have Biological and poison gas weapons. Which he used against the Kurds.

2.USSR was collapsing.

Saddam ordered burning of Kuwait’s oilfields

Smoke was so thick the sun was blocked out Spills everywhere, many birds died Huge environmental problems

Gulf war syndrome

Soldiers exposed to chemicals, pollutants, depleted uranium, pesticides, PTSD and vaccines

fatigue, loss of muscle control, headaches, dizziness and loss of balance, memory problems, muscle and joint pain, indigestion, skin problems, birth defects

Pesticides given to repel bug bites Anti-gas pills against gas attacks Exposure to Sarin and Mustard gas First time DU used in munitions Anthrax vaccine has side effects

Conclusions on the Middle East

This dispute will not go away Jews and Palestinians will always lay claim

to the same land Prosperity in the area will always be

hampered by struggle

End :)