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Monday, Dec. 10, 1962 University Daily Kansan
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THE NEAR EAST—Territorial map of the Near East. (1) is Lebanon, (2) is Syria, (3) is Israel and (4) is Jordan. River shown going through Egypt and into Sudan is the Nile.
Overwhelming Problems Beset Nasser's Drive for Arab Unity
- Egypt and Syria have no common border. Between them he Jordan and Israel. Nasser probably hoped to overcome this separation by internal rebellion in Jordan and a war with Israel, but he did not grow strong enough soon enough.
- There are sweeping social and economic differences. The fiercely independent nomadic tribesmen
By Dennis Branstiter
By Dennis Bransititer "United Arab Republic" today is just another name for Egypt.
that make up most of Syria's population look down scornfully on Egypt's sedentary farmers.
Egypt and Syria had only two things to bind them together: Islam and hatred for the Israelis. These are strong ties, but the differences at the other end of the balances are overwhelming.
- While Syria has a long tradition of private enterprise built around the independent merchant, Egypt is accustomed to extensive governmental control.
The UAR as a union of Arab states, Egypt and Syria, lasted only about three and one half years, from Feb. 1, 1958, to late September, 1961. Then President Nasser's dream of Arab unity slipped from a shaky beginning back to the dream stage once again.
- The two countries are at different levels of social development. Syria is still controlled by a feudal aristocracy, but Egypt has passed through this stage and now has a firmly established bureaucracy.
Without Arab unity, Nasser has two things on which to consolidate his power: the Suez Canal and the Nile.
After Nasser took the Suez Canal from the British-dominated Suez Canal Company on July 26, 1956, the United Nations recommended respect for Egyptian sovereignty and access to the canal by ships of all nations.
14 Years of Independence Fails to Brina Peace to Israel
By Clayton Keller
Fourteen years as an independent nation has not brought peace to Israel. Guards patrol the border area between Israel and her Arab neighbors, and the nightly raids across the borders continue. Both men and women serve a period in the armed forces, and the Israeli government says it stands ready to fight against 40 to 1 odds to protect Israel's independence.
To fully understand how Israel has become what she is today, we must look at Israel from the standpoint of its geographical location and at the Jewish people from a historical standpoint.
PRESENT-DAY ISRAEL consists of nearly 8,000 square miles, half of which is included in the formerly barren Negev Desert, which is now spotted with productive farms. The land's location on the western tip of Asia, where Asia touches Africa, has made Israel a battlefield throughout history. Armies from the west have attempted to extend their power east, and vice versa, in so doing have fought over the land now called "Israel."
As early as 3500 B.C., tribes of Semitic people had settled along the fertile coast of Palestine, as the area has been known throughout history. Forced to flee to Egypt, they were led by Moses back to the "promised land," according to the Bible. Meanwhile, Philistines had come into control of the area, and to resist this control the scattered tribes united under King Saul.
The power of the Philistines broken, the land entered its golden age. But soon revolt split the country into two parts: Judah in the south and Israel in the north. Israel fell to the Assyrians in 800 B.C., and her people were exiled and assimilated. Judah fell 135 years later to the Babylonians, but her people carried into exile a strong spirit of nationalism. They returned after Babylon fell, were conquered by Rome, and were driven out. Until 1948, Israel did not exist except in the minds of Jews scattered throughout the world.
THE LAND ITSELF was ruled by a succession of Arab dynasties after Rome lost the area in the 7th century, until the Ottoman Turks took over in the 16th century. Crusades from western Europe to free the "Holy Land" were not successful.
Meanwhile, the Jewish people were enjoying brief periods of relative freedom and alternately suffering periods of oppression. In 1215, Pope Innocent III ordered all Jews to wear a special garment or badge. This made them the object of ridicule throughout Europe, but in so setting them apart it kept alive the hope to return someday
to a Jewish homeland.
The most violent anti-Semitic period was the 19th century, following a period of relative liberalism. In Poland, Germany, Austria and especially Russia the Jews suffered riots and pogroms.
Late in the 19th century, Theodor Herzl wrote "The Jewish State," and the first Zionist Congress was held in Switzerland. At the same time, a similar movement was taking place among the Arabs in the Ottoman Empire. Backed by secret societies in Syria and Lebanon, Arabs also began to look forward to the day when they would be free from outside rule.
WORLD WAR I offered the opportunities for the dreams of the Jews and Arabs to come true. Both helped the Allies in the war, and both were promised favorable treatment in the Middle East after the war. The Arabs considered it a breach of promise when Great Britain issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917, promising "a national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine.
As a British mandate, Palestine prospered. The Arabs were alarmed because of the increasing immigration into Palestine, which increased considerably after Hitler came to power in 1932. It appeared to the Arabs that the Jews were planning to remain in the land permanently (something the Arabs had never agreed to) and would in a few years have expansionist ideas.
The Peel Commission in 1937 recommended that Palestine be divided between the Jews and Arabs. This idea was fought by both Jews and Arabs, and Britain turned the entire situation over to the United Nations after the war. A U.N. commission recommended partition, and the General Assembly adopted a resolution for partition and for independent Jewish and Arab states to be formed after August 1, 1948.
WHEN THE ZIONIST organization proclaimed the new state of Israel on May 14, terrorism broke out on both sides. A massacre of an Arab village by Jews caused many Arabs in Israel to become refugees rather than remain in Israel. Forces from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon entered to help the Arab refugees, and war broke out.
Since then, Israel has admitted nearly 1 million immigrants, of whom 40 per cent were from eastern Europe, 29 per cent from Asia, and 24 per cent from Africa. The total population is over 2 million today. Despite a wide variety of
The U.N. stepped in to help get an armistice adopted, and open fighting ended. However, the Arabs continued to refuse to recognize Israel as a sovereign nation, and economic boycott were set up.
cultures, the government has remained stable. Despite problems such as inflation (early in the 1950's), border raids by Arabs, and the continued boycott by Arab nations, Israel has prospered in the 13 years since she won her independence.
The country is a parliamentary democracy. Members of the Kneset, or assembly, are elected by universal suffrage, including the Arabs and other non-Jews. There is no written constitution; the Kneset defined the organization, functions, and powers of the legislative and executive branches in 1949, and in 1950 decided to legislate separately on basic matters. These acts eventually will comprise the fundamental code of laws.
THE CONTINUED problem has been the threat of invasion, and Israel's defense regularly consumes over 50 per cent of the country's budget. Both men and women are subject to the draft. So far, only two war threats have come: the fighting between Egypt and Israel in the Gaza strip in 1955, and the Israeli invasion of the Sinai peninsula a year later to head off what was believed to be an imminent attack. Both "wars" were endured through U.N. cease-fire efforts.
Presumably, the problem of the Arabs in Israel will not be solved for some time. Although the Israeli Arabs enjoy, in many cases, a higher standard of living than Arabs in other nations, they are subject to various restrictions. Israeli's government says the restrictions will be lifted as soon as possible, but at the present it feels they are necessary for the security of the country.
Another problem is the reliance on foreign capital to keep the economy going. Yet, at the same time, she needs additional capital for new enterprises. Israel's exports have risen steadily since 1948, and although imports have also risen, the increase has not been as great.
THE BIGGEST and seemingly most hopeless problem, of course, is the antagonism toward Israel by the Arab nations. Arab leaders feel they were double-crossed after World War I, and they fear continued Jewish immigration. Another factor, no doubt, is Jewish prosperity; Arab leaders fear their own people will grow restless upon comparing their own lives to those of the Jews.
GREAT BRITAIN and France wanted international operation of the canal. The United States was unable to support this position because of its situation in Panama.
Until the Jewish-Arab differences can be solved, Israel will continue to exist only under threat of war. Perhaps these differences, which go far back into history, cannot be solved in the immediate future. Hopefully, for the sake of both the Jewish people and the Arab people, their leaders will make an effort soon to lessen the fear which exists on both sides.
Israel's problems with Suez also were acute. Since 1948 Egypt had blockaded Israeli and Israeli-bound ships. Egypt maintained that it was in a state of active belligerency with Israel, but in 1951 the U.N. Security Council rejected this argument and called for free Israeli access to the canal. However, no action was taken to implement this demand.
Finally Israel decided to do a little implementing on its own. On Oct. 29, 1956, Israel invaded Egypt's Sinai Desert. Fearing disruption of canal service, Britain and France attacked Egypt two days later and moved to occupy the Suez Canal Zone.
WITHIN TWO MORE days the United Nations General Assembly had met and called for a cease-fire and withdrawal of troops from Suez. By Nov. 21, British and French troops were withdrawing and being replaced by units of the United Nations Emergency Force.
This was only the first small step toward resolution of the problem. United Nations negotiations dragged on and on, never satisfying everyone involved but at least restoring the canal to operation.
The nationalization that precipitated the Suez crisis was the result—or so Nasser claimed—of the withdrawal by the United States of an offer to help finance a dam across the Nile at Aswan. Egypt's new-found canal income was to be used to finance this dam.
THE UNITED STATES had withdrawn this financial support when Egypt made an arms deal with Russia. Russia since has decided to finance the Aswan Dam, thereby eliminating Nasser's excuse for nationalizing Suez.
Aswan may be far more important to Egypt than the Suez Canal in the long run. The irrigation and hydroelectric potential of this project is great. Of the two, irrigation may be the most important immediate benefit.
Egyptian agriculture depends on the Nile, which facilitates the cultivation of only 13.600 of Egypt's 386.200 square miles. For all practical purposes, Egypt is the Nile valley. Irrigation from the Aswan dam could make productive many additional square miles of what is now wasteland.
ARAB UNITY may still be Nasser's supreme goal. His "Voice of the Arabs" radio spreads propaganda for Arab unity under Naser. His land reform programs and the relatively high social mobility in Egypt have considerable appeal among the peasants of surrounding Arab nations.
But the power in these countries is not in the hands of the peasants and probably will not be for many years to come. The power is in the hands of the army, and the army leaders are skeptical. To them Nasser's Arabism still looks like thinly veiled Nasserism.
Nasser is not confining himself to the Arab world. Imams from Egypt are spreading Islam in the newly
Gamal Abdul Nasser
formed African states. Nasser also sends as many technical experts as he can spare—a great sacrifice for a nation already lacking such experts.
NASSER'S AMBITIONS may take less subtle forms. An armed attack on Israel can never be entirely discounted. However, Nasser has fared none too well in his previous armed encounters with the Israelis, and the possibility of Western intervention makes such a move even more dangerous.
Nasser's march on Israel would not have to be with armed men. He could organize an unarmed march of Palestinian refugees. This would force Israel into an awkward position.
Some of these possibilities sound foolhardy, or illogical at best. However, events in the Middle East have never been noted for being logical.
The Arab University of Beirut, Lebanon, opened in 1959.