Tension in the Mideast

Abstract

Tension in the Mideast took a huge leap in July of 1956 when Egypt seized the Suez Canal and claimed it to be its own. Amid increasing tensions in the Mideast three western allies, Britain, France and Israel (The West Tripartite Group) plotted and carried out an attack against Egypt, which was backed by Jordan and Syria (The Mideast Tripartite Group), on October 28, 1956. The attack, defeat, and occupation of Egypt lasted until December 2, 1956 when all foreign troops evacuated. Had the nations involved in the 1956 Egyptian War been moving toward a culture of peace the entire incident could have been avoided.

It’s mine mine mine!

Tension in the Mideast took a huge leap in July of 1956 when Egypt seized the Suez Canal and claimed it to be its own. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser had been antagonizing the Israelis for several years with on again off again by closing the Suez Canal to Jewish traffic and finally in 1956 with the backing of the Soviet Union he seized the canal for the glory of Egypt. In the eyes of the British and French this was tantamount to stealing the canal as they had a company set up which owned the canal. The Egyptians agreed to pay the stockholders for the canal but that did not appease France or Great Britain (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/egypt2.htm).

No, it’s ours!

Amid increasing tensions in the Mideast three western allies, Britain, France and Israel plotted and carried out an attack against Egypt on October 28, 1956. The West Tripartite Group struck simultaneously and brutally; completely overwhelming Egypt and securing the canal as well as occupying the country in a few days of fierce fighting and bombings.

Ok it’s yours

The attack, defeat, and occupation of Egypt lasted until December 2, 1956 when all foreign troops evacuated. The Russians threatened missile attacks against Britain and France if they did not immediately withdraw. The United States was embroiled in ramping up Vietnam, the Cold War, and reeling from the beating in Korea, hence was in no mood for the antics of The West Tripartite Group (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/egypt2.htm). With the two world Superpowers demanding the end of the attacks and the withdrawal of troops The West Tripartite Group had little choice but to withdraw from Egypt.

Can’t we all just get along?

Had the nations involved in the 1956 Egyptian War been moving toward a culture of peace the entire incident could have been avoided. If I was an Egyptian in 1956, I might think. The Jews have stolen our land and with the help of the infidels from France and England they are going to take over the canal and then the whole country. The Jews have always wanted what is ours, they spread their lies and deceit about a false God, they allow their women to flaunt their bodies and talk back to men. Can any disciple of Allah envision being ordered about by satanic hoards from Israel and their friends? We must keep the canal for ourselves, we must bring about the destruction of the Jews whom are bent on taking what is ours.

The article Moving from a Culture of War to a Culture of Peace in summary makes valid points and conclusions and I agree with the culture of peace goals in general. The link the author attempts to make between war and men with the glory of the peaceful woman is illusive to me as it has the ring of the “man is inherently evil” mantra that religious fanatics love to use. The “instead of” points make logical sense, and over time we are moving in that direction. I do think that he should look at the international communities response to dictatorships and the ending of these types of egomaniacal leader societies, which are breeding grounds for the same.

Conclusion

Due to the culture of war that plagues the world Egypt took actions to injure the Jews, specifically blocking their use of the Suez Canal, without understanding the anger it would create with other nations whom had stakes in the instrument of injury. The Western Tripartite acted impulsively and failed to understand that by the canal passing through Egypt they had every right to feel it should be under their control. Egypt failed to realize the Suez should be under their control but should be available to all nations without prejudice in order to maintain peace. Although Egypt in essence won the war and controls the canal, they learned a valuable lesson about how attacks on one nation can cause catastrophic actions buy many other countries to the point where they saw that in reality their fate is held in the hands of the superpowers.

Reference:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Suez_War.html

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/egypt2.htm

http://www.clas.ufl.edu/

http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_256.shtml

http://www.virtualcitizens.com/pictures/bosworth_2006-07-28.gif

http://files.uzitalk.com/reference/pages/IDF.htm