Zach Bornheimer's History Portfolio

Gamal Abdel Nasser’s approach to politics can be interpreted as naive or genius. One of his main approaches to politics was to have the superpowers fight each other. This could be considered naive, because the attempt would be too transparent, or genius, because it would distract the superpowers from seeing what was going on under their nose. For example, by nationalizing the Suez Canal Company, Nasser put the British, French, and Israelis on the offensive. Because of the invasion of the British, French, and Israelis, the United Nations passed resolutions to protect Egypt from the forces and to have the three nations withdraw. Later, the United States supported these resolutions, which could be considered a successful result of his plan. Nasser would later claim that he defeated the France, Britain, and Israel by himself, an attempt to anger the three nations, so they would attack each other, verbally, through sanctions, or with forces. Nasser was trying to implement his original strategy, but after discovering that it was not resulting in his desired outcome, he haulted communication with the United States, which Nasser was in communication with because they supported (did not oppose) Egypt, and, according to Said K. Aburish’s book Nasser, the Last Arab, Nasser’s policy of “playing the superpowers against each other came to an end.”

I disagree with the idea that Nasser’s polices were naive, but rather that he had a plan to bring down the superpowers.  Whether or not Nasser’s policies are naive, his decisions can be considered the major cause of the 1956 Suez Crisis.

The UNSCOP (United Nations Special Committee On Palestine) had the final say in history on the partitioning of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states.  When looking back on what could have happened, no one nation was to ‘blame’ exactly, but it is could have been partitioned differently.  If the British did not change allies and sides so frequently, the Arabs, would have British support and get the majority of land and there would probably one Arab state with limited Jewish immigration.  Also if Ernest Bevin did not give up on Palestine, it may not have been divided and may have stayed an Arab state.  If President Roosevelt and President Truman let more refugees into the United States, there would not have been so much pressure for a Jewish Homeland in Palestine.  In the end, President Truman pushed for the partitioning of Palestine.  So, there wasn’t really one single nation to, blame for the results, but the United States and Britain greatly increased the viability that partitioning was the ideal option.

The British betrayed the trust of the Arabs and, consequently, were put into a difficult position when the Arabs started fighting back.  Before getting into the results, the preceding events will be analyzed.  The McMahon-Hussein correspondence of 1915-6 was the first confirmed support for the Arabs. Sherif Hussein of Mecca believed that he had the support of the British because of the words exchanged.  At the same time, Sir Mark Sykes, a member of the British Parliament, was having secret discussions with the French (more specifically, Charles François George-Picot) about the way the French and British would divide the land.  The Arabs did not want the French in that land, as stated in the McMahon-Hussein correspondence, and the Sykes-Picot Agreement would divide the land with the French; either the French or the Arabs would be let down.  The British would betray either the French or the Arabs.  The French are allies of the British and the land the Arabs had was necessary for the control of India.  We would not know who the British would betray until the Balfour Declaration was written in 1917.  This document stated that the British would back the Jews and support a Jewish state as long as it did not “prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in other countries.”  The Balfour Declaration was the first official document written on behalf of the government.  By the time the Arabs understood that the British had betrayed them, they started attacking anyone and everyone.  In 1920, The British allowed the Zionist Organization, the Jewish National Fund, to purchase land in the region of Palestine.  In 1920 and 1921, Arab attacks became increasingly apparent.  In 1936, Arab Rebellions started to break out.  For the years 1936-1939, the Arab Rebellions targeted British forces and occasionally Jews.  The Arabs used violence and non-violent rebellious techniques.  At one point, the British had to bring in 20,000 troops to quell the Arabs, some of who were forced into the violence.