Lester B. Pearson, Israel and the Suez Canal War

The “Levant” (Mediterranean Coast) area of the Middle East is one of the oldest areas with recorded history

It was called Canaan, after the Canaanites, who lived in the area from approximately 3300-1000 BCE

In 1200 BCE, Canaan was invaded from both the south by the Hebrews (Jews) and from the sea by the Philistines (Greeks)

In Approximately 1000 BCE, King David defeated both the Philistines and Canaanites and created the Kingdom of Israel, with its capital in Jerusalem

David’s son Solomon expanded Israel into an empire and built a temple for worship

Solomon’s sons split the kingdom into Israel and Judah and they grew weaker in 927 BCE

722 BCE Israel was conquered by Assyria and its inhabitants were dispersed

586 BCE Judah was conquered by the Babylonians and its inhabitants were exiled to Babylon

In 539 BCE the Persians recaptured the Levant and allowed the Jews to return and build their temple

In 333 BCE Alexander the Great conquered the area, but did not change things

In 163 BCE the Jewish people revolted against their Greek-Syrian overlords and established the state of Judea

In 63 BCE, Judea was conquered by the Romans

66-73 CE the Jewish people revolted against the Romans but were harshly defeated and their temple was destroyed

132-135 CE the Jewish people revolted against the Romans again but are defeated again. This time they are banished from the area around Jerusalem and Judea was renamed Syria-Palestina in order to erase Jewish identity from the land

The Romans/Byzantines controlled Palestine until 638 CE, when it was incorporated under Islamic rule

691 CE the Dome of the Rock built

1097-1291: the Crusaders conquer much of Palestine

1291: the Egyptian Mamluks control Palestine

1516: the Ottoman Turks conquer Palestine

1918: the British capture Palestine and give it boundaries

Zionism is Jewish nationalism, with a goal of establishing a Jewish state in the former Kingdoms of Israel and Judah

Zionism started in the late 1800’s in response to the realization that the Jewish people would never be accepted in Europe

Zionists bought land in Palestine from the Turks, and later the British

In 1936, the British limited immigration due to Arab unrest, causing some Jewish terrorist groups to form in order to fight the British

In 1947, the British gave Palestine to the UN

The UN made a plan to divide Palestine into an Arab half and a Jewish half

The Jews accepted but the Arabs did not, so there was a civil war from 1947-1948 in Palestine and then a war between Israel and Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen and Saudi Arabia after Israel declared independence on May 12th 1948

In 1956, the new leader of Egypt, Gamal Nasser, nationalized the Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea

He needed to fund the building of the Aswan Dam, which Britain and the USA backed out of funding

Britain and France owned the Suez Canal, so they were outraged

At the time, Israel had very poor relations with Egypt because they were sending terrorists into Israel, which would lead to Israeli retaliation

Britain and France asked Israel if they would invade the Sinai Peninsula, so Britain and France could send paratroopers to the Suez Canal with the pretext of peacekeepingThe Israelis gained a large sale of arms from France

Israel invaded the Sinai on October 29th 1956

They routed Egyptian forces Britain and France “called for

a truce” and then sent their paratroopers to the Suez Canal on November 6th after Nasser refused the truce

Britain and France’s plan was exposed and there was international outrage, especially by the USA and USSR

The invasion turned into a diplomatic fiasco, causing the fall of the British and French governments

For Israel, the invasion was a success

Despite his military defeat, Nasser emerged as the victor because he was seen as standing up to western Imperialism

Louis St. Laurent replaced Mackenzie-King as Prime Minster and head of the Liberal Party in 1948

He wanted to establish Canada as a “Middle Power” which would seek to establish links between the USA and USSR and use its power to reduce global tension

In response to the Suez Canal Crisis, St. Laurent denounced Britain and France

In response to the Suez Crisis, Foreign Minister Lester B. Pearson went to the UN to find a solution to the conflict

Pearson proposed that the UN Emergency Force be sent to the Suez Canal to separate the opposing armies

The UN agreed and sent a force led by a Canadian general to occupy the Sinai Peninsula while Israel withdrew

This is significant because it was the first time the UN was used in a peacekeeping role

Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize

In 1967, Nasser removed the UN Emergency Force and blocked shipping to Israel

Israel responded with a pre-emptive strike called the Six Day War

Israel: Strength 264,000 (incl. 214,000 reserve troops)300 combat aircraft800 tanks [2]

Egypt: 240,000, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq: 307,000957 combat aircraft2,504 tanks[3]

Israel Casualties and losses 800 killed, 2,563 wounded,15 captured, 46 aircraft destroyed[4]

Egypt Casualties- 10,000 listed as killed, wounded and missing in action.[5] Jordan- 700 killed, 2,500 wounded. Syria- 2,500 dead, 5,000 wounded, Iraq- lost 10 killed, 30 wounded, 6,000 captured, 400 aircraft.

Egypt and Syria responded in 1973 by attacking Israel on the holiest day in Judaism, called the Yom Kippur War

Israel won, thus many neighboring countries saw they would not be able to destroy Israel

In 1978 Egypt and Israel signed a peace agreement at Camp David