Friday, December 25, 2020

Egypt: A Special Case After the Ottoman Empire's Demise Part IV

 Nadene Goldfoot                                        

Since the onshore discovery of oil in the Eastern Desert in 1886, the petroleum industry in Egypt has accumulated reserves of more than 15.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent.     At the beginning of the 20th century, and specifically in 1904, the Egyptian government had authorized Cairo Syndicate to explore oil in Sinai and Quena, this is when foreign companies began their activities.                                   

On November 26, 1922, Carter and fellow archaeologist Lord Carnarvon entered the interior chambers of the tomb, finding them miraculously intact.  This turned out to be the discovery of King Tut's tomb, causing a revelation of British and America's wild interest in those days.  It affected their thoughts, dress, and interest for years through the 20's.  Perhaps this discovery affected the British minds about what to do with Egypt after WWI had ended and the Ottoman Empire was dissolved into Turkey once again.                                            

Egypt was  a part of the Ottoman Empire.  The Eyalet of Egypt operated as an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire from 1517 to 1867. It originated as a result of the conquest of Mamluk Egypt by the Ottomans in 1517, following the Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–1517) and the absorption of Syria into the Empire in 1516.  

With the Ottomans’ defeat of the Mamluks in 1516–17, Egyptian medieval history had come full circle, as Egypt reverted to the status of a province governed from Constantinople (present-day Istanbul). Again the country was exploited as a source of taxation for the benefit of an imperial government and as a base for foreign expansion. The economic decline that had begun under the late Mamluks continued, and with it came a decline in Egyptian culture.

Upon Ottoman entry into the war, the British declared Egypt to be an official protectorate (18 December 1914), ending four centuries of Ottoman sovereignty: 'Abbas II, Khedive of Egypt (1874-1944) was deposed and his uncle Husayn Kamil, Sultan of Egypt (1853-1917) was appointed sultan.  

The foremost British interest in Egypt was always because of its strategic position. However profitable contracts and business was in the country, it was the fact that Egypt lay between Britain and India that made it so vitally important for the British.  The British citizens will soon become in love with Egypt in 1922 because of King Tut's discovery.  

                   "The newly appointed British High Commissioner, General Edmund Allenby (1861-1936), allowed the Wafd to travel to Paris. In 1922, Britain unilaterally declared the independence of Egypt; however, it was not until 1956, with the outbreak of the military and political Suez Crisis, that the British occupation of Egypt finally ended".  This is referring to Israel's Sinai War that lasted from October 29th until November 5, 1956. It was a 7 day war in which a threat was removed and a blockade was broken of which was all against Israel.  

When the Ottomans departed, the Arabs proclaimed an independent state in Damascus, but were too weak, militarily and economically, to resist the European powers for long, and Britain and France soon re-established control.                 

    Egypt affected Britain's clothing business as the Flappers were becoming popular and the soon to happen discovery of King Tut's Tomb!
                   Flappers of 20s inspired by Egyptian attire.  

During the 1920s and 1930s Iraq, Syria and Egypt moved towards independence, although the British and French did not formally depart the region until after World War II. But in Palestine, the conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation which the British could neither resolve nor extricate themselves from. The rise to power of Nazism in Germany created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to create a Jewish state in Palestine, leading to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.                                      

                      The official opening of the League of Nations, 15 November 1920

On July 24, 1922, the League of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations, issued a formal recognition of the Jewish nation's connection to the Land of Israel, and approved the decision to establish a Jewish national homeland in the historical Land of Israel.

                                                 

"The Sheik of Araby" was a Tin Pan Alley hit, and was also adopted by early jazz bands, especially in New Orleans, making it a jazz standard. It was a well recognized part of popular culture. A verse also appears in the novel The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In 1926, Benny Goodman playing-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLFz-X8cpTw--close to flapper style...

It was in November 1922 that King Tut's tomb was discovered and the world went bonkers over that!  Egyptian stuff was sheik, and they all were singing about the Sheik of Araby....it was a love fest--over Egypt.    

During the year of 1955, the USSR (Russia) had been supplying military equipment to Egypt and Syria to use against Israel. Strange, because they had voted for Israel's existence in the UN. The Russian Federation had joined the UN on October 24, 1945.   Israel's application was renewed in 1949 after the Israeli elections. The Security Council by UN Security Council Resolution 69 on 4 March 1949 voted 9 to 1 in favour of membership, with Egypt voting no and Great Britain abstaining.  Those voting in favour were: China (ROC), France, United States, Soviet Union, Argentina, Canada, Cuba, Norway, and Ukrainian SSR.

                                                  

 Egypt had banned the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Eilat from Israel for navigation to and from Israel.  The Egyptian; Fidayun or Fedayeen) units were attacking Israelis sent by Egypt from Sinai, the Gaza Strip and elsewhere.  Egypt was creating military bases in Sinai in its frontier.  1955 was a year when Egypt had Arab military pacts against Israel with Egypt in the center.  In October 1956, Jordan joined the Egyptian-Syrian pact.  In 7 days, Israel's army occupied the Sinai peninsula and the Gaza Strip.  This opened the Suez Canal for transit of goods to and from Israel.  Israel was promised that the Canal would be open for such transit, but the promise was never honored.   

                                               


 
Egypt–Israel relations are foreign relations between Egypt and Israel. The state of war between both countries which dated back to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War culminated in the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and was followed by the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty a year after the Camp David Accords, mediated by U.S. president Jimmy Carter. Full diplomatic relations were established on January 26, 1980, and the formal exchange of ambassadors took place one month later, on February 26, 1980, with Eliyahu Ben-Elissar serving as the first Israeli Ambassador to Egypt, and Saad Mortada as the first Egyptian Ambassador to Israel. Egypt has an embassy in Tel Aviv and a consulate in Eilat. Israel has an embassy in Cairo and a consulate in Alexandria. Their shared border has two official crossings, one at Taba and one at Nitzana. The crossing at Nitzana is for commercial and tourist traffic only. The two countries' borders also meet at the shoreline of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea.

Peace between Egypt and Israel has lasted for more than thirty years and Egypt has become an important strategic partner of Israel. In January 2011, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a former defense minister known for his close ties to Egyptian officials, stated that "Egypt is not only our closest friend in the region, the co-operation between us goes beyond the strategic." Nevertheless, the relationship is sometimes described as a "cold peace", with many in Egypt skeptical about its effectiveness. According to the 2019-2020 survey, 13% of Egyptians support diplomatic recognition of Israel while 85% oppose. The Arab-Israeli conflict kept relations cool and anti-Israeli incitement is prevalent in the Egyptian media. 

While in Israel 1980-1985, we used to watch TV movies from Egypt.  It is a great way to see a country.  While there, my friends were able to visit Egypt on our Ulan's Spring Semester break, and my friend did.  We were too busy going over our Hebrew in order to pass the coming test, so we didn't take the advantage.  I wish we had been able to do it.  

                                                  

The President of Egypt today is Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi.

Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi is an Egyptian politician who is the sixth and current President of Egypt, former Director of Military Intelligence, former Minister of Defense, and former General.  He rules with an iron hand.  Relations with Israel have improved significantly following Mohamed Morsi's removal, with Sisi saying he talks to Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, "a lot." Sisi has been described by The Economist as "the most pro-Israeli Egyptian leader ever."

 With continuous support for Palestine, the Sisi administration supports the two-state solution establishing a Palestinian state on lands that were occupied in 1967  with Eastern Jerusalem as its capital for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict achieving the Palestinians needs and granting Israel the security it wants. 

The first months of Sisi's presidency witnessed the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. Egypt also criticized the IDF operation in the Gaza Strip as "oppressive policies of mass punishment rejecting 'the irresponsible Israeli escalation' in the occupied Palestinian territory, which comes in the form of 'excessive' and unnecessary use of military force leading to the death of innocent civilians." It also demanded Israel adopt self-restraint and to keep in mind that being an "occupation force", it has a legal and moral duty to protect civilian lives.

Egypt has been the 5th largest Muslim majority Middle East country with 95,000,000 population.  It has from 90 to 94.7% Muslims.  

                                           

                           Shopping in Egypt

Sisi doesn't know the half of it, as he continues to support the Arabs, but their peace has been a peaceful one.  May it continue to be so.  It must be hard on the Arab countries to play on 2 sides of the coin, but he does so in keeping everyone happy.  The longer peace continues, the less death there is and everyone can become aware of how nice a peaceful environment can be.                   

    Moshe Dayan, Anawar Sadat (1918-1981) and Menacham Begin

President Sadat had made peace with Israel and was assassinated for doing so.  Everyone in Israel loved that man.  He came personally to Israel to see for himself what it was like.  He had been Egypt's President from 1970 to 1981, and had succeeded Nasser.  It was Sadat who launched the Yom Kippur War of 1973!  By 1977 he initiated a peace process with Israel when he made his visit to Israel.  In 1979 he signed a peace treaty through the Camp David Agreements.  A Moslem extremist assassinated him while he was reviewing a military parade in Cairo.  Watch "Valley of Tears" on  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltSvPE8xw3A  story of Yom Kippur War -HBO Max orginal


Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt_Eyalet#:~:text=The%20Eyalet%20of%20Egypt%20operated,into%20the%20Empire%20in%201516.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Egypt/The-Ottomans-1517-1798

https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/occupation_during_and_after_the_war_middle_east#:~:text=Upon%20Ottoman%20entry%20into%20the,%2D1917)%20was%20appointed%20sultan.

https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Issues/Pages/94th-anniversary-of-the-League-of-Nations-affirmation-of-Jewish-self-determination-24-July-2016.aspx#:~:text=%E2%80%A2-,On%20July%2024%2C%201922%2C%20the%20League%20of%20Nations%2C%20the,the%20historical%20Land%20of%20Israel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_the_United_Nations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdel_Fattah_el-Sisi

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