Summary
The revolution of 14 July 1958 that destroyed Nuri al-Said’s regime in Iraq; in Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace it is the crushing blow to colonialism in the region after Suez — answered by US Marines landing in Lebanon and British troops in Jordan, flown in part over Israeli airspace with Israel’s simultaneous protest and consent — and the occasion for Ben-Gurion’s verdict that the coup was “one of the gravest events that has occurred since the Second World War” (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.427-431).
Details
- The regime was so hated, the book says, that the revolution took place “without bloodshed (except for the hanging of Nuri and his few friends)” and the radio newsreaders were not even replaced, “but simply began to read different material in the broadcasts”; the day after the revolution US Marines landed in Lebanon and afterwards British forces landed in Jordan (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.427).
- The Israeli press of 15/7/58 reflected the official response: Davar — “What is not done in the next 24 hours will certainly never be done. We must now increase our security alertness and be prepared for any mission that events may impose on us.”; Lamerhav — the transformations are “completely undermining the balance of power and the system of treaties that were signed upon the conclusion of the War of Independence, and Israel cannot stand aside”; Herut — “There is only one power which can save the Middle East and humanity from a new danger … and that power is Israel.” Only Kol Ha’am demanded (17/7/58) that “Israel must not get involved in a new warlike adventure”, and Haolam Hazeh shared that view (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.427).
- Official Israel saw the revolution as a disaster and Said’s death as the loss of an ally, eulogizing him as it had Abdullah; Britain asked permission to fly aircraft to Jordan over Israel’s territory, but “Before the requested permission was granted the aircraft began to cross, and of course they were not shot down by the IDF, even though they officially violated the sovereignty of the State”; on 17/7/58 the government sent Britain two notes — a protest against the violation of Israel’s airspace, and a note indicating agreement to the crossing — and the flights continued for a week (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.428).
- In the Knesset, Begin proposed an information campaign for rapid evacuation of British units from Jordan, a mutual aid treaty with France, and the removal of UN Secretary-General Hammarskjöld; Vilner (Maki) proposed demanding the withdrawal of the American forces from Lebanon and the British from Jordan, condemning the government’s support for the colonialist invaders, solidarity with Asia’s national liberation, and support for the Soviet initiative for a five-Power summit (Knesset Records, 24/2338, 24/2341, dated 21/5/58 and 21/7/58 as printed) (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.428-430).
- Ben-Gurion rejected both: “The coup in Iraq is, without a doubt, one of the gravest events that has occurred since the Second World War”, the task being to repel the danger of the Egyptian leader’s strengthening and besieging of Israel, and meanwhile “increase our strength and acquire more friends” (Knesset Records 24/2341, 21/7/58). The book’s verdict: a policy of more arms and Western alliances had not prevented internal changes in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon or Iraq over 12 years — “This policy is going from failure to failure, on its way to the decisive failure” (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.430).
- The overflights were debated only at a special session on 8/8/58; Vilner’s resolution — withdraw permission for the aircraft’s passage, and a government commitment not to launch any initiated war — was rejected “as usual” (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.430-431).
- After the revolution, Nasser’s and Qasim’s declarations demanding the re-establishment of the state of the Arabs of Palestine, a Palestinian government in exile and a Palestinian army were, the book argues in Chapter 8, among the forces progressively undermining the post-1948 status quo (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.412).
Related pages
Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, Nuri al-Said, Baghdad Pact, United Arab Republic, Eisenhower Doctrine, David Ben-Gurion