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War, Peace and Politics - The Royal Family and Palestine (Part II)

progress, or empty words?

More and more, Saud saw Israel as a threat - he believed that only a united effort by the Arab states would ward off the danger. His statement - "the Zionist threat is like cancer - in dealing with it neither medicine nor surgery will do any good" - was meant to emphasize that the Arabs did not, and would never, accept an Israeli state amidst them. Like his father, Saud believed that peaceful coexistence could be restored only by the repatriation of Palestine refugees and the end of Jewish immigration. Otherwise, the only other option was for the Arab nations to defend themselves and protect al-Aqsa by every means available.

In 1954, spurred into action, he rallied the troops and called for a conference of Muslim countries which would discuss Palestine and explore ways in which financial and military aid could be delivered to Arab forces there. A meeting was held that year (though not in Jerusalem as intended), but the conference did little more than appoint Saud to head its "Supreme Council".

Other initiatives at the time included a collective security pact and joint military command with Egypt and Syria, and a military agreement with Egypt in October 1955, calling for the creation of a joint command, a defense fund and a military council. Meetings were also held with the heads of Syria and Egypt in 1956, passing resolutions calling for the strengthening of Arab security and for dealing with American arms supplies to Israel. In spite of the positive spin, however, little was accomplished; Arab leaders (including Saud, who as crown prince had been the Kingdom's representative) had put together a high profile conference at Anshas in Egypt as far back as 1946, which produced nothing but a statement affirming that "the Palestine issue is of concern not only for the Palestinians but for all the Arabs".

After tensions in the region had come to a head with the nationalization of the Suez Canal in 1956, and the military response of France and Britain (leading to Saud cutting off oil supplies to those countries, despite the hit to revenue), the Americans decided to take the reins, producing the "Eisenhower Doctrine" in 1957. This stipulated that the United States should fill the void in the Middle East before Russia did, and by laying this out explicitly, articulated the (until then secret) American guarantees to the Kingdom.

The president invited Saud to Washington as his personal guest in early 1957. The trip was not without controversy - the mayor of New York barred any official welcome of the king, accusing him of defending slavery, being anti-Catholic and anti-Jewish - but his arrival was a hit with the public (his polio-afflicted child, Masshur, brought along for treatment, captivated the media). After speaking at the United Nations, where he observed that "power politics" had failed, Saud went on to Washington, where Eisenhower, uncharacteristically, met him on the tarmac (in fact, the king had insisted on a personal reception at the airport, maintaining that his personal prestige was at stake; the president was annoyed at the demand).

In private discussions, Palestine topped the agenda. Saud's hopes were dashed, however, when Eisenhower reiterated his position: Israel was there to stay, and America would not stand idly by if Israel faced destruction. Furthermore, he would not commit himself to a return to the Palestine partition plan, and made clear that any solution to the Palestinian problem must be based on the project known as the "Dulles Plan" (named after his Secretary of State).

Since the plan meant, in effect, unqualified American support for Israel, this was a major disappointment to Saud. If there was any silver lining, the president promised that Washington would not allow Israel to expand, nor would any injustice to the Arabs be tolerated. But the king realized that going forward, he would need to lay the groundwork for a common Arab policy.

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