To All,
Good Saturday morning December 31. I want to wish you all a Happy and safe New Year and many more. Thanks for your contributions to the list this year.
Warm regards
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This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History
December 31
1862—USS Monitor founders in a storm off Cape Hatteras, NC, and is lost. Ordinary Seaman John Jones of USS Rhode Island is awarded the Medal of Honor for his conduct while rescuing crewmen during the night.
1941—Adm. Chester W. Nimitz assumes command of U.S. Pacific Fleet.
1942—USS Essex (CV 9), the first of a new class of aircraft carriers, is commissioned at Norfolk, VA.
1943—USS Greenling (SS 213) sinks Japanese transport Shoho Maru southeast of Ponape and evades counterattacks by submarine chaser Ch 30.
1948—The last annual report by a Secretary of the Navy to Congress and the President is filed by Secretary of the Navy John L. Sullivan. Thereafter the Secretary of Defense reports annually to Congress.
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Today in History December 31
1775 George Washington orders recruiting officers to accept free blacks into the army.
1852 The richest year of the gold rush ends with $81.3 million in gold produced.
1862 Union General William Rosecrans' army repels two Confederate attacks at the Battle of Murfreesboro (Stone's River).
1910 John B. Moisant and Arch Hoxsey, two of America's foremost aviators, die in separate plane crashes.
1911 Helene Dutrieu wins the Femina aviation cup in Etampes. She sets a distance record for women at 158 miles.
1915 The Germans torpedo the British liner Persia without any warning killing 335 passengers.
1923 The Sahara is crossed by an automobile for the first time.
1930 Brewery heir Adolphus Busch is kidnapped.
1941 General MacArthur reports that U.S. lines in Manila have been pushed back by the Japanese.
1942 After five months of battle, Emperor Hirohito allows the Japanese commanders at Guadalcanal to retreat.
1944 Hungary declares war on Germany.
1965 California becomes the largest state in population.
1977 Cambodia breaks relations with Vietnam.
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
… For The List for Saturday, 31 December 2022… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 31 December 1967… James Reston's wrap-up of 1967…
This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip
Vietnam Air Losses
Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
This is a list of all Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War . Listed by last name and has other info https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
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Thanks to Cowboy who came across this one
tetvetbob (tetvetbob@gmail.com)
THE COYOTE PRINCIPLE, a PARABLE
California
The Governor of California is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks the Governor's dog, killing it, then bites the Governor.
The Governor starts to intervene, but reflects upon the movie "Bambi" and then realizes he should stop because the coyote is only doing what is natural.
He calls animal control. Animal Control captures the coyote and bills the state $200 testing it for diseases and $500 for relocating it.
He calls a veterinarian.
The vet collects the dead dog and bills the State $200 testing it for diseases.
The Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for diseases from the coyote and on getting his bite wound bandaged.
The running trail gets shut down
for 6 months while Fish & Game conducts a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is now free of dangerous animals.
The Governor spends $50,000 in state funds implementing a "coyote awareness program" for residents of the area.
The State Legislature spends $2 million to study how to better treat rabies and how to permanently eradicate the disease throughout the world.
The Governor's security agent is fired for not stopping the attack. The state spends $150,000 to hire and train a new agent with additional special training on the nature of coyotes.
PETA protests the coyote's
relocation and files a $5 million suit against the state.
Texas
The Governor of Texas is jogging
with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks his dog.
The Governor shoots the coyote
with his state-issued pistol and keeps jogging. The Governor has spent $0.50 on a .45 ACP hollow point cartridge.
The buzzards eat the dead
coyote.
And that, my friends, is why
California is broke and Texas is not.
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(READ the whole amazing and heroic story!)
December 31, 2022
Toxic masculinity strikes again: Man who saved 24 stranded motorists in Buffalo snowstorm identified
By Monica Showalter
The best story of the day comes from the deep snows of Buffalo, New York, where 50 inches of snow buried the city in blizzard conditions, leaving cars on the road stranded and 40 people dead.
Except that there would have been a lot more of them had this man not stepped up.
According to ABC News:
Police in the town of Cheektowaga, just outside of Buffalo, credit 27-year-old Jay Withey with saving the lives of two dozen people during the deadly storm by rescuing strangers from cars trapped in the snow and bringing them into a school for shelter.
"I feel 100% that Jay's actions were heroic and 100% saved lives," Cheektowaga Police Chief Brian Gould said.
It all began when Withey went to pick up a friend who was stranded. But with only a quarter of a tank of gas left, his car quickly became stuck in the whiteout conditions.
"The wind blowing, the snow falling -- you couldn't see if you stuck your hand out. You couldn't see the tap of your fingers of your own hand," he said.
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Thanks to Mike
USMC "Carrier On Land" Air Base At Chu Lai, Viet Nam
VMFA 323 was first F-4 unit there. One Quote From Col Robert Johnson...Lots of great A-4 Info, pictures and Clips:
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'Thanks to Barrel and to Cowboy for finding the URL
The Train
As we approach the New Year, please take a ride on this train and reflect on the wisdom within it. Have a Happy ride and I hope it is a long one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmtyvQw5ROk
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Thanks to Denny
It's a long read but worth it
https://collider.com/top-gun-maverick-director-joseph-kosinski-interview/
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Crotchety, Older & Wiser
Thanks to DR
I found this timely, because today I was in a store that sells sunglasses, and only sunglasses. A young lady walks over to me and asks, "What brings you in today?" I looked at her, and said, "I'm interested in buying a refrigerator." She didn't quite know how to respond.
Am I getting to be that age?
I was thinking about how a status symbol of today is those cell phones that everyone has clipped onto their belt or purse. I can't afford one. So I'm wearing my garage door opener.
I was thinking about old age and decided that old age is when you still have something on the ball, but you are just too tired to bounce it.
I thought about making a fitness movie for folks my age and calling it 'Pumping Rust.'
When people see a cat's litter box they always say, "Oh, have you got a cat?" Just once I want to say, "No, it's for company!"
Employment application blanks always ask who is to be called in case of an emergency. I think you should write, 'An ambulance .'
The older you get the tougher it is to lose weight because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.
The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.
Did you ever notice: The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are XL.
The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble..
Did you ever notice: When you put the 2 words 'The' and 'IRS' together it spells: 'Theirs...'
Aging: Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.
Some people try to turn back their "odometers." Not me. I want people to know 'why' I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.
You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.
Ah! Being young is beautiful but being old is comfortable.
Lord, keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.
May you always have Love to Share, Cash to Spare, And Friends who Care.
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Today's Interesting Fact
As common eating utensils, chopsticks in Asia are about 2,000 years older than the fork in Europe.
By the time most people in Europe started eating with forks, chopsticks had already been around in Asia for millennia. The versatile utensil is believed to have been invented in China roughly 5,000 years ago, although it was initially little more than twigs used for cooking rather than eating (compared to human fingers, chopsticks were a much safer way to grab food from boiling water). None other than Confucius is credited with helping to make chopsticks popular as eating utensils sometime after 400 BCE. A man who espoused nonviolence, the philosopher believed that knives evoked bloodshed and the "honorable and upright man … allows no knives on his table." (Chopsticks, then, were a more peaceful way to pick up food compared to spearing it with a knife.)
Chopsticks gradually made their way beyond China's borders and were the utensil of choice in other Asian countries such as Japan and Vietnam by 500 CE. Forks, meanwhile, slowly gained popularity throughout Europe after initially being used in their two-tined form by the ancient Greeks and Egyptians for cooking. Around the 11th century, they were introduced as eating utensils in Italy and France from the Byzantine Empire — still in two-pronged form — but were widely frowned upon for centuries as unnecessarily luxurious or effeminate. Medieval Europe ate mostly with rounds of stale bread used as a platform for meat and vegetables, as well as knives and spoons, which had been ubiquitous since ancient times. It wasn't until around the 18th century that the use of forks — finally with three and four tines — became commonplace in much of Europe, in a slow process befitting their status as a late-to-the-party addition to the table.
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This Day in United States Military History
1941 – Admiral Chester W. Nimitz assumes command of U.S. Pacific Fleet.
1941 – America's last automobiles with chrome-plated trim were manufactured on this day. Starting in 1942, chrome plating became illegal. It was part of an effort to conserve resources for the American war effort. The chrome wasn't missed too much. Virtually no automobiles were produced in the U.S. from 1942 through the end of World War II.
1942 – Commissioning of USS Essex (CV-9), first of new class of aircraft carriers, at Norfolk, VA
1942 – After five months of battle, Emperor Hirohito allowed the Japanese commanders at Guadalcanal to retreat.
1943 – Both the US 5th Army and the British 8th Army continue their offensive operation in Italy without significant success.
1944 – Operation Nordwind, the last major German offensive on the Western Front begins. The goal of the offensive was to break through the lines of the U.S. 7th Army and French 1st Army in the Upper Vosges mountains and the Alsatian Plain, and destroy them. This would leave the way open for Operation Dentist (Unternehmen Zahnarzt), a planned major thrust into the rear of the U.S. 3rd Army which would lead to the destruction of that army. Operation Nordwind, although costly for both sides, was ultimately unsuccessful, and the failure of the offensive allowed the U.S. 7th Army to contain the German push towards Strasbourg. Any gains attained by the offensive were negated by the later Operation Undertone.
1944 – On Leyte, various Japanese counterattacks in the northwest are repulsed by American forces. Up to this point, the Japanese have suffered about 70,000 casualties, almost all killed, in the battles on Leyte. American casualties number 15,500 dead and wounded. The US 6th Army is being withdrawn from the island, in preparation for the invasion of Luzon, and the US 8th Army is replacing it.
1944 – The British 30th Corps (part of US 1st Army) captures Rochefort on the western tip of the German-held Ardennes salient.
1945 – The ratification of the UN Charter was completed.
1946 – President Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.
1968 – The bloodiest year of the war comes to an end. At year's end, 536,040 American servicemen were stationed in Vietnam, an increase of over 50,000 from 1967. Estimates from Headquarters U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam indicated that 181,150 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese were killed during the year. However, Allied losses were also up: 27,915 South Vietnamese, 14,584 Americans (a 56 percent increase over 1967), and 979 South Koreans, Australians, New Zealanders, and Thais were reported killed during 1968. Since January 1961, more than 31,000 U.S. servicemen had been killed in Vietnam and over 200,000 U.S. personnel had been wounded. Contributing to the high casualty number was the Tet Offensive launched by the communists. Conducted in the early weeks of the year, it was a crushing military defeat for the communists, but the size and scope of the attacks caught the American and South Vietnamese allies completely by surprise. The early reporting of a smashing communist victory went largely uncorrected in the media and this led to a psychological victory for the communists. The heavy U.S. casualties incurred during the offensive coupled with the disillusionment over the earlier overly optimistic reports of progress in the war accelerated the growing disenchantment with President Johnson's conduct of the war. Johnson, frustrated with his inability to reach a solution in Vietnam, announced on March 31, 1968, that he would neither seek nor accept the Democratic nomination for president. Johnson's announcement did not dampen the wave of antiwar protests that climaxed with the bloody confrontation between protesters and police outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.
1970 – Congress authorized the Eisenhower dollar coin.
1971 – The gradual U.S. withdrawal from the conflict in Southeast Asia is reflected in reduced annual casualty figures. The number of Americans killed in action dropped to 1,386 from the previous year total of 4,204. South Vietnam losses for the year totalled 21,500 men, while the combined Viet Cong and North Vietnamese total was estimated at 97,000 killed in action. After 10 years of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, a total of 45,627 American soldiers had been killed. The U.S. troop levels, which started the year at 280,000, were down to 159,000. This troop reduction was a direct result of the shifting American goal for the Vietnam War-no longer attempting a military victory, the U.S. was trying to gracefully extricate itself from the situation by transferring responsibility for the war to the South Vietnamese.
1972 – With the end of Linebacker II, the most intense U.S. bombing operation of the Vietnam War, U.S. and communist negotiators prepare to return to the secret Paris peace talks scheduled to reconvene on January 2. In a statement issued in Paris, the Hanoi delegation to the public peace talks asserted that the U.S. bombing did not succeed in "subjugating the Vietnamese people," and called attention to the losses of U.S. planes and the unfavorable world reaction to the raids. Despite the public denial that the Linebacker II raids forced them back, the communists returned to the negotiating table. When the negotiators met in January, the talks moved along quickly and on January 23, 1973, the United States, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), and the Viet Cong signed a cease-fire agreement that took effect five days later. In 1972, the American troop level in South Vietnam was reduced from 159,000 to only 24,000. Under the terms of the Paris Peace Accords, all of the personnel would be withdrawn by March 1973.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
BOURKE, JOHN G.
Rank and organization: Private, Company E, 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Place and date: At Stone River, Tenn., 31 December 1862-1 January 1863. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Birth: Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: 16 November 1887. Citation: Gallantry in action.
FARQUHAR, JOHN M.
Rank and organization: Sergeant Major, 89th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Stone River, Tenn., 31 December 1862. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Birth: Scotland. Date of issue: 6 August 1902. Citation: When a break occurred on the extreme right wing of the Army of the Cumberland, this soldier rallied fugitives from other commands, and deployed his own regiment, thereby checking the Confederate advance until a new line was established.
FOLLETT, JOSEPH L.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company G, 1st Missouri Light Artillery. Place and date: At New Madrid, Mo., 3 March 1862; at Stone River, Tenn., 31 December 1862. Entered service at: St. Louis, Mo. Birth: Newark, N.J. Date of issue: 19 September 1890. Citation: At New Madrid, Mo., remained on duty though severely wounded. While procuring ammunition from the supply train at Stone River, Tenn., was captured, but made his escape, secured the ammunition, and in less than an hour from the time of his capture had the batteries supplied.
FREEMAN, HENRY B.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 18th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Stone River, Tenn., 31 December 1862. Entered service at: Mount Vernon, Ohio. Birth: Mount Vernon, Ohio. Date of issue: 17 February 1894. Citation: Voluntarily went to the front and picked up and carried to a place of safety, under a heavy fire from the enemy, an acting field officer who had been wounded, and was about to fall into enemy hands.
PHISTERER, FREDERICK
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 18th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Stone River, Tenn., 31 December 1862. Entered service at: Medina County, Ohio. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 12 December 1894. Citation: Voluntarily conveyed, under a heavy fire, information to the commander of a battalion of regular troops by which the battalion was saved from capture or annihilation.
PRENTICE, JOSEPH R.
Rank and organization: Private, Company E, 19th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Stone River, Tenn., 31 December 1862. Entered service at: ——. Born: 6 December 1838, Lancaster, Ohio. Date of issue: 3 February 1894. Citation: Voluntarily rescued the body of his commanding officer, who had fallen mortally wounded. He brought off the field his mortally wounded leader under direct and constant rifle fire.
VANCE, WILSON
Rank and organization: Private, Company B, 21st Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Stone River, Tenn., 31 December 1862. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Hancock County, Ohio. Date of issue: 17 September 1897. Citation: Voluntarily and under a heavy fire, while his command was falling back, rescued a wounded and helpless comrade from death or capture.
WAGG, MAURICE
Rank and organization: Coxswain, U.S. Navy. Born: 1837, England. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Rhode Island, which was engaged in saving the lives of the officers and crew of the Monitor off Hatteras, 31 December 1862. Participating in the hazardous task of rescuing the officers and crew of the sinking Monitor, Wagg distinguished himself by meritorious conduct during this operation.
WHITEHEAD, JOHN M.
Rank and organization: Chaplain, 15th Indiana Infantry. Place and date: At Stone River, Tenn., 31 December 1862. Entered service at: Westville, Ind. Born: 6 March 1823, Wayne County, Ind. Date of issue: 4 April 1898. Citation: Went to the front during a desperate contest and unaided carried to the rear several wounded and helpless soldiers.
*COOK, DONALD GILBERT
Rank and organization: Colonel, United States Marine Corps, Prisoner of War by the Viet Cong in the Republic of Vietnam. Place and date: Vietnam, 31 December 1964 to 8 December, 1967. Entered Service at: Brooklyn, New York. Date and place of birth: 9 August 1934, Brooklyn New York. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while interned as a Prisoner of War by the Viet Cong in the Republic of Vietnam during the period 31 December 1964 to 8 December 1967. Despite the fact that by so doing he would bring about harsher treatment for himself, Colonel (then Captain) Cook established himself as the senior prisoner, even though in actuality he was not. Repeatedly assuming more than his share of their health, Colonel Cook willingly and unselfishly put the interests of his comrades before that of his own well-being and, eventually, his life. Giving more needy men his medicine and drug allowance while constantly nursing them, he risked infection from contagious diseases while in a rapidly deteriorating state of health. This unselfish and exemplary conduct, coupled with his refusal to stray even the slightest from the Code of Conduct, earned him the deepest respect from not only his fellow prisoners, but his captors as well. Rather than negotiate for his own release or better treatment, he steadfastly frustrated attempts by the Viet Cong to break his indomitable spirit. and passed this same resolve on to the men whose well-being he so closely associated himself. Knowing his refusals would prevent his release prior to the end of the war, and also knowing his chances for prolonged survival would be small in the event of continued refusal, he chose nevertheless to adhere to a Code of Conduct far above that which could be expected. His personal valor and exceptional spirit of loyalty in the face of almost certain death reflected the highest credit upon Colonel Cook, the Marine Corps, and the United States Naval Service.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for 31 December, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
31 December
1908: Wilbur Wright flew 77 miles in 2 hours 20 minutes 23 seconds at LeMans, France, to set a record for duration and distance. He also won the Michelin Trophy and $4,000. (9)
1910: Whipple Hall, a promoter from the Curtiss Aircraft Company, came to Hawaii with J. C. "Bud" Mars. Mars then became the first person to fly a fixed-wing aircraft in Hawaii. He took off from Moanalua Gardens in a Curtiss P-18, circled the field four times and landed safely. (http://www.pacificaerospace.org/history.html)
1913: COLLIER TROPHY. Orville Wright demonstrated his automatic stablizer at Dayton. He received the trophy for this event. (24)
1934: Helen Richey, first woman aviator to pilot an airmail transport on regular schedule, flew from Washington DC to Detroit, Mich., in a trimotored Ford 12 passenger transport. Central Airlines, Incorporated, appointed her as copilot. (24)
1938: Boeing's Model 307 Stratoliner, the first passenger aircraft with a pressurized cabin, completed its first flight. (20)
1944: WORLD WAR II. Far East Air Forces launched a total of 163,397 sorties during 1944, of which 145,640 were considered effective. Fighters conducted the most sorties, with 100,998 sorties airborne and 90,240 effective. The command dropped 92,134 tons of bombs, expended 39,481,000 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition, and destroyed 2,518 enemy aircraft. The command suffered a total of 3,732 casualties 1,360 dead, 1,206 wounded, and 1,166 either missing, captured, or interned. Aircraft losses totaled 2,584 aircraft of all types. (17)
1948: Allied aircraft logged the 100,000th flight of the Berlin Airlift. (26)
1951: KOREAN WAR. The 315th Air Division airlifted 85,713 troops, 10,379 tons of cargo, and 6,249 evacuees in 6,032 sorties during the month. Search and rescue units flew 410 sorties on search, orbit, evacuation, and rescue missions. Helicopters flew 175 critically wounded patients and rescued 5 people from behind enemy lines. The 3d Air Rescue Squadron helicopters also flew from enemy territory 37 prisoners of war who had escaped. United Nations reconnaissance aircraft secured intelligence information on enemy ground dispositions, air targets, vehicle movements, airfield status, and weather.
1957: The USAF accepted the first BOMARC area defense missile.
1958: McDonnell Aircraft Company received a contract for the GAM-72A Quail decoy missile. It had a General Electric J-85 engine. (6)
1962: The Navy ended its long history of lighter-than-air flight by disposing of its last airship, spare parts, and equipment. (16) (24)
1963: The Strategic Air Command declared the 374th Strategic Missile Squadron, the last of six Titan II squadrons, operational at Little Rock AFB, Ark., to complete the Titan II deployment program. (6) President Johnson approved the U-2 flights over SEA. The first Strategic Air Command U-2s arrived in the Far East in early February 1964. (1)
1967: The Air Force launched a TIROS satellite from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. This was the 700th major launch from that base since 1959. (16)
1969: The 498th Tactical Missile Group inactivated on Okinawa to end the deployment of CGM-13B Mace tactical missiles there. (17)
1971: SOUTHEAST ASIA COMBAT OPERATIONS. Pacific Air Forces tactical forces flew 450,031 combat sorties to drop 642.9 thousand tons of munitions in Southeast Asia in 1971, while losing 87 aircraft (70 to combat). Sorties totaled 87,052 attack sorties and 12,554 B-52 sorties, while KC-135s performed over 62,500 refuelings. Tactical airlift operations within the Republic of Vietnam moved 2,282,883 passengers and 283,556 tons of cargo. (17)
1972: SOUTHEAST ASIA COMBAT OPERATIONS. Pacific Air Forces tactical forces flew 254,895 combat sorties to drop 899.5 thousand tons of munitions in Southeast Asia in 1972, while suffering the loss of 194 aircraft. The sorties included 115,298 attack sorties and 28,383 B-52 Arc Light sorties. KC-135s accomplished 111,770 aerial refuelings. (17)
1981: USAFE's first operational F-16s arrived at Hahn AB for duty with the 50th Tactical Fighter Wing. (16) (26)
1989: Martin Marietta launched its first commercial Tital III booster from Cape Canaveral. The two stage rocket placed Skynet 4A (a British Communications satellite) and JCSAT 2 (a Japanese TV relay satellite) in orbit. (8: Mar 90)
2001: Operation ENDURNG FREEDOM/NOBLE EAGLE SUMMARY. From 11 September through the end of 2001, Air Mobility Command aircraft flew 1,757 airlift missions in support America's war against terrorism outside the US with C-17s and C-5s flying 45 percent and 29 percent of the missions, respectively. Tanker aircraft played a critical role by performing 953 air refueling missions—838 for KC-135s and 115 for KC-10s. For the NOBLE EAGLE homeland defense mission in the continental U. S., Air Mobility Command completed 228 airlift missions with C-130s conducting 53 percent of the flights. (22)
2006: The first group of 10 F-117s officially retired at Holloman AFB, N. Mex., to make way for new incoming F-22A Raptors
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Thanks to Brett
Geopolitical Futures:
Keeping the future in focus
https://geopoliticalfutures.com
Daily Memo: The Cold Peace Between Israel and Arab Countries
The Palestinian question stands at the center of the divide between the two sides.
By: Hilal Khashan
December 30, 2022
Israeli journalists covering the World Cup in Qatar were stunned by Arab fans' hostility toward them. Considering that six Arab countries have normalized relations with Israel, while others maintain back-channel communications with Israeli officials, the journalists believed Arabs would show a greater willingness to engage. They were wrong. An Israeli correspondent said he couldn't find anyone willing to speak to him and that Arabs "approach us and criticize our presence." The reporter concluded that there was no hope for improving Israel's relationship with the Arab people.
In 2017, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset that the obstacle to peace with the Arab world was not Arab leaders but rather the Arab people themselves. But as Israeli tensions with Arab governments have eased, the Arab public's hostility toward Israelis is, at its core, a result of the failure to resolve the Palestinian question.
Cultural Incompatibility
The failure to establish cordial relations between the Arab and Israeli peoples goes back decades. David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founder and first prime minister, did not believe that Israelis and Arabs would become partners in peace. He thus showed little interest in engaging the Arab region, preferring to build bridges with other foreign countries instead. Israel developed a robust foreign policy in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the U.S. and Western Europe but did not train diplomats to operate in Arabic-speaking countries and cultures.
Ben-Gurion believed the failure to communicate stemmed from deep-seated cultural differences between Israelis and Arabs. Arab culture is collectivist, polychronic and hierarchical, whereas Israel's is individualistic, monochronic and egalitarian. In "Culture and Conflict in Egyptian-Israeli Relations: A Dialogue of the Deaf," author Raymond Cohen aptly describes how culture stood in the way of peace negotiations, even when the two sides eagerly sought to resolve their differences.
Arab culture stresses interpersonal relations, subtlety, reservation and conformity. It prioritizes community, honor and respecting superiors. Conversely, Israeli culture is democratic, ostentatious and communicative, although at times divisive. Arabs choose their words carefully and avoid conflict, while Israelis speak bluntly and abrasively. Guilt is embedded in the Jewish conscience and derives from the need for repentance and atonement for sin, which became a driving force toward productivity and excellence. In Arab culture, shame evolved into an escape from reality, driving people to hide their ill-doings rather than correct them.
Many Arabs feel shame over their many defeats at the hands of Israel. They direct their anger and frustration not only at Israelis but also at Palestinians, whom they tend to hold responsible for losing their country, falsely claiming that they sold their land to the Zionist movement. They argue that the Palestinians didn't deserve the generous support provided by Arab countries. The Palestinians, they say, must get their own house in order before asking for help as they are the root cause of the problem with Israel. They see the Palestinians as a constant reminder of their defeat.
Arab leaders, meanwhile, were concerned less about the loss of Palestine and more about strengthening their regimes and nation-building, as evidenced by the coups in Syria and Egypt. When attempts at peace were made, cultural differences stood in the way. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, for example, found it difficult to make peace with Israel because he didn't want to tarnish his reputation as the champion of Arab nationalism. Still, Arab leaders maintained secret lines of communication with the Israelis for years.
Behind Closed Doors
Indeed, Arab and Jewish officials communicated behind closed doors even before Israel's establishment in May 1948. Despite last-minute differences before the 1948 war, Jordan's King Abdullah I sent his army to Palestine not to prevent the creation of a Jewish state but to seize the Arab part of the 1947 Palestine partition plan. Private talks between the Hashemites and Israelis continued until Abdullah's assassination in 1951 and throughout the reign of his grandson King Hussein. On the eve of the 1967 Six-Day War, the Israelis informed Hussein that they would not attack the West Bank if he did not initiate hostilities. In the 1973 war, he collaborated closely with the Israelis, despite sending an army brigade to Syria in a show of Arab solidarity.
In 1954, Nasser told Le Monde newspaper that Egypt needed peace with Israel so it could focus on domestic issues and that the U.S. could facilitate the normalization. However, Mossad's botched Operation Suzannah, which targeted Western interests in Egypt in order to sabotage U.S.-Egyptian relations, led to rising tensions, which in turn resulted in the 1956 Suez War.
The 1978 Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel opened a new chapter in Arab-Israeli relations. In 1981, then Saudi Crown Prince Fahd announced a comprehensive peace plan between Arabs and Israelis – though both sides ultimately rejected it, with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin describing it as a plan to gradually destroy the Israeli state. In 1994, eight years after Jordan renounced its claim to the West Bank, Amman made peace with Israel and recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole representative of the Palestinian people.
In 1999, representatives of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein met secretly with Israeli negotiators and offered to resettle Lebanon's 300,000 Palestinian refugees in Iraq as an olive branch to Washington. Though neither the U.S. nor Israel took the offer seriously, it would have resolved the question of the refugees' right of return, one of the preconditions set by the PLO to reach a final status agreement with Israel. In 2020, former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz told a Saudi newspaper that he visited "every Arab state but in secret during the performance of military missions." He even visited Algeria, which, since its independence in 1962, has adamantly refused to recognize Israel's existence. Notably, Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika decided to dismantle his country's nuclear program over Israeli security concerns, despite his country's firm anti-Israeli position. In 1999, Bouteflika shook hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak while attending the funeral of Morocco's King Hassan II, telling him he could count on Algeria to facilitate peace in the region.
Unresolved Issue
Israel has long been eager to make peace with Arabs. The sticking point, however, has always been the Palestinian question. Since 1967, Palestinians in the West Bank have been denied civil rights. Under Israel's Military Order No. 101 issued in 1967, political assemblies of 10 or more persons are prohibited for public safety reasons, in violation of international law. Military Order No. 1651, issued in 2010, criminalized attempts to influence public opinion with a 10-year prison term. Last February, Amnesty International described Israel's treatment of Palestinians as a "cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity." These conditions have led to frequent violent clashes, which killed 227 Palestinians and 27 Israelis in 2022 alone.
Arab attitudes toward Israelis also stem from a massive anti-Jewish political socialization campaign that began as early as 1919, when Eastern European Jews started arriving in Palestine. After Israel's founding in 1948 and the subsequent Arab-Israeli wars, these negative sentiments grew. Arabs' position on the Palestinian question reflects this intense socialization.
At the 2002 Beirut summit, Arab heads of state presented an initiative to normalize relations with Israel. They demanded that Israel withdraw from the land it occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War and accept the formation of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital. The Israeli prime minister immediately rejected the plan. Nearly 20 years later, however, Israel signed normalization deals with four Arab countries – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
Though it now publicly engages with some Arab governments, Israel has not yet convinced them that it's serious about resolving the Palestinian question, which remains the core issue between them. Arabs show no empathy for the Jewish people's historic travails, with many even denying that the Holocaust occurred. People on both sides engage in the politics of denial to rationalize their actions and avoid challenging their misconceptions about each other.
There's no evidence that the stalemate will end any time soon. Israel is preoccupied with security, understandably so given that it's surrounded by hostile populations whose ruling elites are interested only in security arrangements and have no affinity for Jews. The UAE, for example, misled the public about its intention to normalize relations with Israel. Before signing the peace treaty in 2020, UAE officials said they would seek normalization to stop the annexation of West Bank lands. The official English version of the treaty, however, mentioned merely suspending annexation, not stopping it.
Looking Ahead
For the Palestinians, the options are limited. Israeli historian Mordechai Kedar proposed creating Palestinian emirates similar to the United Arab Emirates. The Palestinian Emirates would include eight autonomous cities – Gaza, Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, Jericho, Tulkarm, Qalqilya and Hebron – which would be connected by Israel through land routes for travel and trade.
This seems to be the only workable solution. Neither Israel nor Arab countries want to see the creation of a Palestinian state. The land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean is too small to accommodate two countries. Moreover, Arab leaders see the Palestinians as destabilizing agents and fear their revolutionary zeal. The more the Palestinians wait to achieve statehood, the more they lose. They cannot count on the Palestinian Authority, which is hopelessly corrupt and nepotistic. Kedar's proposal will at least preserve a semblance of Palestinian national identity and end the conflict with Israel. In peace and stability, Israel will probably inch toward liberal democracy.
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