Word: arabism
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Begin was obviously signaling loudest to Syrian President Hafez Assad, one of the Arab leaders most opposed to Sadat's journey. Said the Premier: "There is no justification for the poison that comes from our northern border." While stressing that Israel disagreed with some points that Sadat had raised?the return of East Jerusalem to Arab control, for instance?Begin insisted that Israel and the Arabs should at least talk and negotiate. "Let us continue the dialogue and grasp one another's hands. Israel does not wish to rule...
...Sadat made clear in advance, the purpose of his trip was not to negotiate a separate agreement with Israel; that would isolate Egypt in most of the Arab world and possibly even lead to Sadat's own downfall. Gravely concerned about the slow progress of pre-Geneva negotiations, Sadat was seeking to persuade Israel to drop all preconditions and come to the renewed peace conference that President Carter has been pushing for. If Sadat should succeed in the talks that lie ahead, a negotiated settlement, after 29 years of war and brink of war, is within the realm of hope...
Indeed, as the furies rose among more fanatical Arab groups, one of the safest places Sadat might have found was Israel. Four Israeli Kfir fighters escorted the presidential plane to Ben Gurion Airport, which was closed to all other traffic. In Jerusalem, 10,000 policemen were on guard, as well as 2,000 security agents and a special antiterrorist commando unit of the Israel Defense Force. The 1,500-member border police was fully mobilized, and units were stationed at key points
...Most Arab reaction was negative, abusive and even violent. Libya broke relations with Egypt and demanded its expulsion from the Arab League. Radio Baghdad called the trip a "Pan-Arab catastrophe" and Sadat himself a traitor. Saiqa, the Syrian-backed Palestinian group vowed to assassinate Sadat for committing "the ugliest treason" in Arab history. Syria declared a day of mourning and lowered flags to half-staff. In Lebanon, where Syrian peace-keeping troops have forbidden protest demonstrations, the ban was lifted during Sadat's trip...
Egyptian embassies were attacked in four capitals. In Athens, a band of Arab protesters were chased off with gunfire that killed one of them; in Beirut, another man died when rocket fire hit the embassy; in Damascus, small bombs exploded outside the Egyptian building; in Tripoli, Libyans burned the embassy...