Word: arabism
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, no admirer of Jimmy Carter called it "an achievement of historic significance." But beneath the surface, Europeans worried about the treaty's consequences. The British feared that the treaty's vagueness over autonomy for the Palestinians could lead to an explosion within the Arab countries and seriously undermine moderate political forces there. The Common Market nations, which get 68% of their oil from the Middle East, gently tried to dissociate themselves from the treaty, fearing that open enthusiasm could make enemies among the Arab oil producers. Reported TIME Rome Bureau Chief Wilton Wynn: "There...
...Saudis also tried to play a moderating role, with only limited success, at the meeting of Arab states in Baghdad last week to discuss what action to take against Egypt, the U.S. or Israel after the treaty signing. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud remained impassive as the P.L.O.'s Yasser Arafat argued for an economic boycott of both Egypt and the U.S. Declared Arafat: "l don't just want to cut off the tail of the snake, I want to crush its head. The U.S. is the head and Sadat the tail...
...retaliatory program directed at the U.S. But after the P.L.O., Syria and Libya stalked out of the meeting to underscore their demands for drastic action against Sadat, the moderates joined in the unanimous approval of a political, diplomatic and economic boycott that will virtually expel Egypt from the Arab world...
Under the agreement, the countries will withdraw their ambassadors from Cairo and cut off diplomatic relations with Sadat's government. Egypt's membership in the Arab League will be suspended, and the organization's headquarters will be shifted from Cairo to Tunis. Technical and financial assistance to Egypt will be canceled. A ban on petroleum shipments to Egypt will be imposed. It was unclear, though, how all this would affect bilateral agreements like Saudi aid. In any case, it is likely that Arab heads of state will soon confer to determine exactly how the anti-Egyptian boycott...
...immediate prospect for the Middle East is more Palestinian terrorism, more internal conflict within the P.L.O. and more pressure on the Arab moderates, notably Jordan's King Hussein, who is currently siding with Syria and the P.L.O. against Egypt. The only real solution to the region's prevailing instability lies in reaching some kind of settlement of the Palestinian problem in the West Bank and Gaza. But the negotiations toward that end, even if they eventually succeed, are certain to be slow and difficult...