Word: arabism
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Jordanian television at 8 p.m. Two hours later, a special bulletin appeared on Egyptian television. In both countries, the news was greeted with mild applause and much surprise. After a five-year rift, Jordan was restoring full diplomatic ties with its neighbor to the west. One of the 17 Arab nations that have severed relations with Egypt since the late President Anwar Sadat signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, Jordan now becomes the first country to rescind that gesture of disapproval. Although Egypt and Jordan have had a growing number of contacts over the past year, even Egyptian...
...dramatic move left Egypt less iso lated in the region and underscored Hussein's longtime desire to protect his small kingdom by building strong alliances. Yet the maneuver also deepened divisions within the Arab world. Syria and Libya violently denounced Jordan's decision, while moderate states like Saudi Arabia quietly clucked disapproval. Syrian President Hafez Assad most fears a realignment among Arab nations that would shift power away from Damascus and create a new atmosphere of tolerance in the Arab community for Egypt's separate peace with Israel. "This is a treacherous stab in the back...
Jordan's move is a testimony to Mubarak's diplomatic skills. After most of the Arab world decided to ostracize Egypt over the Camp David accords, Sadat made matters worse by denouncing his onetime allies. He called the ruling family of Saudi Arabia "goatherders" and berated Hussein as a "dwarf." After Sadat's assassination in 1981, however, Mubarak quietly began repairing the damage. He refrained from attacking fellow Arabs in public and ordered Egyptian newspapers to follow his example. At the same time, the Egyptian President down-played his country's relationship with Israel, its treaty...
Meanwhile, Hussein was finding his own reasons for renewing links with Cairo. Eternally suspicious of Syria's Assad, he grew increasingly alarmed as Syria attempted to supplant Egypt as the most influential Arab power. Hussein was especially angered by what he considered to be Syria's attempt to gain control of the movement for Palestinian nationalism. In May 1983, Damascus fueled the fires of revolt within the Palestine Liberation Organization against its leader, Yasser Arafat. Then last November, Syria encouraged Palestinian rebels to besiege Arafat in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli. The P.L.O. chief finally escaped...
...Israeli military headquarters in Tyre is destroyed by a car bomb; 29 Israelis and 32 Arab detainees killed...