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DISCUSSION OUTLINE

VOLUME 10, ISSUE 1

This "Discussion Outline" is prepared and edited to help teachers and
students make the most intelli gent use of The Screen News Digest.
The synopsis of contents include s a detailed summary of the featured
"Focus Story" and background information on its main points .
Important persons, places and facts in this issue are listed on the
back ·page. There are questions based on the film and ideas for

T HE

round table discussions, study assignments and composit ions. A
bibliography is provided for supplementary reading.
The "Looking Ahead" department alerts schoo ls to the "Focus Story"
that will appear next month. In this way, each issue achieves a
maximum impact on students . . . stimulating them to research that
is encouraged and enr iched by The Screen News Oifest.

L IGHTNING W AR

I N T HE M IDDLE E A ST
Produced by and Copyright© 1 967, Hearst Metrotone News, Inc., New York, N.Y.

LI VI NG HISTORY
IN THE

SCREEN NEWS

CLASSROOM

M IDDLE E AST U PHEAVAL
THE SCREEN NEWS DIGEST tr aces t he roots of unrest
t hat burst into conf li ct b etween Israe l and
Egypt in the li gh tning w a r o f 7967.

The flames of unrest that lick at the Middle East are as hot as the desert sands and
as old as the history of this cradle of civilization.
Kingdom s and countries have come . .. have flourished . .. have fallen . But ancient
enmities survive . . . sustained . .. strengthened . .. sharpened . .. through decades
. .. generations . .. centuries.
In a penetrating and timely examination of the latest crisis in the Middle East,
The Screen News Dges t reviews the history of Israel and its troubled relations with
i
its Arab neighbors.
The Jewish nation achieved independence in 1948, carved out of territory that had
been, for centuries, largely under Moslem rule .
From the start, Israel met with the opposition of the so -called Arab League, which
vowed the total defeat and ultimate elimination of the infant nation .
Armed invasions were launched by Syria . . . Egypt . .. Iraq . .. Lebanon . . .
Saudi -Arabia . .. and Jordan. The attacks failed and, one by one, separate armistice
agreements were signed with the Arab nations in 1949.
During the hostilities Israel lost none of its original territory and actually increased
that territory by fifty per cent. Arab resentment against Israel grew and economic
boycotts and blockades . . . political intrigue and· border warfare . .. were used to
harass the young country .
In 1954, Gamal Abdel Nasser seized power in E
gypt and became the self-proclaimed
leader of the Moslem nations determined to drive Israel into the sea.
Two years later, Israel invaded Egypt to wipe out the border bases from which Arab
commandos had been raid ing Jewish villages. The Egyptian forces were put to rout.
Within a week, England and France intervened , hoping to keep the strategic Suez
Canal open. French paratroops dropped on Port Said at the northern end of the canal
zone as British invasion units stormed the beaches below.
Nasser suffered his worst defeat since coming to power. His army was no match for
the Anglo -French-Israeli forces. As the invaders pushed their advance, thousands of
Egyptian soldiers surrendered. Weapons of war, supplied to Nasser by the Soviet
Union, were abandoned in the desert.
When the United Nations acted and, with American backing, ordered the British,
French and Israeli troops to withdraw , Nasser claimed a great Egyptian victory .
Throughout the Arab world, he was compared to Saladin, the great warrior who led
the Saracens in the Crusades.
A United Nations Emergency Force, with the approval of Egypt, was set up to guard
the border with Israel.
(continued on next page)

S YNOPSIS O f

DIGEST

~TENTS

@

FOCUS .
STORY

For ten years an uneasy peace settled over the Middle East . .. shattered from time
to time by border incidents . . . angry verbal exchanges . .. threats of new aggression
against Israel.

The c r a d le o f • • ,

In 1967, Gamal Nasser of Egypt translated the threats into provocative actions against
Israel.
The Egyptian leader announced that the Strait of Tiran, controlling access to and from the
Red Sea, would be closed to Israeli shipping.
And then he told Secretary-General UThant of the United Nations that Egypt would
no longer allow the U.N. Emergency Force to remain on its soil.
Egyptian troops moved into the Sinai peninsula and soon border incidents . . . attacks
and counter-attacks . .. against Israeli forces brought the two countries to the brink
of war .

• • • c iv ili zation • ••

The United Nations struggled to head off the conflict . . . to preserve the peace . But
events were moving too swiftly . .. the hour for conciliation was past.
Israel decided to strike out in force at the next provocation. The provocation . ..
shelling of Israeli border towns from Syria and Jordan . .. was not long in coming.
And Israel struck. Waves of Israeli aircraft smashed the Egyptian air force on the
ground, as well as the air forces of Syria and Jordan.
·
With complete command of the air, Israeli armor routed the Egyptian force in the
Sinai , drove to the Suez Canal , broke the blockade at the Strait of Tiran, destroyed
the vaunted Jordanian army, took all of Jordan west of the Jordan River, and drove
into Syria to occupy the bases used by Arab terrorists against Israeli villages for the
past decade.

• •• c ontinues t o • • •

In six incredible days, the Arab countries were tot ally . .. and utterly . . . defeated.
When a cease -fire was finally negotiated by the United Nations, Israel had once again
expanded its borders. In the diplomatic di scussions which followed, Israeli leaders
made clear their determination to keep much of the conquered territory , including
the Old City of Jerusalem.
In the wake of victory , Israel insisted that any settlement of territorial problems must
come in direct negotiations with Arab leaders.
The usefulness of the United Nations or any other third force, they said, was no longer
meaningful.

• •• b e a c rad le • ••

The time has come , Israel says , for peace in the Middle E an enduring peace that
ast,
will not tremble at every upheaval in the Arab world and be shattered by one Arab
ruler or another every ten years.
But the Israeli aggression . .. the reluctance to return all conquered area s: .. stirs
solid opposition from the Arab world and appr ehension among those countnes
sympathetic to the Israeli cause .
The lightning war seems to have created more problem s than it solved . .. to have
stirred more hatred than it soothed .
And the cradle of civilization continues to be . .. as it has been for centuries . ..
a cradle of crisis .

• • • o f c risis.

Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of the United Arab Republic
General Moshe Dayan, Israel's Minister of Defense
Aleksei Kosygin, Premier of the Soviet Union
Arthur Goldberg, American Ambassador to the United Nations

P ERSONS, PLACES
A ND FACTS
TO W ATCH FOR
I N THE F ILM

Suez Canal
Sinai Peninsula
Strait of Tiran

U.N. Security Council
Jerusalem
Port Said

Gulf of Aqaba
Gaza Strip
Cairo

FOCUS ON ISRAEL
Founded: 1948.
Area: 7,992 square miles (approximately the size of New Jersey).
Population: 2,250 ,000.
Density per square mile: 264.5.
Premier: Levi Eshkol.
Chief exports: Citrus fruits (29 per cent), polished diamonds (26 per cent) .
Capital: Jerusalem.

1. When did Israel become an independent republic ? Who was the first Premier of Israel?

2.
3.
4.
5.
Q UESTIONS
O N THE F ILM

Name the President of the United Arab Republic (Egypt). The King of Jordan.
Name the strait that commands the Gulf of Aqaba.
Name the countries that border Israel.
Egypt won its independence from France.
False .. .
True ...
6. Israel annexed the Old City of Jerusalem after seizing it from Syria .
True .
False ....
7. The Sinai peninsula belongs to Jordan.
True .
False ..
... AmJQ !1 UUOOl S9JI\
8. Anglo -French-Israeli forces seized control of the Suez Canal in
(a) 1949

(b) 1956
9. Israel is equal in size to the state of
(a) Nevada
(b) Maine
10. The warrior who led the Saracens in the
(a) Saladin
(b) Jason

A NSWE RS

SU GG ESTIO N S
TO T H E TEACH ER

(c) 1961

r "\ '\..J

' -'a

3d

(c) New Jersey
Crusades was
(c) Thor

1. 1 948 . David Ben-Gurion . 2. Gamal Abdel N asser. King Hussein . 3 . S trait o f T iran .
4. U nited A rab R epublic ( Egypt), J ordan , S yria, Lebanon. 5. False, England . 6. False,
J ordan . 7 . False, U nited Arab R epublic ( Egypt). 8 . (b) 1 956. 9. (c) New Jersey.
1 0 . ( a) Saladin.

Topics for roundtable discussions: Should the United Nations Seek t o Have Israel Return
Territory Seized in the " Lightning War?" Should the United States End All Military Shipments
to Middle East Countries? Is Lasting Peace Possible ,in the Middle East?
Themes for compositions: The History of lsrael - 1948-1967. The Story of the Suez Canal.
Russian Interest and Influence in the Middle East.
Projects for research: The Suez Crisis of 1956. Gamal Nasser and His Rise to Power. The
Middle East - Cradle of Civilization .

SCREEN N EWS DIGEST© • 4 50 WEST 5 6th STREET, N EW YORK, N .Y . 1 0019
C. B. S tratton, Ex e cutiv e Vice Pr e sid e nt • C loyd G. A ar se th, E ditor • M artin J . Ke ndrick, M anag e r