JCC Six Day
War: Egypt
SILTMUN IV
Chair: Eric Benson
Political Officer: Damian Richardson
Vice Chair: Molly Meyer
December 7th, 2013
Lyons Township High School
La Grange, Illinois
Delegates,
Hi everyone! My name is Eric Benson and I’m writing this to welcome you to the
fourth annual St. Ignatius/Lyons Township Model United Nations conference, hosted by
Lyons Township! I hope you can learn a lot about Model UN and grow considerably as a
delegate, and it is part of my job to help this process. Speaking as a delegate who was
once in your place, I want to run this cabinet as successfully and smoothly as possible
for an amazing conference.
As members of this Egyptian Council led under Gamal Nasser, who I will
represent, you will be expected to help solve the problems stemming from tensions that
have been building with our neighbors to the west, Israel. My hope is that we can
successfully find a sensible (though not necessarily peaceful) way to solve both topics.
These topics must be approached in a very careful way in order for our great country to
avoid backlash from not only the international community but from within our own
borders as well.
The idea of this conference is to prepare you for bigger conferences, like those
held at esteemed universities and host international participants. As your chair, I
genuinely hope to do just that, as well as illustrate the fun and fascinating process that
Model UN is. Make the most of the day, as you not only represent your position and
country, but your school and yourself.
Good luck and have fun!
Eric Benson, Chair
Damian Richardson, Political Officer
Molly Meyer, Vice Chair
I realize there is a very, very limited market for finding information for some of
your positions. Please do not hesitate to email me with any and all questions you may
have and I will help you out. My email is [email protected].
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Topic 1: The Six Day War
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Britain was reassessing its role in the region
in light of the severe economic constraints and its colonial history. The economic
potential of the Middle East, with its vast oil reserves, as well as the Suez Canal's geostrategic importance against the background of the Cold War, prompted Britain to
consolidate and strengthen its position there. The kingdoms of Egypt and Iraq were seen
as vital to maintaining strong British influence in the region.
Britain's military strength was spread throughout the region, including the vast
military complex at Suez with a garrison of some 80,000, making it one of the largest
military installations in the world. The Suez base was considered an important part of
Britain's strategic position in the Middle East; however, increasingly it became a source
of growing tension in Anglo-Egyptian relations. Egypt's post-war domestic politics were
experiencing a radical change, prompted in no small part by economic instability,
inflation, and unemployment. Unrest began to manifest itself in the growth of radical
political groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and an increasingly hostile
attitude towards Britain and her presence in the country. Added to this anti-British
fervor was the role Britain had played in the creation of Israel.[28] As a result, the actions
of the Egyptian government began to mirror those of its populace and an anti-British
policy began to permeate Egypt's relations with Britain.
In October of 1951, the Egyptian government unilaterally pulled out of the AngloEgyptian Treaty of 1936, the terms of which granted Britain a lease on the Suez base for
20 more years. Britain refused to withdraw from Suez, relying upon its treaty rights, as
well as the sheer presence of the Suez garrison. The price of such a course of action was
a steady escalation in increasingly violent hostility towards Britain and British troops in
Egypt, which the Egyptian authorities did little to curb.
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Then, in 1956, Israel, who was later to be backed by Britain and France, invaded
Egypt because of President Gamal Nasser’s decision to nationalize the Suez Canal. The
point was for the West to gain control of the canal and to oust Nasser as the president,
however due to mediations by the United States, the USSR, and the United Nations, the
conflict was resolved with Egypt agreeing to the stationing of U.N. peacekeepers,
the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF), in the Sinai to ensure all parties would
comply with the 1949 Armistice Agreements, the Straits of Tiran were opened to Israeli
traffic and The Sinai peninsula was demilitarized.
In May of 1967 Nasser received a report from the USSR, a report that was
ultimately false, that Israel was in position to attack Syria. These false reports followed
Israeli officials threatening military action against Syria if the Syrian authorities did not
stop Palestinian guerrilla fights from crossing the border into Israel. On May 14th,
1967, Mohamed Fawzi (general) left for Syria for one day tour, and verified that the
Soviet report is false and reported that there are no Israeli armed forces near the Syrian
border. However Nasser, having relied on the Soviets information, had already began to
stock pile troops and place them in Sinai. Pulling out now will be a huge humiliation on
Nasser’s part, however it may prevent war.
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Questions to consider:
•
Are we willing to let our president face humiliation in a time that he CANNOT
afford any more humiliation?
•
How will we deal with the UNEF soldiers that are already stationed in Sinai?
•
Do we have the Military force to be able to defend ourselves in the event Britain,
France, and/or the United States get involved?
•
If any of those countries do get involved, will we ask for the Soviet Union’s aid?
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Topic 2: The Imposition of Emergency Law on the Egyptian People
The Emergency Law was first enacted in 1958, and 1967 was the first time it was
ever used. The law basically states that in a time of need, the Egyptian government has
the right to throw away some of a citizens basic individual rights. Under this state of
emergency, the government was granted the right to imprison individuals for any period
of time, and for virtually no reason, thus keeping them in prisons without trials for any
period. The government justified this by claiming that opposition groups could use this
time to stage an uprising. Police powers were extended, constitutional rights were
suspended, and heavy censorship was enforced. The law prohibited all nongovernmental political activity, street demonstrations and non-approved political
organizations, and unregistered financial donations were formally banned.
In the defense of the government, this law, while it may seem very much like an
over-stepping of boundaries, is a smart idea. Nasser is in a point in his career that he is
not very well liked within the confines of our own country. We know of oppositional
forces that exist and during a time of war it would be too easy for them to stage an
uprising. We must consider all of the parts of emergency law before we decide if it is
necessary or not.
Questions to Consider:
•
Does Emergency Law take away too many rights from our citizens?
•
Is an uprising a legitimate threat?
•
How will the rest of the world look at us if we impose this law, especially
countries that may want to become our allies?
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