VV(11): A Mideast Crisis

[Dave Monroe]

"David Ben-Gurion warned his country in an Independence Day speech that 
Egypt planned to slaughter Israel.  A Mideast crisis had been growing since 
winter." (V., Ch. 8, Sec. iv, p. 225)

This of course echoes not only the Fashoda crisis with which Stencil pere et 
al. are concerned (V., Ch. 3, Sec. v, p. 85; Sec. vii pp. 89-93; ), in which 
Britain and France nearly went to war over the occupation of Sudan in 
September, 1898 ...

http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/5/0,5716,34395+1+33797,00.html

http://www.bartleby.com/65/fa/FashodaI.html

... but also the Endlosung, "The Final Solution," the "plan to slaughter 
Israel" of the Third Reich.  An echo on Ben-Gurion's part as well?  Although 
I've not yet located any such speech ...

But do not that Pynchon's timekeeping is relatively sound here.  Israel's 
Independence Day is May 14th, 1948, i.e., 5 Iyar 5708 in the Jewish Calendar 
...

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/israel.htm

http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAJ00r80

... and is celebrated according to the Jewish calendar, meaning the Israeli 
Independence Day in question would be on Monday, April 16th, 1956 ...

http://www.uwm.edu/cgi-bin/corre/calendar?%2B1956

... as is, incidentally, and because of the weekend, U.S. Tax Day 1956.  
Partying on a Sunday night?  No wonder the Crew is unconcerned with paying 
taxes, they obviously have nowhere to be on Monday morning.  But note that, 
as Israel is seven hours ahead of New York here, it's already Independence 
Day "That night" (p. 225) ...

http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc

But otherwise Pynchon's chronology is, at best, confusing here.  
Arab-Israeli hostilities were not to erupt until later in the year.  In July 
1956 Egyptian President Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, provoking former 
possible Fashoda opponents Britain and France.  On October 29th, Israel 
invaded the Sinai Peninsula, reinforced by now cooperative British and 
French forces further invading the canal itself.

The US and the USSR, who had previously backed, respectively, Israel and the 
various Arab states in regional disputes, fortunately kept cool, cared, and 
urged a UN-mediated end to hostilities.  A ceasefire was signed on November 
9th, and Israel turned over all occupied territories to UN Emergency Forces, 
not to be regained until the so-called Six-Days' War of June 5th-10th, 1967.

http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/1/0,5716,8252+1,00.html

http://www.bartleby.com/65/ar/ArabIsra.html

And note ...

"An indication of the military buildup in Malta since the beginning of the 
Suez crisis" (V., Ch. 16, Sec. i, p. 428)

"BRITISH INTEND TO MOVE INTO SUEZ" (p. 429)

"'We voted in the Security Council with Russia and against England and 
France on this Suez business.'" (p. 431)

"Mounting crisis in the Suez" (p. 448)

The Suez of an earlier era figures as well at p. 79 and 186 ...

David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973) was both the first Prime Minister and Defense 
Minister of the newly created, newly independent (depends on which way you 
look at it) State of Israel, serving in both capacities from 1948 to 1953, 
and again from 1955 to 1963.  See ...

http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/7/0,5716,80637+1+78530,00.html

http://www.bartleby.com/65/be/BenGurio.html

He also delivered the Israeli Declaration of Independence just before the 
Sabbath was to begin, though, again, that seems to have been a more hopeful 
speech that the one suggested in V.  He did however make some comments along 
the lines suggested during the 1956 conflict, see ...

http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/bulganin1.html

However, from nearly the moment the United Nations approved the partition of 
the former British protectorate of Palestine on November 29th, 1947--"since 
winter"--into what were originally to be both Jewish and Palestinian 
homelands, the Jews and the Arabs had been fighting.  This only intensified 
after the Israeli Declaration of Independence (again, May 14th, 1948), with 
Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan all invading by the next day, albeit 
ultimately only to be repulsed ...

Still, I can't find the comments in question ...

By the way, here are some April 15th links I neglected to post ...

http://www.dailyalmanacs.com/almanac2/april/0415.html

http://www2.misnet.com/~ronnieg/history/0415.html

Do note B-52 prototype and nuclear testing in 1952.  Also note that some of 
the sites I've posted suggest that April 15th, 1948 marks the first Jewish 
victory over Arabs.  Operation Nahshon, the Jewish push to reopen the roads 
to besieged Jerusalem, began on April 6th, 1948, but, from what I can tell, 
scored its first victory on April 19th.

Any additions and/or corrections to any or all this would be greatly 
appreciated, as, more so than anything else I've posted on Chapter 8, I'm 
really winging it here ...

On the other hand ...

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