The Year 1926:
A Palestinian hero: George Habash — 1926-2008
Kim Bullimore2 February 2008
Palestinian resistance fighter and founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), George Habash, died on January 26 from a heart attack, aged 81.
George Habash (Arabic: ???? ??? ) also known by his kunya "al-Hakim" (Arabic: ?????? — the wise one or the doctor) (August 2, 1926 – January 26, 2008), was a Palestinian politician. Habash, a Palestinian Christian, founded the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and was the organization's Secretary-General until 2000.A refugee, Habash graduated from medical school though his interests remained in politics. He held a firm belief that Palestine must be liberated by all possible means, including through violence.[1] In an effort to recruit the Arab World to this cause, Habash founded the Arab Nationalist Movement in 1951 and aligned the organization with Gamal Abdel Nasser's Arab nationalist ideology. He was a leading member of the Palestine Liberation Organization until 1967, when a coalition of Arab states was defeated by Israel in the Six-Day War and Habash was sidelined by Fatah leader Yasser Arafat. In response, Habash founded the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The Year 1956
THE 1956 SINAI CAMPAIGN
In the early 1950s, Egypt violated the terms of the Egyptian-Israeli armistice agreement and blocked Israeli ships from passing through the Suez Canal, a major international waterway. It also began to block traffic through the Straits of Tiran, a narrow passage of water linking the Israeli port of Eilat to the Red Sea. This action effectively cut off the port of Eilat -- Israel's sole outlet to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Closure of the Suez Canal and the Tiran Straits damaged Israel's trade with Asia, for it meant that foreign ships carrying goods bound for Israel and Israeli ships carrying goods bound for the Far East had to travel a long and costly circuitous route to the Atlantic and Israel's Mediterranean ports.
At the same time, Palestinian Arab fedayeen launched cross-border infiltrations and attacks on Israeli civilian centers and military outposts from Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Arab infiltration and Israeli retaliation became a regular pattern of Arab-Israeli relations. Israel hoped that its harsh reprisals would compel Arab governments to restrain infiltrators into Israel. In 1955 alone, 260 Israeli citizens were killed or wounded by fedayeen.
The Year 2001
September 11, 2001 which changed world history
