Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-12-21
Continued From First Page

At the luxurious GuezirehI
Sporting Club. where the leaders
of Egypt's young revolutionI
gather for an afternoon, the talk
is likely to run to the scarcity
of opera tickets or the prospects,
for the week ends duckshooting.
Even the news of a new border
incident along the GAIA strip
stirs only a passing ripple OF
interest.
Going On All Time
ut really doesn't pay to get
excited about these things" 81
friend explains. They are going
on all the time"
In short. 1t is quite possible
for a visitor to come to Egypt
and leave with the comfortingI
conviction that nothing Is really
amiss here. As long as he sticks
to the beaten path and stays
within safe conversational boun-I
DIARIES, he will find Egypt al
friendly and hospitable place.
If he ventures beyond the
boundaries, the impression Isl
sometimes a good deal less re-
assuring. It isn't always possible
to get responsible and informed
Egyptians to let their political
hair down in private CONVERSE
ton. When 1t happens, an Ameri-|
can will do well to keep his
sensibilities well protected. Sud-
denly his agreeable companion
lis likely to go of like a rocket.
Under the stress of argument,
|deep-lying esentm en- is boil
quickly to the surface, flooding
out in passionate and-to a
Western mind--often frightenlyI
irrational con e mn alton Of
Western motives and Western
policy in the Near East.
The main source Of this resent
|ment is, of course. the role that
the United States has played In
the Arab-Israeli struggle, and
on this point few Egyptians can
talk with much pretense Of OBJ
|jectiyity. In the course Of one
conversation. friend who pre-
faced most Of his remarks with:
II think I may explode" out
lined what must be accepted as
the universal Arab attitude on
this question: That the United
States was primarily responsible
for the creation of the State of
Israel; that Israel's victory Ia
the war Of 1913 was largely the
result Of American help-andI
that since then Israel by the
same support has been able to-
survive the Arab economic block
ade.
Friendship Questioned
"And after all that" concluded
our friend. you are surprised
when we begin to question the
value Of your friendship TO us"
At such sessions an American
lis likely to hear some pretty hard
things said about his country.
He can also find justification
Of sort for the most pessimistic
predictions as to the course that
Egypt is likely to follow In the
future. He may well come away
with the conviction that the
cause is hopeless-that the diff
Iferences are irreconciliable and
the Egypt has set out on a path
which will inevitably lead it into
the hostile camp.
Between these extremes, the
truth Of Egypt's new situation
begins gradually to emerge. Both
the outward calm and the SUBJ
surface turmoil are real enough.
As time goes by it becomes clear
er that what is happening here
can be explained neither in terms
\ OF naive recklessness nor blind
emotionalisrn.
Most experienced observers
here believe that Egypt is being
led today by hardheaded and
practical men, not given to
hasty or ill-considered decisions
Camel Abdel Nasser has made
no mystery Of his goals: To
build Egypt into a strong state
through economic, political and
social reform. Egypt's ultimate
destiny is seen in heroic terms
the leader of the Arab world, the
rallying point of African liberia
ton. and, ultimately. the center
for a political renaissance en-
bracing the entire Moslem faith.
Col. Nasser has made no mys-
terry, either. of how he plans
to get there.
The path we must follow" he
has written, lis the one of po-
liticsl and economic independ-
ence
The situation Of our people
Is that of a wandering caravan,