Arab Aggression's Legacy: Self-Inflicted Wounds & UK Safety - A Conservative Perspective

As a nation forged in the fires of empire and unyielding resolve, Britain has long viewed the Middle East through a pragmatic lens—one that prizes stability, trade, and the defence of civilisation against barbarism. From the sands of the Sinai to the streets of our own capital, the story of Arab actions since Israel's birth in 1948 is one of repeated folly: invasions launched in hubris, terrorism exported without remorse, and a culture of grievance that has reaped only division and defeat. What began as a noble quest to prevent a Jewish homeland—echoing our own imperial missteps in the Mandate years—has devolved into a cycle where Arab leaders and extremists have sown the seeds of their own backlash, benefiting fleetingly from oil wealth and pan-Arab rhetoric while impoverishing their people and destabilising the world. And now, in the shadow of 9/11 and the Islamist incursions into our green and pleasant land, we see the bitter fruit: no-go zones in Tower Hamlets where sharia patrols once prowled, while Golders Green remains a bastion of quiet Jewish enterprise and safety. This is not mere happenstance; it is the consequence of choices made in Cairo, Damascus, and Riyadh—choices that have invited the very storms they decry.

The Original Sin: The 1948 Invasion and the Mirage of Arab Unity

When Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, fulfilling the UN Partition Plan that Britain, in her waning imperial vigour, had helped midwife, the response from the Arab League was swift and suicidal. Armies from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon—bolstered by Saudi volunteers—poured across the borders the very next day, aiming not just to defend Palestinian Arabs but to strangle the Jewish state in its cradle. This was no defensive skirmish; it was an act of unprovoked aggression, as Arab leaders like Egypt's King Farouk boasted of driving the Jews into the sea. Jordan's King Abdullah, ever the opportunist, even positioned himself as "supreme commander" of the Arab forces, eyeing Jerusalem for his own Hashemites.

What did the Arabs gain? Precious little beyond a unifying myth that masked their disarray. The invading forces, riddled with rivalries and poor coordination, were repelled by the nascent Israel Defence Forces (IDF), leaving Israel to control more territory than the UN plan allotted—while over 700,000 Palestinians fled or were displaced in what they call the Nakba. Jordan annexed the West Bank, Egypt held Gaza, but the dream of a greater Arab Palestine evaporated. Leaders like Egypt's Nasser later spun this as a rallying cry for pan-Arabism, funnelling Soviet arms and rhetoric to stoke further conflict. Yet the real "benefit" was illusory: a distraction from domestic failures, from agrarian reform to economic stagnation. Britain, still entangled in the region via the Anglo-Jordanian Treaty, watched aghast as her former allies squandered their military edge on ideological crusades, paving the way for Cold War meddling that would haunt us all.

Escalation and Illusion: Suez, Six-Day War, and the Wages of Hubris

The 1950s and 1960s saw Arab aggression metastasise into fedayeen raids from Gaza and Jordan, with Egypt blockading the Straits of Tiran in 1956—a casus belli that drew Britain and France into the ill-fated Suez Crisis alongside Israel. Nasser's nationalisation of the Canal was a bold stroke, but it backfired spectacularly: Israel seized Sinai, and though Britain and France withdrew under American pressure, Egypt's economy reeled from the loss of revenue. Nasser gained pan-Arab stardom, but at what cost? A humiliated army and a precedent for Israeli pre-emption.

Worse came in 1967. Emboldened by Soviet misinformation and Jordan's ill-advised defence pact with Egypt, Arab forces massed on Israel's borders. Egypt expelled UN peacekeepers, remilitarised Sinai, and closed the Straits again—acts of war that prompted Israel's lightning Six-Day War strike. In six days, the IDF shattered three Arab air forces on the ground, capturing Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. Arab losses: 20,000 dead, armies in tatters. What "benefit"? A Khartoum summit vow of "no peace, no recognition, no negotiation"—a slogan that unified Arab street rage but isolated them diplomatically. Syria's Hafez al-Assad and Egypt's post-Nasser regime used the defeat to consolidate power, blaming "Zionist aggression" while pocketing Soviet aid. But the real windfall was for Israel: defensible borders and a buffer against the very invasions that had provoked them.

The 1973 Yom Kippur War was another gamble, with Egypt and Syria launching a surprise assault on the holiest Jewish day. Initial Arab gains—crossing the Suez Canal, piercing the Golan—fostered a brief illusion of redemption. Sadat's Egypt regained pride, using the war to pivot toward American patronage and the 1979 Camp David Accords, which returned Sinai but isolated Cairo from her Arab brethren. Syria clung to lost Golan ambitions, fuelling proxy wars via Hezbollah. The "benefit"? Oil embargoes that spiked global prices, enriching Gulf monarchies like Saudi Arabia—whose Wahhabi ideology would later birth the very jihadists who turned on the West. Yet for the Arab world at large, it entrenched a narrative of victimhood, diverting billions from development to arms races that propped up dictators but starved their peoples.

The Poison Spreads: From PLO Terrorism to 9/11's Reckoning

By the 1970s, Arab aggression had globalised. The PLO, backed by Syria and Iraq, pioneered hijackings and the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre—acts that radicalised a generation and invited Israeli reprisals like the Entebbe rescue. Leaders like Arafat gained UN podiums and Nobel trinkets, but what profit? Intifadas in 1987 and 2000 that killed thousands, only to culminate in Oslo's false dawn and Hamas's charter calling for Israel's annihilation.

The apotheosis came on 11 September 2001: 19 hijackers, 15 Saudis, four Egyptians, two Emiratis, one Lebanese—steeped in the Wahhabi venom exported from Riyadh's mosques. Al-Qaeda, born of Arab-Israeli resentment but twisted into anti-Western jihad, slammed planes into the Twin Towers, killing 2,977. Saudi "charities" and officials had funnelled funds to bin Laden's camps, as FBI probes later revealed—despite Riyadh's denials. The "benefit" to Arabs? A global war on terror that toppled Saddam, humbled Assad's Syria, and birthed ISIS from the ashes of Iraqi resentment. Gulf states, flush with petrodollars, bought Western silence on their role, but the backlash was inevitable: invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, refugee waves that strained Europe, and a spotlight on the madrassas churning out tomorrow's terrorists.

From Britain's vantage—scarred by 7/7 bombings by British-Pakistani Islamists inspired by the same creed—this was no distant tragedy. Arab aggression had exported its chaos to our shores, via mosques funded by Doha and Riyadh, turning multicultural promise into multicultural peril.

Home Truths: Islamist Enclaves vs. the Jewish Haven

Tower Hamlets: A Tinderbox of Extremism

Fast-forward to 2025, and the bill comes due in Britain's own backyard. Tower Hamlets, with its 40% Muslim population, has morphed from a gritty East End heartbeat into a tinderbox of extremism. In the year to March 2025, religious hate crimes surged 25% nationally, with 45% targeting Muslims—but at a per capita rate of just 12 per 10,000, dwarfed by Jews' 106. Yet Tower Hamlets' crime rate, at 72 per 1,000 in 2025, trails London's average only slightly—but spikes in anti-social behaviour (1,417 incidents in July 2022 alone) and drugs (346 in June 2025) paint a picture of frayed social fabric. Sharia patrols once menaced drinkers in 2013; today, post-Southport riots, Islamophobic assaults rose 73% in 2024, per Tell Mama. It's no coincidence: Wahhabi imports and Hamas sympathy have bred intolerance, making once-vibrant streets feel unsafe after dusk—especially for women unveiled or revellers seeking a pint.

Golders Green: A Haven of Jewish Enterprise

Contrast this with Golders Green, Barnet's Jewish heartland, where safety scores a reassuring 5 out of 10 (mid-range, but far from perilous). Crime here lags London's average; petty theft nips at heels near the Tube, but violent incidents are rare, thanks to vigilant community watches and a culture of self-reliance forged in Israel's image. Golders Hill Park buzzes with families; the high street hums with kosher delis and indie shops, unmarred by the graffiti or gang skirmishes plaguing Whitechapel. No patrols enforce piety; no riots erupt over distant wars. It's a microcosm of why Jewish resilience—honed against Arab bayonets since 1948—endures, while Islamist enclaves, subsidised by Gulf billions, fester in entitlement.

From a Tory standpoint, this disparity indicts multiculturalism's failures: Labour's lax borders let in the Wahhabi poison, while Conservatives champion integration and the rule of law. Arab aggression didn't just lose wars; it exported division, benefiting oil sheikhs and terror emirs while eroding the Britain that welcomed Jews fleeing pogroms a century ago.

Reckoning: Time for Britain to Choose Civilisation Over Grievance

Seventy-seven years on, the ledger is clear: Arab leaders gambled on aggression and lost, gaining only dictators' thrones and a diaspora of radicals who now unsettle our isles. Israel thrives—a Start-Up Nation amid the rubble—while the Arab street simmers in what-ifs. Britain, ever the balancer, must stiffen her spine: back Israel's right to exist, defund extremist mosques, and reclaim Tower Hamlets from the shadows. For in defending the Jewish haven of Golders Green, we defend the best of ourselves against the backlash our foes so recklessly unleashed. As Churchill might say, this is not the end; it is the audit of folly. And the bill is due.