The Arab states, either through their official governmental press and radio organs or through even more formal statements by leaders of their Governments, were seen here today as continuing to link the United States decision to furnish missiles to Israel with support of Cuba’s Fidel Castro, denunciation of the U.S.A., and the voicing of support of the Soviet Union in the current world crisis. The State Department has noted the Castro-Soviet backing manifested by a number of Arab states, including Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Syrian Premier Khalid al-Azm cabled Soviet Premier Khrushchev, expressing “admiration” for the “noble stand” in Cuba. Premier Kasim of Iraq denounced President Kennedy’s “flagrant violation of the principle of the international seas,” He noted that the only nation in the world “barbarous enough” to ever use atomic weapons was the United States, citing the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. President Gamal Abdel Nasser, of the United Arab Republic, accused the United States of undermining Near Eastern peace by providing Hawk Missiles to Israel and blockading Cuba. He termed Israel a foreign base of aggression in the “heart of the Arab homeland.”
A leading Baghdad newspaper, reflecting Iraqi Government views, said President Kennedy had revealed through recent actions that “American imperialism harbors further extensive aggressive objectives than those of the blockade against Cuba.”
The new pro-Nasser regime in Yemen broadcast on the Sana domestic radio service an attack on President Kennedy, accusing him of “piracy.” It said Cuba merely sought to protect itself against Mr. Kennedy’s “evils.” The Yemeni radio asked rhetorically of Mr. Kennedy and other Americans: “Are you not the ones who supplied Israel with bases, rockets, and bombs, and told it to be a thorn in the side of the Arabs?”
The Nasser line appeared to be reflected in other Arab states. It was a theme linking Mr. Kennedy with Israeli defense, and branding him a “hypocrite” for America’s stand against the Soviet Cuban bases.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
