Oil

Just as the "Israeli achievement" needs to be put into proper perspective so also does the Arab world's "wealth". The following table sets out the per capital gross national product of most of the Arab countries at the end of the 1960's and the beginning of the 1970's:

With the exception of the Persian Gulf states and Libya, the majority of Arab countries are poor by any standard, in particular Egypt, Syria and Jordan, who have the majority of Palestinian refugees within their borders. One often hears "The Arabs in Israel have never had it so good, what have the Arab states done for the Palestinians." The answer is self evident, i.e limited funds, if you study the per capital GNP column of the chart above, but what is most galling is the fact that this type of remarks is often made by people whose standard of living is high but whose government give less than 1% of their GNP to assist the underdeveloped countries of the world.

The Arabs spend wisely and much progress has been made, notably in education and health. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have concentrated on their two social services with considerable effect. In both health and education Saudi Arabia's expenditure is immense. Kuwait has the finest social service in the world. Abdul Nasser's Egypt at one period of the revolution was building a school a day and various social service centres and hospitals in the towns and villages. He introduced far reaching land reforms and was instrumental in the building of the Aswam Dam. I have five Arab daughters, two in Morocco and three Palestinians in Jordan — both poor countries. All five of these little girls have had all their medical "shots" and are, or will be going to school. The two in Morocco will eventually be bi-lingual in Arabic and French. During the past 30 years a political and social revolution has; and is, continuing to take place within The Arab world. With their newfound wealth the Arabs are emerging as an economic force, and with it will come political power whether we like it or not. Arab governments are no longer prepared to allow the oil companies to cream off vast profits and provide cheap energy for the world. They want their wealth for the development of their own countries. Anyone who thinks they lack top quality diplomats, administrators and business acumen is indulging in a bout of wishful thinking, for as the noble Duke of Wellington said "If you believe that, you will believe anything."