Empire by Association: The Arab–Israeli Conflict and the United States in Lebanese Imaginations

Abstract

In August 1962, the Kennedy Administration secretly sold Hawk missiles to Israel. To the chagrin of many American officials, the arms sale became public one month later. This revelation had a profound impact on Arab–American relations. Alongside the American military intervention in the Lebanon crisis of 1958, the Hawk sale solidified the cultural process in which the United States became an “imperial” power in Arab–Muslim imaginations. Through its perceived sponsorship of Israeli militarism, the United States was deemed guilty of empire by association. Washington's open association with Israel led many to perceive Tel Aviv as an agent of the American Empire.