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...undertake least once in their lives. He had chosen this year to make the journey--the hajj--because the Saudis, keepers of the holy city, were receiving so much money from the Arabian-American Oil Company that they had eliminated the $100 tax previously levied on each pilgrim. He had made it to Beirut, crossroads for many pilgrims and jumping-off point for a flight to Saudi Arabia. He was now, however, stranded at Beirut's international airport. It was hot. He had nowhere to stay; and he had run out of money. He had also almost run out of time. On August 27 the Saudis were scheduled to close the gates to the holy city, and his pilgrimage would come to an abrupt and disheartening end. (1)
This unnamed pilgrim had not planned on being stranded in Beirut. He had thought that if he made it to that city, he could fly the rest of the way on one of the three Middle Eastern airlines that traditionally carried pilgrims to Jidda, the airport closest to Mecca. The problem this year was that there were many more pilgrims than the airlines could possibly handle, despite the fact that each of these travelers, including the octogenarian Iranian, had purchased an airline ticket to Jidda before leaving their home country. (2)
Multiply this elderly pilgrim by a thousand, throw in a hot Lebanese sun, a near-complete lack of shelter, dwindling food supplies, and only a few outdoor water faucets; multiply the confusion by the fact that many pilgrims spoke neither Arabic nor French, and the potential for a disaster was brewing. Lebanon responded to the crisis by closing its borders, but there were still close to 1,000 Islamic travelers in Beirut, and it appeared that their hajj would end 850 miles short of its goal. (3)
Enter Saeb Salaam. Mr. Salaam had dual reasons for wanting the pilgrims to be allowed to continue on their way to Mecca. First of all, he was a member of the Lebanese parliament, and these visitors were taking over the city of Beirut, living in the streets, and clogging the space around the airport. There was no indication that they were prepared to leave Beirut unless they were going on to Mecca. This was a political problem for a Lebanese office-holder.
Second, he was president of Middle East Airlines, one of the three air carriers (the others being Saudi Arabian Airlines and Air Lebanon) that had proven inadequate to the task of transporting the travelers to Jidda, because over-zealous agents in countries from Turkey to Senegal had sold more tickets than there were seats on flights to the Saudi Arabian port city Salaam could not conjure up more aircraft for his own airline, but he thought he knew where he could obtain additional resources--the United States. (4) Salaam decided to visit the U.S. embassy in Beirut.
Harold B. Minor was the American ambassador to Lebanon in 1952. Lebanon was a pleasant country to which to be posted, and Minor, a graduate of Georgetown University and a career diplomat who had served in numerous overseas locations, had been in Beirut since 1951. He received Salaam in his office, and the Lebanese politician immediately asked whether the United States Air Force could fly the stranded pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. (5)
Minor understood instantly the potential political benefits of doing what Mr. Salaam asked. The United States had incurred the displeasure--if not the wrath--of much of the Middle East with its support of Israel during the 1948 war, in which the Jewish state gained its independence. According to one reporter, Minor understood "the propaganda benefits to the U.S. if the Air Force and the State Department could be persuaded to meet Salaan's [sic.] plea." (6)
Minor was not naive about Middle Eastern politics, and it is most unlikely that he believed that a Mecca airlift would ameliorate the hard feelings of the Muslims. At best, as reflected in the words of a Time magazine correspondent, "it might well be the beginning" of better relations between the United States and...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos
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