Background
Velie, Lester was born in 1907 in Kiev, Ukraine, AMERICA0. Son of Samuel and Sarah (Spector) Velie. came to the United States, 1912, naturalized, 1922.
(On two fateful days in June 1967, the United States and t...)
On two fateful days in June 1967, the United States and the Soviet Union came perilously close to war. Over the Hot Line from Moscow the Russians threatened to intercede in the Arab Israeli conflict. Three task forces of the Sixth Fleet, including a battalion of Marines, sped east to stop them if they tried. The Russians backed away and avoided a nuclear confrontation. But today, an atomic clock ticks again in the Holy Land. for here four worlds collide. In the Cold War confrontation between the Western and Communist worlds, the Soviet Union has tried for twenty years to drive the West from the area. This would transform the Holy Land into a Soviet base for a thrust north into Europe, west into Africa, and east into India. Here, also, two Arab worlds confront each other: the pro Soviet client states of Egypt, Syria, and Iraq, and the pro Western regimes of Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, and Saudi Arabia. These have more to fear from Nasser and the Soviet Union than from Israel. Up to the very eve of the Six Day War, Nasser, supported by the USSR, labored to topple them. In Countdown in. the Holy Land, Lester Velie pieces together the absorbing story of Soviet Egyptian designs in the Holy Land, and their frustration by a brave and resourceful people who harness an ancient tradition and inspiration to the job of survival.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006C4HEM/?tag=2022091-20
(I FIRST VISITED ISREAEL IN APRIL 1967, AND LIKE OTHERS BE...)
I FIRST VISITED ISREAEL IN APRIL 1967, AND LIKE OTHERS BEFORE ME, WAS CAUGHT UP WITH THE ISREAELIS AND THEIR LAND. WHEN WAR CAME TWO MONTHS LATER, I RETURNED TO PIECE TOGETHER A STORY WITHIN A STORY; THE SOVIET'S USE OF PROXIES TO CARVE A COMMUNIST EMPIRE IN THE ARAB WORLD; AND THE COLLISION WITH THAT EFFORT BY A BRAVE AND RESOURCEFUL PEOPLE WHO HARNESS AN ANCIENT TRADITION AND INSPIRATION TO THE JOB OF SURVIVING. TO TELL THIS DOUBLE STORY WAS THE TASK I SET MYSELF IN THIS BOOK. ALONG THE WAY I DISCOVERED THAT DURING TWO FATEFUL DAYS OF THE SIX-DAY WAR, THE U.S. AND THE U.S.S.R. HAD SQUARED OFF IN A HOT LINE CONFORNTATION THAT BROUGHT NUCLEAR WAR PERILOUSLY NEAR. EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER THE SOVIETS HAD ESCALATED THEIR DRIVE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. AN ATOMIC CLOCK WAS TICKING IN THE HOLY LAND. IT WAS TICKING NOT ONLY FOR ARABS AND JEWS, BUT FOR ALL OF US. AS THE UN AMBASSADORS OF THE U.S., THE SOVIET UNION, FRANCE AND ENGLAND BEGAN TO DISCUSS AN ARAB-ISRAELI PEACE SETTLEMENT IN FEBRUARY, 1969, THE STAGE WAS ALREADY BEING SET FOR THE NEXT WAR. IT COULD BE AVOIDED ONLY BY A PEACE SETTLEMENT THAT CALLED FOR RECOGNITION AND CONCILIATION BETWEEN THE ARABS AND ISREAELIS. WAR COULD BE AVOIDED, TOO, BY GIVING ISREAEL THE BORDER AND THE ARMS THAT WOULD CONVICE THE ARABS THAT ISREAL COULD DEFEND HERSELF. IF THE U.S. SETTLED FOR ANYTHING SHORT OF THESE TWO REQUIREMENTS FOR PEACE- THE WAY WOULD BE OPEN FOR THE TRUNCATION OR DESTRUCTION OF ISREAEL, AND FOR THE SOVIETIZATION OF THE MIDDLE EAST./INCLUDES MAP, INDEX AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026R5XES/?tag=2022091-20
Velie, Lester was born in 1907 in Kiev, Ukraine, AMERICA0. Son of Samuel and Sarah (Spector) Velie. came to the United States, 1912, naturalized, 1922.
Bachelor, University of Wisconsin, 1929.
Reporter, Associated Press, New York, 1931-1932; suburban editor, Brooklyn Eagle, 1932-1935; associate editor, Journal Commerce, New York City, 1937-1946; radio analyst, Station WQXR, New York City, 1941-1945; associate editor, Collier's, 1945-1952; roving editor, Reader's Digest, 1953-1985.
(I FIRST VISITED ISREAEL IN APRIL 1967, AND LIKE OTHERS BE...)
(On two fateful days in June 1967, the United States and t...)
Married Frances Rockmore, October 29, 1932. Children: Alan R., Franklin Bell.