…On second thoughts, to hell with it!

This image is a black-and-white political cartoon with a bold headline at the top that reads “…On second thoughts, to hell with it!”. The main scenery shows a wide, empty desert with few small plants, trees, and scattered rocks in the background. On the middle-left side of the image, there is a large skeletal camel with the word “Egypt” written on the hump. The camel is lying on the ground with its body stretched out and ribs exposed. The camel is near the brink of death, but it is still barely alive. A rope is tied around the skull of the camel and extends towards the right side of the cartoon. On the right side of the cartoon, a robed man with exaggerated distress pulls the camel with the rope. The man holds a large sign on a pole, reading, “Arabs onward; Fight to the death!; Exterminate Israel!!; Smash the infidel aggressors!” The man is walking from left to right, dragging the camel along with him. In the bottom left corner, two small figures are standing near a clutter of rocks. The figure on the left has a speech bubble above them that reads, “Everyone back to the oasis!” and the other responding with, “It’s occupied”. The background is darkly shaded but open, keeping the focus primarily on the man and the camel.

The camel, which takes up a good portion of the image, denotes the beatdown that had been taken by Egypt over the very short time of the Six Day War. Egypt lost 90% of its Air Force from Israeli air attacks and lost control of the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula in only three days. Gamal Abdul Nasser resigned as a result of the defeat (although he would come back to power not long after). This image could also be including the 1956 Suez Crisis, which led many world powers to attack Egypt in defense of Israel amidst Cold War conflict.

The Arab man holding the “Exterminate Israel” sign is heavily stereotyped, with a large nose, headdress, and tattered clothing. The caricature suggests that Arabs will not give up their land and are highly aggressive. "Smash the infidel agressors!" is a sarcastic reference to the trope of Arab hostility despite weakness and ineptitude.