Consequently they agreed that, if an armed attack occurred, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence, would assist the member being attacked, taking such action as it deemed necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
The heart of the founding treaty is Article 5, which obliges all members to rally to the defense when any member is attacked.
As Mohammed got back to serving hummus, he told of a meeting at his college a few weeks ago in which Haneen Zoabi, a Knesset member, was attacked by rightwing Jews who stormed the stage and prevented her from speaking.
The NATO alliance operates under a provision, known as Article V, that guarantees mutual defense, promising a "one for all, all for one" military response should any member be attacked.
But he acknowledges that strength isn't realised if aggressors don't believe that Nato will act when a member is attacked: "Western democracies always have, traditionally, been slow to respond to these kinds of threats.
Around a quarter "had to watch family members being attacked," he said.
Then one of the group's members is attacked.
Other family members were attacked, some killed, she said.
The first came in October, when a guesthouse used by United Nations international staff members was attacked by three gunmen, who killed five foreigners working with the organization.
The stealth was essential; the last time an Afghan rock band performed in public, earlier this month, its members were attacked by the police, who interpreted their gyrations as evidence of public drunkenness.
During my group's service in Bangladesh, we trained in Cox's Bazar, and yes, the beach was beautiful, but two of our group's members were attacked while they walked on the beach.
