Judaism - Israel - Palestine - Part VII

 

Part VI - This is Part VII

The Jewish Virtual Library – has a mainstream view of 1967’s: “The Six Day War”.

Israel consistently expressed a desire to negotiate with its neighbors. In an address to the UN General Assembly on October 10, 1960, Foreign Minister Golda Meir challenged Arab leaders to meet with Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to negotiate a peace settlement. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser answered on October 15, saying that Israel was trying to deceive world opinion and reiterating that his country would never recognize the Jewish State. ⁽¹⁾

The Arabs were equally adamant in their refusal to negotiate a separate settlement for the refugees. As Nasser told the United Arab Republic National Assembly on March 26, 1964:

Israel and the imperialism around us, which confront us, are two separate things. There have been attempts to separate them, in order to break up the problems and present them in an imaginary light as if the problem of Israel is the problem of the refugees, by the solution of which the problem of Palestine will also be solved and no residue of the problem will remain. The danger of Israel lies in the very existence of Israel as it is in the present and in what she represents. ⁽²⁾

The Palestinian Liberation Organization

In 1963, the Arab League decided to introduce a new weapon in its war against Israel — the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

In September 1965, Arab leaders and their military and intelligence chiefs met secretly at the Casablanca Hotel in Morocco to discuss whether they were ready to go to war against Israel and, if so, whether they should create a joint Arab command. The host of the meeting, King Hassan II, did not trust his Arab League guests and initially planned to allow a joint Shin Bet-Mossad unit known as “The Birds” to spy on the conference. A day before the conference was scheduled to begin, however, the king told them to leave out of fear they would be noticed by the Arab guests. Hassan secretly recorded the meeting and gave it to the Israelis, who learned the Arabs were gearing up for war, but were divided and unprepared.

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/background-and-overview-six-day-war

A somewhat different perspective was expressed by another knowledgeable Israeli Jewish individual.

Professor Meron Medzini served as the Director of Israel’s Government Press Office (GPO) in Jerusalem during the Six-Day War.  …

In the mid-1960s Israel was suffering from a major economic recession with unemployment at 10 per cent, and morale so low that people joked that the last person to leave the airport should please turn out the lights. The ruling party Mapai was taking a beating in opinion polls, especially from a new breakaway part called Rafi, which was headed by Shimon Peres and Moshe Dayan. In general, though, Israel simply did not feature in the international news.

Early in 1967, there was little sense that something was about to erupt. In April, the IDF intelligence branch assessed that the earliest war was possible was in 1970-71. …

On 23 May, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser announced the re-imposition of the blockade on the Straits of Tiran, which the Prime Minister’s Chief of Bureau told me caused Eshkol to say “kinderlach, (children), this is war”. …

The journalists realised that the IDF’s mobilisation could not continue indefinitely without the economy collapsing. …

 A day or two later, Ben-Gurion said Israel should give back all the territories apart from East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. 

https://fathomjournal.org/1967-the-international-media-and-the-six-day-war/

The story I summarized with some bits and pieces is NOT one of Israel under direct threat of attack.  It is instead deliberate deception where Israel, through the media, “hoodwinked” the public, which resulted in Israel’s military initially destroying the Egyptian air force and seizing all of Jerusalem, The West Bank, The Golan Heights, Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula.

The 1967 War – was a “HUGE” Triumph for those – wanting Israel 100% and a HUGE Disaster for the Palestinian People.

Personally – I was sent at the last minute – with my maternal grandfather for a tour in August, 1968 – which was meaningful for me at age 17.   We were the first Jewish Tour to have part of us stay in a hotel in East Jerusalem.   The only other participant under about 70, was a young lady of perhaps 20.

I walked in the darkness each evening to meet her at the King David Hotel in West Jerusalem.   I never saw Palestinian People until she and I were in the Old City – they were asleep.   I didn’t feel any danger – fear – whatsoever.   No others – did what I was doing.

The Old City was fascinating!     There was so much for sale – from Jordan and other parts of the Middle East – as well as locally made things – and they were bargained for usually and inexpensive!

I remember the young Palestinian Boys – when we were in The West Bank – seeking to sell us – chewing gum – and similar and begging.

It was a “safe time” in so many ways – for me as a Jew – and a period where I was totally innocent.

Why were the Palestinians – kind to me as well as simply tolerating me without complaints.   Where was the violence?

Obvious answer: There was No Threat!

Israeli Soldier approaching The Dome of the Rock

A Most Holy Site for Muslims - in The Old City - Jerusalem

--

Pieces of the 1973 War – from: 

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/israels-1973-october-war-a-50-year-perspective/

Egypt and Syria launched the October War on October 6, 1973. The Egyptian-Syrian partnership was limited. Syria’s President Hafez al-Assad did not fully share Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s war aims. Sadat had in mind a limited war, a crossing of the Suez Canal, and the establishment of an Egyptian presence on the canal’s eastern bank in order to force Israel and the United States to enter into a diplomatic process designed to redress the consequences of the 1967 Six-Day War. he initial attack was unexpectedly successful. …The October War inflicted a national trauma on Israel. The intelligence failure, the surprise, the weak performance of the Israel Defense Forces during the war’s first few days, the large number of casualties, the dependence on resupply from the United States, and the huge economic cost mobilized the Israeli public against the Golda Meir government. There was a recognition that the massive victory of 1967 created in Israel a hubris that contributed to the setback of 1973. It also realized that the war could have been prevented had Israel accepted Sadat’s peace feelers between 1971 and 1973. …

The post-October War diplomacy, led by the U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, also marked the beginning of an Arab-Israeli peace process. All previous efforts to settle the conflict, beginning in 1948, were short-lived and unsuccessful. 

It should be noted that “The Peace Process” – was:  Israel, Egypt and Jordan.   https://www.refworld.org/reference/countryrep/mrgi/2008/en/65027 +

Although Palestinians constitute around half of the population, they remain vastly under-represented in Jordanian government. Nine of the 55 Senators appointed by the king are Palestinian, and in the 110-seat Chamber of Deputies, Palestinians have only 18 seats. Of Jordan's 12 governates, none are led by Palestinians.

Discrimination against Palestinians in private and state-sector employment remains common and a quota system limits the number of university admissions for Palestinian youth.

The Palestinians – with No Army, No Air Force, No Navy – didn’t have a seat at the Table.  Syria – became – “The Enemy” in important ways for Israel, while Jordan and Egypt were new allies.

Part VIII - continues here:

https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/judaism-israel-palestine-part-viii.html