Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Tuesday, June 5, is the anniversary of the first day of the 6-Day War. Did you know:

* Egypt started the Six-Day War by closing the Straits of Tiran (under international law a casus belli or act of war), and the Jordanian and Syrian airforces and armies attacked Israel before Israel moved against them. While Israel's attack on the Egyptian airforce is typically called "preemptive," Egypt's naval blockade was the initial act of war.

* Israel greatly feared that with Soviet aid, the Arabs -- 200,000 of whom were massed on the borders -- could overrun Israel with a loss of untold thousands of lives and the state itself. So agonizing was the stress in the lead-up to the war that Chief of Staff Itzhak Rabin had a paralyzing breakdown for several days.

*Israel gained control of the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights and eastern Jerusalem as a result of Arab aggression and refusal to accept Israel's sovereign rights in the historic Jewish homeland.

* After the war, Israel offered to give back virtually all the land gained (not including eastern Jerusalem) for recognition and peace from the Arabs but, as noted, Arab leaders responded with no peace, no negotiations and no recognition of Israel.

* This rejection of Israel was similar to the Arabs' refusal to accept coexistence and compromise under the 1947 partition proposal. That rejection led to continued conflict and deprivation -- not least for the Palestinians themselves.

* Statements by many of today's Middle Eastern leaders, whether Iranian, Palestinian (Hamas is the elected government) or by Hezbollah, sound no less genocidal than the statements of Nasser and other Arab leaders in 1967.
(see www.memri.org and www.pmw.org.il ) Regrettably, other than offering a few condemnations, world leaders did nothing meaningful 40 years ago to stop Arab aggression. What lessons does this hold for today when weapons are more lethal --particularly regarding Iran and its nuclear capabilities?

* Even the relatively "moderate" King Hussein of Jordan, an ally of America, attacked Israel (despite Israel pledging not to attack Jordan if the kingdom stayed out of the war).

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