June 29, 2017
May 26, 2017
Its Arabs that are Occupying Jewish Land in Israel
Why we should celebrate 50 years since the Six-Day War
There are three basic facts about the 1967 Six Day War. Knowing these politically incorrect, inconvenient truths will banish any ambivalence a reasonable person might have, and will encourage the celebration the 50th anniversary of this great Israeli victory.
First, the threats to annihilate Israel were loud and numerous. Egyptian dictator Gamal Abdul Nasser had united the military commands of his army with those of Syria and Jordan. He and those around him were repeatedly threatening to throw the Jews into the sea, to destroy the Jewish state. This was 22 years after the liberated concentration camps showed that Adolf Hitler’s rantings should have been taken seriously; because they were ignored, six million Jews died.
This was 19 years after an additional 6,000 Jews died because Palestinian Arabs rejected the 1947 UN Partition Plan, which would have created a peaceful transition in the Middle East. An Israeli leader who ignored those threats would have been guilty not just of stupidity, but of criminal negligence.
Second, beyond the bellicose calls to annihilate their neighbour, the Egyptians gave Israel a casus belli when Nasser banished the UN army serving as a buffer between Israel and Egypt in the Sinai, and a second justification for war when Egypt blocked the Straits of Tiran, the international waterways going to Eilat.
International law defines blocking a neighbour’s waterways as an act of war. Thus, Israel’s pre-emptive strike on the Egyptian and Syrian air forces in June 1967 was justified legally, morally and existentially. The 1967 war was an ein breira (no choice) war of self-defence.
Third, the most controversial piece of territory Israel secured from that conflict – the West Bank, including Jerusalem – was already in legal limbo. To call that territory “occupied” is wrong legally, historically and, again, existentially. Legally, the Jordanian army, rejecting the 1947 Partition Plan, invaded Israel, a state the United Nations had authorized.
In that 1948 war, Jordan seized the West Bank – what Jews call Judea and Samaria – and part of Jerusalem. The United Nations never recognized Jordan’s occupation of the territory. Thus, when Israel, in self-defence, won that territory in 1967, it wasn’t occupying Jordanian territory, it wasn’t occupying Palestinian territory – something no one would have said back then – it was seizing legally ambiguous territory.
Historically, Israel has longstanding claims to that territory, the biblical heartland of the ancient Jewish state. More recently, the British Mandate and the San Remo Conference allowed Jews to settle in that area west of the Jordan River, i.e. the West Bank.
Finally, existentially, the writer Yossi Klein Halevi acknowledges the demographic realities – there are over a million Palestinians living in that territory – and notes their legal limbo due to security and diplomatic complications. He therefore says that while he acknowledges the Palestinians in that area are an occupied people, controlled without full democratic rights, he (and I) cannot say this land – the Jewish people’s inheritance – is occupied by the Jewish People. We returned to our land, observing the legal and historical rules of warfare, in self-defence.
These three facts explain the Jewish euphoria from left to right in 1967, as well as why we should celebrate the victory, which saved Israel, from left to right. Let’s argue the next day.
These three facts – and genuine celebrations – do not mean demographic realities might not compel a compromise. Israel can consider relinquishing some territory, but never Jewish rights to that territory. A politician can compromise on borders but cannot rewrite history or legacy.
Shame on us for not knowing our history. Those who don’t know their history cannot grow. But those imprisoned by that history haven’t grown. Let’s learn the facts, then discern the best way to make new realities that bring us closer to the peace we all deserve.
Just a Few of the Arab Murders of Jews before the Modern State of Israel
Battle of Tel Hai March 1, 1920 Arabs 13 8 Jews killed;[1] 5 Arabs killed.
Nebi Musa riots April 4–7, 1920 Arabs 9 5 Jews, 4 Arabs killed; 216 Jews, 18 Arabs, 7 Britons wounded[1][2][3]
Jaffa riots May 1–7, 1921 Arabs 95 48 Arabs, 47 Jews killed; 140 Jews, 73 Arabs wounded.
NA November 2, 1921 Arabs 5 5 Jews killed in Jerusalem in stabbing attack. Multiple wounded, including women and children.[4]
Palestine Riots August 23–29, 1929 Arabs 249 133 Jews, 116 Arabs killed; 339 Jews, 232 Arabs wounded[1][2][3][5][6]
Hebron massacre August 24, 1929 Arabs 67 67 Jews killed; 58 Jews wounded (included in "Palestine riots" above)
Safed massacre August 29, 1929 Arabs 20 18–20 Jews killed; 80 Jews wounded (included in "Palestine riots" above)[6]
1933 Palestine riots October 28, 1933 Arabs 20
1936 Anabta shooting April 15, 1936 Arabs 2 2 Jews killed, 1 shot but survived in road block with Jewish drivers selected out and shot [7][8][9]
The Bloody Day in Jaffa (Hebrew: יום הדמים ביפו) April 19–20, 1936 Arabs 21 9 Jews killed, 40 Jews wounded (11 critically) in Arab attack in Jaffa. Police killed two attackers. Further 7 Jews and 3 Arabs killed the next day[10][11][12]
Labor Strike Revolt April 20 – October 12, 1936 Arabs, Jews, British authorities 314 197 Arabs killed and 823 wounded, 80 Jews killed and 300 wounded, 37 military and police killed and 95 wounded.[13]
NA August 13, 1937 Arabs 4 4 members of a Jewish family, 3 children, shot dead by Arabs who broke into their home in Safed[14]
NA November 9, 1937 Arabs 5 5 Jewish Keren Kayemet workers killed near Har Haruach by an Arab ambush. Ma'ale HaHamisha was named in their honor.[15]
N/A 28 March 1938 Arabs 6 6 Jewish passengers killed by Arabs while traveling from Haifa to Safed.[18]
N/A September 14, 1938 Arabs 3 3 Jews killed in a bomb attack and ambush on a private vehicle near Nir David then: Tel Amal)[25] Several attackers killed by Britons.
1938 Tiberias pogrom October 2, 1938 Arabs 19 19 Jews were killed.[26]
1947 Jerusalem riots December 2, 1947 Arabs 14 8 Jews Reported Killed[40][41]
al-Tira December 12, 1947 Jews 13 13 Arabs killed, 10 wounded[42][43]
Haifa Oil Refinery massacre December 30, 1947 Arabs beat 39 Jews to death and injured 49.
Nebi Musa riots April 4–7, 1920 Arabs 9 5 Jews, 4 Arabs killed; 216 Jews, 18 Arabs, 7 Britons wounded[1][2][3]
Jaffa riots May 1–7, 1921 Arabs 95 48 Arabs, 47 Jews killed; 140 Jews, 73 Arabs wounded.
NA November 2, 1921 Arabs 5 5 Jews killed in Jerusalem in stabbing attack. Multiple wounded, including women and children.[4]
Palestine Riots August 23–29, 1929 Arabs 249 133 Jews, 116 Arabs killed; 339 Jews, 232 Arabs wounded[1][2][3][5][6]
Hebron massacre August 24, 1929 Arabs 67 67 Jews killed; 58 Jews wounded (included in "Palestine riots" above)
Safed massacre August 29, 1929 Arabs 20 18–20 Jews killed; 80 Jews wounded (included in "Palestine riots" above)[6]
1933 Palestine riots October 28, 1933 Arabs 20
1936 Anabta shooting April 15, 1936 Arabs 2 2 Jews killed, 1 shot but survived in road block with Jewish drivers selected out and shot [7][8][9]
The Bloody Day in Jaffa (Hebrew: יום הדמים ביפו) April 19–20, 1936 Arabs 21 9 Jews killed, 40 Jews wounded (11 critically) in Arab attack in Jaffa. Police killed two attackers. Further 7 Jews and 3 Arabs killed the next day[10][11][12]
Labor Strike Revolt April 20 – October 12, 1936 Arabs, Jews, British authorities 314 197 Arabs killed and 823 wounded, 80 Jews killed and 300 wounded, 37 military and police killed and 95 wounded.[13]
NA August 13, 1937 Arabs 4 4 members of a Jewish family, 3 children, shot dead by Arabs who broke into their home in Safed[14]
NA November 9, 1937 Arabs 5 5 Jewish Keren Kayemet workers killed near Har Haruach by an Arab ambush. Ma'ale HaHamisha was named in their honor.[15]
N/A 28 March 1938 Arabs 6 6 Jewish passengers killed by Arabs while traveling from Haifa to Safed.[18]
N/A September 14, 1938 Arabs 3 3 Jews killed in a bomb attack and ambush on a private vehicle near Nir David then: Tel Amal)[25] Several attackers killed by Britons.
1938 Tiberias pogrom October 2, 1938 Arabs 19 19 Jews were killed.[26]
1947 Jerusalem riots December 2, 1947 Arabs 14 8 Jews Reported Killed[40][41]
al-Tira December 12, 1947 Jews 13 13 Arabs killed, 10 wounded[42][43]
Haifa Oil Refinery massacre December 30, 1947 Arabs beat 39 Jews to death and injured 49.
May 15, 2017
May 05, 2017
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