I received an email from my good friend The Optimist this morning about the 40th anniversary of the 6 Days War. I asked him to do a guest post for us and he has submitted the following for your consideration.
History is a funny thing
By The Optimist
History is a funny thing. So many events in history can be debated as to their importance and lasting impact on the world today. I would argue that more than any other event since World War II, the 6 Days War between Israel and the Arab states has had more of an impact on our world today than any other event (and yes, that includes Paris Hilton’s first night in jail.)
40 years ago, Israel fundamentally changed the geopolitical world we live in. The Middle East today is a direct result of that war, and Israel’s hot-spots have most of their origins here. The ongoing battles over the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the Golan Heights saw their start in this war (or at least focused the attention of the Arab world there and created the situation we see today.)
And it is an amazing story. In one day, Israel had gone from underdog to biggest kid on the block. In a pre-emptive attack, Israel attacked the Egyptian air force and in a single day nearly completely destroyed it. The armies of the Arab states were soundly defeated and never really recovered, though they tried again in 1973. Israel was now an occupying power. That fundamentally changed the way the Arab world viewed Israel.
From our point of view, the allegations that the US and Britain directly aided the Israeli’s quickly spread and have become accepted facts (for the record, I don’t have an opinion either way, but I find it very hard to accept that the US was directly involved when looking at the bombing of the USS Liberty on June 8, 1967.)
I am not passing judgment on either Israel or the Arab States for starting or finishing the war (a much deeper and lengthier discussion is warranted for that). The politics and tensions around that time I think made war inevitable between the two. But I do believe it is important to look back on the results of that war to get a better sense of the war happening now and how things can be fixed. There has to be an end sometime to all of this, and usually that can only come from understanding the beginning. Just a thought.