PAGE 4A HERITAGE FLORIDA JEWISH NEWS, JUNE 16, 2017
By Jonathan Feldstein into the sea and slaughter its Jewish citizens.
And miraculous it is indeed, with the odds so
• Every time I see the movie "Titanic" I hope deeply stacked against Israel, while the Arabs
that there will be a different outcome. I hope falsely blamed U.S. and British intervention
that the captain will successfully avert the on Israel's behalf, they missed giving credit
massivelceberg.Ihopethattheshipwon'tsink, to the One who truly stood by Israel with His
that so many of its passengers won't perish. I divine intervention. The awakening of Jews and
hope that "Jack" will live to write his strongly Christians who understood God's protection
worded letter to the shipping line. makes this chapter of Israeli history a must
Despite knowing the outcome, that's the read if only to give Him praise.
same feeling I got when reading "Six Days of I decided not-to be intimidated by the sheer
War" by noted historian and former Israeli size (446 pages, of which 118 are notes and the
ambassador to the U.S., now Knesset member index) and to dig right in. I figured that even
Michael Oren. Leading up to the 50th anni- if I didn't learn anything new, then at least it
versary of the Six Day War, I thought it was would be a good refresher on the historical
finally time to read the book gathering dust milestone of the 50th anniversary of the war
on my shelf for years. As I read the first half, itself, and specifically the 50th anniversary
recounting the weeks leading up to the war, I of the reunification of Jerusalem. While that
couldn'thelpbutthinkthatthereweresomany is celebrated according to the biblical Jewish
instances that war could have been averted, calendar on the 28th of Iyar the war began on
If only Egyptian President Nasser hadn't done June 5, 1967 and Israel's liberating Jerusalem's
one ofanyofanumberofthings. IfonlyJorda- Old City was complete on June 7.
nian King Hussein heeded Israel's warning to An historian will have a field day with this
stay out of the war and avoid being attacked, book as it recounts a wide array of Israeli,
If only the combined armies of the Arab world Arab, American, Soviet, and UN officials that
and Soviet Union didn't promulgate lie after make it challenging to keep track of all the
lie. If only the UN stood fast and retained its players, even for someonewellversed in Middle
troops in Sinai, or had reacted aggressively East history. Names and places of battles and
to the Egyptians brazen aggression. If only strategic significance, whether parts of urban
Israel hadn't felt so very isolated as the Arabs Jerusalem today or distant desert locations,
threatened to annihilate the 19-year-old Jew- are also noted in great depth. The sources,
ish state. If only. research, and time to put this book together
"Six Days of War" is filled with incredible are laudable, as is its historical objectivity.
historical detail that brings the reader a concise Not to be a spoiler, but the war ended with a
and objective look at what led up to the war, ceasefireonJune 11withIsraelcompletelyvan-
and then follows day by day the miraculous quishing the armies of itsArab neighbors, and
Israeli army routing of armies of its neigh- takingcontrolofallofSinai, the Golan Heights,
boring Arab countries, lusting to push Israel what's commonly called the West Bank but is
historically biblical Judea and Samaria, and
of course the reunification of Jerusalem. "Six
Days of War" is one of the most authoritative
and best sources of historical documentation
of the war, yet ,there are many other sources of
information and personal perspectives from
the Six Day War. (Please write and I will be
happy to share a list of others.)
Following Jerusalem's liberation, Defense
Minister Moshe Dayan made a statement
that was at once historic and celebratory, but
conciliatory at the same time. He reflected a
common feeling then among israeli leaders.
that Israel's victory was a new opportunity
for peace. "This morning, the Israel Defense
Forces liberated Jerusalem. We have united
Jerusalem, the divided capital of Israel. We have
returned to the holiest of our holyplaces, never
to part from it again, To our Arab neighbors
we extend, also at this hour--and with added
emphasis at thishour--our hand inpeace. And
to our Christian and Muslim fellow citizens, we
solemnly promise full religious freedom and
rights. We did not come to Jerusalem for the
sake of other peoples' holy places, and not to
interfere with the adherents of other faiths, but
in order to safeguard its entirety, and to live
there together with others, in unity."
One point of difference I have with the book
is use of the loaded term "Palestinian." While
Letter from Israel
the PLO was founded in 1964, use of that word
implies, as it has become common to do today,
that somewhere along history there was a
country called Palestine that Israel occupied.
The term may be correct today only if because
of how commonly it is used now, but in June
1967, Jordan controlled all of what's today
called the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem,
and Egypt controlled Gaza. "Palestinian"
identity was hardly well established, except
as a foil for Israel and as a vehicle and excuse
for terror and war. Use of this term today, that
was not invogue then, to describe apopulation
as this could have been chosen differently, or
noted that while unavoidable, it emphasizes
an historical bias and is possibly not entirely
accurate, something the author certainly
tried to avoid.
As documented in "Six Days of War," two
weeks before the outbreak of the war, UN
Secretary General U Thant met with President
Nasser in Egypt. Also attending was General
Indar Jit Rikhye, commander of the UNEF
forces in Sinai until they were expelled a week
earlier. Maybe it didn't take a rocket scientist
to figure it out, but Rikhye's comments fol-
lowing the meeting (p.86) were prophetic.
"I think you're going to have a major Middle
Feldstein on page 15A
Y
leadi
aid
By Ariel Ben Solomon is to blame for Palestinian refugees' plight,
JNS.org they view funding UNRWA as "a Western
responsibility because the West backs Israel."
Why aren't Muslim countries leading givers IJNRWA bias
to the Palestinian cause? The question has Critics of UNRWA say the international
renewed relevance upon a United Nations dollars invested in the U.N. agency serve
agency's recent release of its list of donors, to perpetuate the Palestinian conflict with
The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Pal- Israel, particularly due to anti-Israel bias in
estine Refugees in the Near East claims to UNRWA's school curriculum and its broad
provide aid to around 5 million Palestinian definition of what constitutes a Palestinian
"refugees," a number that is disputed by the refugee.
pro-Israel community because UNRWA also Asaf Romirowsky, executive director of
serves refugees' descendants. Published this the Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
month, UNRWA's list of donors for 2016 says nonprofit and the co-author of "Religion,
Western countries and Japan are the most Politics, andthe Origins ofPalestine Refugee
significantcontributorstotheagency'sbudget, Relief," told JNS.orgthat ifPalestinians gave
while the only major Muslim givers are Saudi up their identity as refugees, "it would feel
ArabiaandtheUnitedArabEmirates.Further, as if they were giving up their Palestinian
the Muslim nations' giving lags behind top identity" as a whole.
donors such as the U.S. and European Union "The perception within the Palestinian and
countries, larger Arab world is that the Palestinians have
Ronen Yizhak, head of the Middle East a divine right to return to Israel and that no
Studies department at Israel's Western Galilee leader has the mandate to ever give this up,"
College, told JNS.org the discrepancy between said Romirowsky, who is also a fellow at the
Western and Arab-Muslim giving to the Pal- Middle East Forum think tank.
estinians "has been the case throughout the Romirowsky said there is international
history of the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict." pressure to keep the funds flowing to UNRWA
On the Arab-Muslim side, "there is a lot of despite shortcomings in the program, such
talking, but little actual deeds," he said.Yizhak as anti-Israel incitement in school textbooks
pointed out that after the 2014 Gaza war, the and alleged associations with Hamas.
international community pledged $5 billion to The refugee issue, according to Romirowsky,
rebuild the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave, but is a tool used for bashing Israel.
much of the money pledged by Arab stateswent "UNRWA says they are needed until a resolu-
undelivered, tion of the conflict," he said, "but in fact they
Daniel Pipes, a historian and president of are gatekeepers that ensure there will be no
the Middle East Forum think tank, explained resolution, withPalestinianrefugeesbeingthe
the funding discrepancy by noting that given only ones in the world kept in their position
Arab and Muslim leaders' belief that the West for perpetuity."
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By Ira Sharkansky
He says that he wants to settle things
between Israel and Palestine. His initial
venture outside the U.S., to the Middle East,
may indicate the importance that he assigns
to it. There was also a business deal with the
Saudis, that will bring more work to American
industries. Along the way to that, he got some
positive words from reigning Arabs about
shared interests against Iran, and their inten-
tions to help bring peace to Israel and Palestine.
Perhaps all are on board except the Pales-
tinians. We're hearing about Trump's temper
against Palestinians for incitement toviolence,
and Abbas' waffling in defense about what he's
been doing.
It's not hard to find both Palestinians and
Israelis, among those holding high office and
the simple folk of both nations, who are intense
against any deal that sacrifices what each sees
as essential to their beliefs and survival.
There's room between the two camps of
extremists for the acceptable arrangements
achieved to date, but that doesn't please others
who want a final solution (forgive the expres-
sion), and the many who can find detailed
problems in what has been achieved. We're
back to the reality of a small country and
competing claims wrapped in murky or reliable
history, together with the unspoken starting
point that possession is nine tenth of the law.
Understanding politics is never easy. Disin-
formation, distortion, fake news, bobbing and
weaving, saying different things to different
people are all part of the tradition. They're
justified or required by the multiplicity of
interests, loyalties, and beliefs.
All countries are complex places. There's
some overlap with the norms of business,
but government is different. The list of what
is forbidden varies from place to place. Trump
is the first American to succeed in moving
from close to the peak of business to the peak
of government.
The cancellation, perhaps temporary, of
moving the embassy to Jerusalem, has gotten
mixed reviews. They include disappointment,
charges about deception, same old game,
expressions that it doesn't affect anything
important, acceptance of the explanation that
it'll make negotiations easier, and a long yawn.
Why should anyone care? Some believe
the established nonsense that providing for
a Palestinian state will ease the problems of
the Middle East.
Those still on board sqaould consider the
millions killed and turned into refugees across
the Muslim world from North Africa to the
Philippines, many of whoseperpetrators and
victims could not find Israel on a map.
There are also those who view the Palestin-
ians with a near monopoly of justice, accepting
their claims of being an ancient people, having
to put up with Jewish lies of having a history in
Jerusalem, and generous is wanting only what
they had prior to 1967 along with a return of
families to their historic homes taken from
them without justice by the Jews.
Ratcheting way down from these myths are
the realities of people co-existing. Not peace-
fully, but managing.
There are Israeli Arabs who concede that
their communities live as well or better than
those of any Muslim country, including op-
portunities for education, health, and political
expression. Gaza is headlined as an intolerable
place, made a prison by Israel. But its problems
owe a great deal to occasional attacks against
Israeli civilians, and its economic profile does
not suffer in comparison with much of Africa.
Some of what bothers Israel's right wing,
e.g., the increasing Arab population of Jeru-
salem, may be seen by other eyes as the appeal
of an Israeli residence for Arabs, and the ability
of two people to live together with no greater
friction that marks inter-group relations in
many other places.
Trump's first five months have shown him a
failure in getting major health and migration
reforms accepted by Congress and American
courts, and falling afoul of established rules
pertaining to managing secrets, using com-
munications, and staying within the norms
of key allies.
Trump's turnaround on the moving of the
embassy to Jerusalem has troubled Israelis.
Those in the government are saying that,it will
harm rather than help Trump's peace process
by encouraging Palestinians to escalate their
demands beyond reason. What Israelis are not
say so loudly is that Trump's action will harm
his peace process by destroying his credibility
among Israelis.
It's shaping up to be a long 4 or 8 years,
producing varieties of political humor and
cynicism at least equivalent to what Barack
Obama produced for another cluster of those
who jeered.
And just as Obama had a constituency
who thought he was the most enlightened
Chief Executive since Abe Lincoln, Trump
has those who see an amateur who breaks
the rules as what it takes to make America
great again.
We can wonder if those who cheer Trump
as outsider bringing new views to old politics
would also choose a fresh MBA to manage
their portfolio, an intern to operate on their
innards, or a new lawyer to defend them against
an allegation that could put them in prison.
What Trump and his predecessors--no mat-
ter what their government experience--are
likely to have incommon is to leave office
with Israelis and Palestinians dealingwith one
another more or less like they've been doing
since the beginning of their time. Hopefully,
our reasonably good days will continue to
outnumber the others.
Comments welcome. Irashark@gmail.com.
