For a six-day event to cause problems that last for decades is not a common occurrence. However, the six-Day War started by Israel on June 5 1967 against its neighboring Arab countries led to problems that have lasted for over forty years. Although the damage that the war had caused was not clear at the time, the outcome cast a shadow over the Middle East while also attracting the attention of other countries that had strategic interests in the region such as the United States. In the course of the war, the Israeli forces defeated Egyptian, Jordanian, and Syrian forces and began its long-term occupations of Gaza, West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights (Makovsky). Notably, the Israel military prowess over its seemingly more powerful Arab neighbors attracted the adoration of the United States, the latter increasing aid to Israel between 1967 and 1972 from 6.4 billion dollars to around 9.2 billion dollars a year. Accordingly, the U.S. loan advancements for Israeli purchases of weapons from America increased from approximately 22 million dollars during the 1960s to over 400 million dollars in the early 1970s (Selfa, n. pag). Ultimately, the war had long-term implications including disruption of the relative peace that existed between Israel and its neighbors, conflicts over the land that Israel occupied following the war, refugee problems, as well as emergence of terrorism within the region.
Between August 29 and September 1, Arab leaders attended a meeting in Khartoum where they resolved not to negotiate with Israel, not to have a peaceful resolution with Israel, and not to recognize the state of Israel (Bailey 261). Following the foregoing resolution, the Arab countries scuttled any process towards a peaceful solution with Israel. After the resolution, Egypt broke the six-day war ceasefire several times by advancing its missiles on the Suez Canal border. Such and other actions by Arab leaders geared towards redressing the humiliating defeat in 1967 culminated in the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The Yom Kippur War coupled with the drastic increase of oil prices meant that the survival of Israel was at risk (Gawrych 164). Nevertheless, Israel received considerable support from the U.S. and this helped Israel secure its borders, take control of Jerusalem, and fortify its occupation of Gaza, West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula, and Golan Heights. It is important to note that it was not until seven years after the six-day war that the leadership of the PLO began to seek a peaceful solution with the view of bargaining for part of the Israel occupied territories in a bid to establish a Palestinian mini-state (Selfa).
Consequently, Israeli occupation of the Arab lands created a situation for a seemingly endless Arab pursuit of Israel to trade the lands for peace. It is noteworthy that the outcome of the war led to the mythical narrative that has influenced the Western perceptions regarding Israel and the Middle East. The perception of a diminutive Israel in danger of destruction by powerful Arab countries became a common aspect, despite the fact that Israel was aware that its military was superior to those of its neighbors. As such, the need for the Western nations to protect Israel from being destroyed by the Arab nations and the quest of the Arab nations to reclaim the Arab lands occupied by Israeli forces continue to harm peaceful coexistence within the region (Westervelt).
A common hatred among the Arabs towards Israel and its western allies caused an upsurge of Palestinian nationalism leading to the establishment of Palestinian militant organizations the Palestine Liberation Organization as well as guerrilla organizations such as Al Fatah, which continue to carry out attacks on the Israel targets. In its defense, Israel argues that the six-day war was in its self-defense following the simmering tension between it and the Arab nations (Quigley 135). Many scholars believe that indeed Israel initiated anticipatory attacks on the Arab territories in self-defense given that its relationship with its neighbors had been strained since the Arab-Israeli war of 1948 (Bregman 34).
In a bid to resolve the conflict, the United Nations passed resolution 242 in the month of November 1967 but Israel disregarded the rules set out in the resolution (Sela 344). The Arab nations felt aggrieved and termed the resolution as a mere international wish list. Following Israel blatant disregard of the UN-led process geared towards achieving a peaceful solution, the Palestinians embarked on using guerrilla tactics often targeting the Israel interests in a bid to pressure Israel to retreat from the occupied territories. Today, the Israel occupation in Gaza and West Bank remains the longest occupation in history, the conflict has never been resolved and there is no hope of resolving the conflict in the foreseeable future (Westervelt, n. pag).
Work Cited
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