Following the serious escalation of violence in Gaza, a senior official in the PLO was asked to comment on the escalating violence. He said that the situation is very simple: "Israel has conquered lands from us. We only want Israel to do one thing -- and that is to withdraw to the Green Line". His listeners might have received the impression that one fine day, the leaders of our country decided that they would conquer Judea, Samaria and Gaza and that the result of this theoretical impulse is a 34-year ongoing "occupation". These are the official guidelines of the Arab press; this is the way the Israeli Left presents the facts; and strangely enough, the Israeli media has roughly the same viewpoint.
The Six Day War
Nobody mentions the events that led to Israel's conquering of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Nobody points out that we were coerced to go to war. No one reminds the world of the terrifying days of May 1967 when the former despot ruler of Egypt, Nasser, allied himself with Syria and Jordan with one goal in mind -- the annihilation of the State of Israel. The allied leaders spewed hate-filled speeches, much more virulent than the usual ones heard on their state-run media. Television viewers from all over the world watched armed Arab soldiers march to our borders, with the crowds cheering them on shouting: "Itbach el Yehud" (Slaughter the Jews). The State of Israel, surrounded by murderous enemies, had no choice but to start a defensive war. Despite the resounding victory in this war, Israel immediately turned to the Arab states with an offer to negotiate peace. The Arabs rejected the Israeli overtures outright at the Khartoum Conference with the statement: "No peace, no negotiations, and no recognition of the state of Israel." The Arabs' rebuff is the direct cause of the continuing Israeli "occupation" of Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
Resolution 242
The UN has also addressed this problem. Resolution 242 calls for an end to the state of war and requires Israel to withdraw to "safe and recognized borders". The Resolution does not require Israel to retreat to the pre-Six Day War border separating the Israeli and Jordanian forces. General Stowe, former Under Secretary of State and one of the main architects of Resolution 242, has said time and again that the wording in the resolution is not vague and that the omission of specific borders was done intentionally. The determination that Israel must withdraw to 1967 borders, which were nicknamed by Abba Eban "Auschwitz Borders", is a fiction staunchly maintained by the Arabs and by the rest of the world. The Security Council never demanded that from Israel.
Weak Israeli Explanations
The official Israeli stance is purely apologetic. Unfortunately, Resolution 242 is never properly explained, nor is the Arab-Israeli conflict shown in its proper historical perspective. The Arabs have repeatedly tried to annihilate the Jews. The Arabs' violent riots of 1921 and 1929 culminated in the "Arab Revolt" of 1936-1939. When the attempt was made to reach a solution by diplomatic means, the Arabs did not accept the UN resolution of November 1947. Quite the opposite, they declared an all-out war to destroy the fledgling state of Israel -- a goal they were quite close to achieving time and again.
This dispute is completely misrepresented both around the world and in Israel. A whole generation of Israeli youngsters has never been exposed to the basic historical facts.
There has to be a fundamental shift in Israel's presentation of its history.
Translated by Michal Drazin
The Six Day War
Nobody mentions the events that led to Israel's conquering of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Nobody points out that we were coerced to go to war. No one reminds the world of the terrifying days of May 1967 when the former despot ruler of Egypt, Nasser, allied himself with Syria and Jordan with one goal in mind -- the annihilation of the State of Israel. The allied leaders spewed hate-filled speeches, much more virulent than the usual ones heard on their state-run media. Television viewers from all over the world watched armed Arab soldiers march to our borders, with the crowds cheering them on shouting: "Itbach el Yehud" (Slaughter the Jews). The State of Israel, surrounded by murderous enemies, had no choice but to start a defensive war. Despite the resounding victory in this war, Israel immediately turned to the Arab states with an offer to negotiate peace. The Arabs rejected the Israeli overtures outright at the Khartoum Conference with the statement: "No peace, no negotiations, and no recognition of the state of Israel." The Arabs' rebuff is the direct cause of the continuing Israeli "occupation" of Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
Resolution 242
The UN has also addressed this problem. Resolution 242 calls for an end to the state of war and requires Israel to withdraw to "safe and recognized borders". The Resolution does not require Israel to retreat to the pre-Six Day War border separating the Israeli and Jordanian forces. General Stowe, former Under Secretary of State and one of the main architects of Resolution 242, has said time and again that the wording in the resolution is not vague and that the omission of specific borders was done intentionally. The determination that Israel must withdraw to 1967 borders, which were nicknamed by Abba Eban "Auschwitz Borders", is a fiction staunchly maintained by the Arabs and by the rest of the world. The Security Council never demanded that from Israel.
Weak Israeli Explanations
The official Israeli stance is purely apologetic. Unfortunately, Resolution 242 is never properly explained, nor is the Arab-Israeli conflict shown in its proper historical perspective. The Arabs have repeatedly tried to annihilate the Jews. The Arabs' violent riots of 1921 and 1929 culminated in the "Arab Revolt" of 1936-1939. When the attempt was made to reach a solution by diplomatic means, the Arabs did not accept the UN resolution of November 1947. Quite the opposite, they declared an all-out war to destroy the fledgling state of Israel -- a goal they were quite close to achieving time and again.
This dispute is completely misrepresented both around the world and in Israel. A whole generation of Israeli youngsters has never been exposed to the basic historical facts.
There has to be a fundamental shift in Israel's presentation of its history.
Translated by Michal Drazin