Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Arabs blame problems on 1967 war defeat

Yahoo! News reported Forty years after Israel's stunning victory over three Arab armies, the defeat still lingers in the Arab world — so much so, some blame it for everything from a lack of democracy in the region to the rise of religious extremism.
They really should blame it on the stupidity of thinking an 8th century mindset could defeat 20th century technology.
On June 5, 1967, Israeli warplanes destroyed 400 aircraft belonging to Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq — most of them sitting on airport tarmacs. Egypt lost the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip, Syria gave up the Golan Heights, and Jordan relinquished the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Trying to minimize the defeat, Arabs have long called the Six Day War the "naksa," or "setback," but its impact remains a deep wound.
And they would like to wound themselves again. I wonder if this time Israel will just end up with all the land originally planned for them in the Balfour Declaration (current Israel, the "Palestinian Terrorities" and Trans Jordan (modern day Jordan), or whether they will get even more land. I
Egyptian columnist Wael Abdel Fattah wrote in the independent weekly Al-Fagr newspaper that Arabs blame the defeat for "everything" — from "price hikes, dictatorship, religious extremism, sectarian strife, even sexual impotence."
The real problem is trying to live with 8th century customs in the 21st century.
"A military defeat, that could have been limited, has been transformed to an overall defeat, represented by regimes ... and societies that fear change," Syrian writer Bakr Sedqi said in the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat. Jordanian columnist Faisal al Ref'ou said the defeat has fueled a cycle of violence all over the region.

Karol blogged If the Arab world, or, more accurately, the entire Muslim world, ever wants to improve its lot, letting go of the defeat of 40 years ago would be a good start. But, of course, as that's never going to happen, Israel should remember that the road to peace with Egypt was waged through war. Israel has to regain its confidence, and needs to ignore the rest of the world when dealing with its terrorism problem. I don't imagine that the Israel of 40 years ago would have ever responded to the kidnapping of its soldiers with a small incursion into Lebanon while taking a kid glove approach until the international community made it stop. The Israel of today should take some lessons from the Israel of 40 years ago.

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