Occupied Land

by Mark Wildes, Esq.
http://www.shopndrop.com/frameit.cgi?lit/art/occupied.shtml

With the phrase "Israeli occupation" on many people's lips, 
it would seem sensible to look into the background of how 
the land the Palestinians call their own became "occupied." 
Was the "occupation" just greed on Israel's part; it just 
wanted more land? Was it oil that Israel was after? 
Or, could it have been the result of a battle Israel was 
forced into? 

Well, judge for yourself: 

In May of 1967, before the "Israeli occupation" of land the 
Palestinians call their own, Egyptian forces mobilized along 
Israel's southern border and Syrian forces prepared for battle 
along Israel's Northern border, the Golan Heights. Nasser, 
President of Egypt, ordered the UN Emergency forces that were 
stationed there to withdraw. On May 18, 1967 the "Voice of 
the Arabs" proclaimed on the airways: "The sole method we shall 
apply against Israel is total war which will result in the 
extermination of Zionist existence." 

The Syrian Defense Minister, Hafez Assad, announced: 
"The time has come to enter into a battle of annihilation." 

On May 30th, King Hussein of Jordan entered into a defense pact 
with Egypt, whereupon Nasser announced that, "The armies of 
Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are poised on the border 
of Israel -- while standing behind us are the armies of Iraq, 
Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and the whole Arab nation." 

On June 4th, Iraq joined the military alliance with Egypt, 
Jordan and Syria, and the President of Iraq declared: 
"Our goal is clear -- to wipe Israel off the map." 

465,000 troops, 2,800 tanks and 800 aircraft encircled the 
tiny, infant State of Israel. But rather than wait to be 
attacked, Israel struck preemptively. 

On June 5, 1967 the entire Israeli air-force (with the 
exception of 12 fighters assigned to protect Israeli air space) 
took off at 7:14 am, while the Egyptians were eating 
breakfast. In less than 2 hours, 300 Egyptian aircraft were 
destroyed. 

Israeli fighters were then sent to attack the Jordanian 
and Syrian air forces as well as one airfield in Iraq. 
By the end of the first day, almost the entire Egyptian 
and Jordanian and half the Syrian air forces had been 
destroyed on the ground. 

While most of the Israeli Defense Forces were fighting 
the Egyptians and Jordanians, a small heroic group of soldiers 
were left to defend the northern border against the 
Syrians. And it wasn't until the Jordanians and the Egyptians 
were defeated that the Israeli army was able to send 
reinforcements to the Golan Heights, where Syrian gunners 
had control of the strategic high ground. 

On June 9, after 2 days of heavy air bombardment, Israeli forces 
succeeded in breaking through Syrian lines. 

It took only 3 days for Israeli forces to then defeat the 
Jordanian legions. On the morning of June 7, 1967, Israeli 
paratroopers stormed the Old City of Jerusalem and secured 
it before Defense Minister Moshe Dayan arrived with Chief 
of Staff Yitzchak Rabin to formally mark the Jewish people's 
return to their historic capital and their most holiest 
site. 

In just 6 days, Israel defended herself from complete annihilation, 
reunified Jerusalem, captured the Sinai, the Golan heights, 
the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In light of Israel's 
near-annihilation, most of the land it captured was strictly 
as a security measure. 

Israeli troops marched to the Kotel, the Western Wall, the last 
remaining wall that encircled the ancient Jewish Temple, 
and celebrated the return of the people of Israel to the 
heart of the Holy Land -- Jerusalem. 

And this is the story of how Israel got to "occupy" the land 
the Palestinians call their own. Please keep in mind that 
the above account of how the "occupation" came about is 
not opinion or conjecture -- it's recorded history. 

Faced with the prospect of annihilation, Israel was forced 
into a war it did not provoke and it had no incentive in 
waging. In the process, it took land that it considered vital 
to its security. And this is what some people call 
"occupation." To call this "occupation" is a phenomenal 
stretch of the imagination, not to mention a dishonest 
assessment of historical facts.