Fond Memories

Submitted by Kim Bruce (Canada), Jun 4, 2017 at 23:59

Daniel,

I clearly as if it were yesterday, remember that day, June 5th, 1967 and I remember the exhilaration when I got that Life Magazine in the mail.
My dear Mother was a Life subscriber.

I was 13 at the time and I was following the Vietnam War with passion and then when the Six Day war broke out I really didn't understand this fighting between the Israelis and the Arabs. "Why were the Arabs picking on this tiny little country? What did the Jews do to disturb this hornets nest of Muslim invaders? The cover on Life magazine, with the Israeli soldier cooling off in the Suez Canal was really something...little "David had beaten Goliath".

It was fascinating to read about how they accomplished this...it truly was a Miracle from G-d, and there truly were seemingly strategic "miracles" in some of the battles.

The sad part is...Israel did not finish the job. They were being too politically correct...too nice to these invaders. I guess the Israelis were trying to establish a position of favor with the United Nations. But what did that get Israel? Nothing but 'an eternal whipping'. Israel is 'the UN's whipping boy.'

Before Israel gained it's independence in 1948, it was common for the world press to label the Jews, not the Arabs, living in the mandate as 'Palestinians'. I suppose that is what confused me as a young teen?

The Arabs, in the region, were merely Bedouin and Druze nomads as far as I was concerned. They reminded me of the movie "Lawrence of Arabia"...

Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia all re-created this little "state", to be a pain in the backside of Israel.

If Israel had only completely demoralized the Arab nations, after defeating them, and demanded the country of Israel declared from the Jordan River to the Sea...today it would be a different world...perhaps even peaceful?

Correct me if I am wrong...

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