I heart Palestine part 2

We are now going to jump from the late 40s to the late 60s, skipping over the war known as the War of Independence by the Israelis and Al Nakba (or catastrophe) by the Palestinians, and go straight to the Six Day War. I'm sure it had many causes, after 9 years of relative "peace," what it came down to was disputes over land and water (like always), as well as the haughty boasts of Arab prowess by Egyptian President Abdel Nasser.

So one day Arab guerrilla fighters crossed the Lebanese border and blew up the water pipes by the Sea of Galilee, Israel's main source of water. Might I add that Israel had diverted much of the Jordan River away from the Arab States (because, you know, they needed it more).

• "Israeli jets had bombed Syrian waterworks in the Golan Heights, across from Galilee, so that Syria could not diver those same waters. When Israelis moved into the demilitarized zones of the Golan [Heights] to plow disputed land, they drew Syrian fire, which in turn brought swift Israeli response." (p.125, The Lemon Tree)

Israel also claimed they needed to go to war because of the 100,000 Egyptian troops massing in the Sinai (American and British intelligence suggested closer to 50,000). Israel repeatedly exaggerated the state of things in Palestine, perhaps to influence the US or gain more support from Western Nations (which worked quite well). The CIA was quite sure that Egypt had no intention of going to war and were not planning to invade Israel. Even Israel's Minister of Defense would later admit that he never believed that Egypt wanted war.

But on June 5, 1967, the Israeli army made a preemtive strike against the Arabs and proceeded to seriously defeat the Egyptians, Syrians, and Jordanians, which wasn't enough- they also went into Palestinian territories and began a 40 year occupation of Palestinian land (the West Bank and Gaza), contrary to the UN Resolution 242 which mandated a withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from the occupied territories. Which they refused to do. And still do.

Eventually, the PLO was formed as the voice of Palestine, since they were not allowed to have any government of their own. Palestinian children are born and raised with the idea that they have been driven from their homes and deserve to get them back. Or at least should have their own state in the West Bank and Gaza.

And we all know all about suicide bombings and Israeli retaliation. Maybe you don't know that the Israelis imprisoned and tortured Palestinian prisoners who may or may not have been guilty of "terrorist" acts (meaning anything that went against Israeli laws- obviously if they were alive, they weren't suicide bombers). Or that, in the beginning, Israel was just as likely to bomb residential areas as the Palestinians. Or that, although the Palestinians are not very flexible on their demands for land and freedom, the Israelis are not very flexible on what they will offer the people whose land they stole (or stole back, if you prefer to live by Biblical Law).

Obviously, there is no easy solution. If I were in charge of the world, I would give the angry Arabs their own state, consisting of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, and part of the Golan Heights. And then I would tell them to get over the fact that they don't have all of Palestine. And I would tell the Israelis to give up some of their land and point out that they have treated the Arabs the way they wished to have never been treated (mems how no one liked that people were driving Jews out at gun point and then they turned around and did the same thing?).

Anyway. If you think this is interesting, you should read a lovely book called The Lemon Tree, a story that follows both a Jewish and Palestinian family through all the drama of the pats 75 years. Another good one is In Search of Fatima. If any of you have any suggestions of other good Israel-Palestine books, I would love suggestions!