SCHOLARLY ARTICLE

Why Israel Should Follow President Obama`s Suggestion to Return to 1967 Borders to Negotiate Peace in the Middle East Today



Why Israel Should Follow President Obama`s Suggestion to Return to 1967 Borders to Negotiate Peace in the Middle East Today

On June 5, 1967, Israel went to war with its neighbors. By June 10, Israel had more than tripled in size. In a decisive victory in six short days, Israel defeated Egypt, Syria and Jordan, who in turn had help from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Morocco, Algeria, Sudan and Tunisia. Soon dubbed "the Six Day War", this short, regional conflict would go on to have enormous implications for Israel, the Middle East and the peace and security of the world. This article will summaries, in three parts, the causes, conduct and consequences of the Six Day War. It attempts to give a simple but not simplistic account of the facts, inasmuch as the facts can be ascertained from noteworthy historical accounts of the war. This account will begin with the consequences, followed by the conduct of the war in its most important events and finally, the war's causes. We start with the consequences of the Six Day War in order to show the reader the enormous impact this small war has had, and why he or she should continue reading.

Consequences

The Six Day War's consequences were numerous and far-reaching, and some of them plague the region to this day. The changes of perceptions of threats in the area, the 1973 Yom Kippur War and subsequent Egypt-Israel peace accord, the hostage massacre at the Munich Olympics and the increased importance of the Middle East as a Cold War hotspot are some of the war's short term outcomes. I will attempt to outline the longer lasting ones here (Segev, 2007). They are the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, the occupation the Palestinian territories and military and nonmilitary conflict. First, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, or Islamism, or jihadism, or whatever you want to call it, is an indirect consequence of the Six Day War.

Second Para

How's this prescription for solving our conflict (illegal immigrants and drugs) with Mexico: Renegotiate the border, starting with where the line stood in 1844 (i.e. before we acquired a large chunk of territory in the Mexican War). Or here's a suggestion for resolving problems between Washington and Paris: renegotiate the western U.S. border based on geographic lines in effect in 1802, before the Louisiana Purchase. While we're at it, let's return to the geography of July 1861, just after the Confederate states declared their independence but before the Civil War set things back to right. Hey, why not? Overturning established borders to return to a previous line of demarcation sounds like a good idea, especially for those unhappy with the status quo. If you agree with that line of argument, you are probably applauding the proposal set forth by President Barack Obama at the State Department last week. In his speech, President Obama advocated that Israel accept the “pre-1967” ...