The modern map of the Middle East is, in many respects, an arbitrary creation of ‘imperial' history. At the turn of the 20th Century, it was left to a handful of statesmen to divide vast areas of the globe often without consulting or perhaps even considering the inhabitants.

Many of the modern Arab states were thus British or French creations following the First World War.

In the eyes of many Arabs, the British were also ‘responsible' for ‘re-creating' the state of Israel.

It being the British Government that issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917, held the ‘Palestine' Mandate, and also admitted many of the Jewish immigrants into the Land.

(NB.Considerable Arab immigration into the Land simultaneously occurred but that will be discussed elsewhere. It should also be noted that a Jewish presence had already existed in the Land until that time, even since the defeat of the Jewish nation by the Romans in AD135, when their homeland was renamed "Syria Palestina" {eventually anglicised into ‘Palestine'} & their capital Jerusalem simultaneously renamed "Aelia Capitolina" ).

The British policy was soon to change with the British Government severely restricting Jewish immigration into Palestine under Arab pressure and the expediency of International politics. Out of the contentious tangle of conflicting interests arose the present situation.

Constantly shifting Arab allegiances united only in their opposition of the new "Zionist" state in their midst which they all determined should be eradicated. Confronting these ambitions of what can only be described as the "genocide of the Jewish entity" stood Israel's equal determination to secure it's right to exist in it's own ancient homeland and to establish itself in defensible boundaries.

1948 War & The Re-Birth of Israel.

The UN vote in favour of the partition of Palestine into two independent states, (one Arab & one Jewish), together with the ‘Internationalisation' of Jerusalem, confirmed the Arab fears of an alien, Zionist state in their midst.

What has come to be known as the Israeli "War of Independence", lasted from the end of November 1947 until July 1949. The war was divided into two distinct phases.

The first phase began on November 30, the day after the UN General Assembly adopted its resolution on the partition of Palestine (see UN Resolution 29.11.1947), and ended on May 15, 1948, the last day of the British Mandate.

The second phase started on the very last day of the British Mandate and came to an end on July 20,1949, when the last of the Armistice Agreements (with Syria) was signed.

In the first phase which, as mentioned before, began on the morrow of the UN Partition Resolution, the yishuv and its defense forces - the Haganah - were under attack by Palestinian Arabs, aided by irregular volunteers from Arab countries.

The following is a direct quotation at the time of the public declaration of Jamal Al-Hussein, the Vice-president of the A.H.C. (the Arab High Committee - the effective Palestinian-Arab ‘government' );-

Of similar relevancy is the damning , callous and chilling indictment of the hatred towards the Jews, still so soon after the Holocaust, is the reference to the general public circular of the same Arab High Committee which publicly declared;-

On May 14, 1948, the day preceding the end of British Mandate, the National Council convened at the Tel Aviv Museum and approved the proclamation of Independence, which declared the re-establishment of the State of Israel.

During the night of May 14-15, the Israeli city of Tel Aviv was bombarded by Egyptian aeroplanes. Thus began the second phase of the War of Independence, in which the regular armies of five neighbouring Arab states invaded the new state of Israel.

From the north, east and south came the armies of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Transjordan and Egypt. (Saudi Arabia sent a formation to fight under Egyptian command; Yemen considered itself at war with Israel but sent no military forces.)

The War of Independence lasted for more than 13 months. Israel paid a heavy price: 4,000 soldiers and 2,000 civilians killed. The financial cost was also heavy. The Jewish state, however, was now a definite fact. It held an area of almost 8,000 sq. miles compared with some 6,200 sq. miles granted within the boundaries as drawn up in the Partition Plan.

Armistice Agreements (1949)

A series of bilateral agreements concluded between Israel and Egypt (Rhodes, February1949), Lebanon (Rosh HaNikra, March 1949), Jordan (Rhodes, April 1949), and Syria (Mahanayim, July 1949), terminating the ‘military phase' of the War of Independence.

In January 1949, negotiations between Egypt and Israel began at Rhodes. The conferences with Lebanon and Jordan began on March 1949, and with Syria on April 1949. In each case the negotiations were terminated by the formal signature of a General Armistice Agreement.

 

Whereas Israel considered the Armistice Agreements as terminating any state of war, the Arab states continued to regard themselves as at war with Israel. They refused to recognize Israel or to negotiate for peace. The very existence of Israel was regarded as an "aggression", and its destruction became a fundamental aim of Arab national policy.

The Arab League conducted an economic warfare against Israel, which consisted, first and foremost, of a complete boycott of Israel and Israeli goods. Furthermore, The Arab League established a boycott organization to dissuade commercial and industrial firms from extablishing economic relations with Israel by threatening them with blacklisting and exclusion from Arab markets. Egypt took the lead in the Arab boycott by denying passage through the Suez Canal and the Straits of Tiran to shipping and cargoes belonging to, or bound for Israel.

Palestinian Arab terrorist groups, called "Fedayeen", began systematic raids against the Israeli civilian population. The "Fedayeen" operated from bases located in and controlled by Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.

In the period 1951- 1956, over 400 Israelis were killed and 900 injured as a result of the "Fedayeen" infiltrations and attacks. The "Fedayeen" acts of terror, supported by the Arab countries led, eventually, to the outbreak of Sinai Campaign.

The Sinai Campaign, lasted eight days, from October 29, 1956 to November 5, 1956. The short war between Israel and Egypt coincided with the Anglo-French Suez Campaign. The Sinai Campaign was launched by Israel as a reaction to the increasing Fedayeen terror activities. The Anglo-French attack on Egypt came as a result of Egypt's nationalization of the Suez Canal.

The objectives of Israel's operation were:

1) destruction of the Fedayeen bases in the Gaza Strip and on the Sinai border;

2) prevention of an Egyptian attack on Israel by destroying Egypt's logistic establishment and airfields in Sinai; &

3) the opening the Gulf of Eilat to Israel shipping.

Arab Israel Relations 1956 - 1967

For a decade after the Sinai Campaign, there was no large-scale outbreak of hostilities between Israel and the Arabs, but neither was there a decline in tension. While Israel's border with Egypt remained comparatively quiet, the centre of Arab hostilities against Israel developed along the Syrian, and later along the Jordanian border.

From their positions on the Golan Heights, the Syrians shelled Israeli settlements, attacked fishing boats on the Kinneret [Sea of Galilee] and fired on agricultural workers in the demilitarized zones along the frontier.

In 1964, the Arab Summit Conferences in Cairo and in Casablanca decided to intensify the struggle against Israel by diverting the headwaters of the Jordan River to frustrate Israel's water development.

The Arab States decided also to recognize a Palestinian entity. The Palestinian Liberation Organization was founded by Egypt in 1964 and in January 1965, a new Palestinian terrorist organization, al-Fatah, began operating.
 

Small bands of terrorists were sent from bases in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. On November 4, 1966, Syria and Egypt signed a mutual defense pact.

In April 1967, the Syrian interference with farming operations in the demilitarized zones on the Kinneret were stepped up, with increased shelling on Israel villages.

The period immediately preceding the 1967 war reveals a disturbing trend, indeed an alarming similarity, between the events of 1967 and those of the present day. 

Palestinian/Arab terrorist activities and the wholesale, indiscriminate slaughter of innocent Jewish civilians were just as common-place leading up to the 1967 conflict.

The Gaza Strip and the so-called 'West Bank' were not even in Israeli hands prior to the 1967 conflict.

However, despite being in the hands of Egypt and Jordan respectively, no attempt was made to forge any 'Palestinian' state.

To the contrary, Egypt created the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1964, three years before the conflict. Which only serves to show the intent of the Arab world in their goal to liberate 'Palestine'. It was the destruction of the state of Israel itself.

Indeed, it is the crux of the whole matter, which this book so clearly shows, that these very territories were used as a base from which to seek the destruction of the Jewish state and the genocide of the Jews from the midst of the surrounding Arab nations.

In the 1960's, attacks on Israelis from the Syrian controlled Golan Heights became commonplace. By 1966, they were compounded by the recently established PLO escalating terrorist attacks from the Jordanian controlled "West Bank".

Tensions grew daily as Syria attempted to divert the headwaters of the Jordan River, a primary source of Israeli water.

Egypt President, Nasser, demanded the withdrawal of the UN Emergency Force in the Sinai.

Egypt cut off Israel's southern shipping access through the Gulf of Aqaba (itself an act of war) and King Hussein of Jordan signed a mutual defence pact with Egypt in Cairo.


Nasser then announced: "The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are poised on the borders of Israel...to face the challenge, while standing behind us are the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and the whole Arab nation. This act will astound the world. Today they will know that the Arabs are arranged for battle, the critical hour has arrived. We have reached the stage of serious action and not declarations."

President Abdur Rahman Aref of Iraq joined in the war of words: "The existence of Israel is an error which must be rectified. This is our opportunity to WIPE OUT the ignominy that has been with us since 1948. Our goal is clear: TO WIPE ISRAEL OFF THE MAP'."

On June 4, Iraq joined the military alliance with Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
 

The Arab rhetoric was matched by the mobilization of Arab forces. Approximately 250,000 Arab troops (nearly half in Sinai), more than 2,000 tanks and 700 aircraft ringed Israel.

By this time, Israeli forces had been on alert for three weeks. The country could not remain fully mobilized indefinitely, nor could it allow its sea-lane through the Gulf of Aqaba to be interdicted. Israel's best option was to strike first. On June 5, the order was given to attack Egypt.

In essence the following chronological series of events occurred;

On May 15, 1967 Egyptian military forces moved into the Sinai. On May 17, Egypt President, Nasser, demanded the withdrawal of the UN Emergency Force.

On May 22, Nasser declared the Straits of Tiran closed to Israeli shipping and to shipping bound to and from Israel.

On May 25th, Iraq and Saudia Arabia moved their troops to Israel's border.

On May 26, Nasser declared that this time the intention was to destroy Israel.

On May 30, Jordan signed a pact with Egypt.

On June 4, Iraq signed a similar agreement.

On the morning of June 5, the Israeli air force undertook a preemptive attack designed to destroy the Egyptian airforce and their airfields. In less than three hours this objective was achieved. On the same morning, Israel southern command moved its forces in Sinai.

By the end of the fourth day, the war in Sinai was over.

a) Israel had captured the entire Sinai peninsula and the Gaza Strip.

b) The Straits of Tiran were open.

On June 7, the Old City of Jerusalem was taken by a Paratroop unit in hand-to-hand fighting to avoid any damage to the holy places. By the evening, the whole of Judea and Samaria ("West Bank") were in Israel's hands.

In the north, the Syrians had been shelling Israel's towns and villages from their heavily fortified positions on the Golan Heights. With the fighting over in the south and the centre, the Israeli Defense Forces attacked the Syrian army on June 9. By June 10, Israeli forces had captured the Golan heights and the danger of Syrian shelling had been removed from the Israel villages. With the acceptance of the cease-fire by all parties the Six Day War came to an end.



Fighting on three fronts, Israel waged and won the Six Day War in a climate of frigid international indifference.

The real threats to the country's existence seemed to have caused barely a stir in the consciences of world leaders, many of whom were convinced that Israel's liquidation was only a matter of time.

From 1967 until 1973 there existed what can only be described as a "war of attrition".

 

The Yom Kippur War that began on October 6, 1973, on the Jewish Day of Atonement, was the fiercest Arab-Israeli war since the War of Independence, in 1948.

Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on the Jews' most Holy of days, catching Israel off guard. Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal at five points and Syrian forces attacked at two points on the Golan Heights.

On the northern front :

Israeli troops pushed the Syrians back to the cease-fire line by October 10, despite the arrival of Iraqi troops to support the Syrians. By October 12, the Israelis had pushed to within 40 km. of Damascus.

On the southern front :

In the course of the first days of the war, Egyptian troops forced the Israelis to give up the "Bar Lev Defense Line" on the East Bank of the Suez Canal.

On October 16, Israel sent a task force across the Suez Canal to attack Egyptian tanks, missile sites and artillery on the West Bank. Within a few days, Israeli forces were at the outskirts of the city of Ismailiya and some 100 km. from Cairo.

In the later stages of the Yom Kippur War, after Israel repulsed the Syrian attack on the Golan Heights and established a bridgehead on the Egyptian side of the Suez Canal, International efforts to end the fighting were intensified. On October 20, the US Secretary of State flew to Moscow, and -- together with the Soviet government -- the US proposed a cease-fire resolution in the UN Security Council. On October 24, 1973, the cease-fire went into effect, thus ending the fighting.

It is evident that no realistic calls for a cease-fire were made by the International community whilst Israel was under attack. Such measures only arising when Israeli forces had turned the tide of battle and were within 100km of the Egyptian capital, Cairo, and within 40km of the Syrian capital, Damascus. International tensions had risen to a point that a conflict was seriously feared between the two superpowers of the day, the USSR and the USA.

 

The Peace for Galilee Operation (The Lebanon War) - June 1982

After the Six Day War, most of the terrorist activities of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (P.L.O.) were carried out from Jordanian territory. In September 1970, there were fierce clashes between the P.L.O. and the Jordanian army, as a result of which the organization was expelled from Jordan.

After expulsion from Jordan, the main centre for P.L.O. terror became Southern Lebanon, the Lebanese government being unable to prevent terrorist activities.

In 1978 Palestinians guerrillas launched a raid on Israel from their bases in Lebanon. In retaliation, Israel sent troops into southern Lebanon to occupy a strip 6-10 km. deep and thus protect Israel's border (Litani Operation). Eventually, a UN peace-keeping force was set up there.

In spite of the presence of the UN peace-keeping force, attacks against Israel continued.

On June 6, 1982, Israel launched a massive attack to destroy all military bases of the P.L.O. in Southern Lebanon and to free Israel northern towns and villages from constant fire. A ten-week siege of the Muslim sector of West Beirut, a P.L.O. stronghold, forced the Palestinians to accept a US- sponsored plan, whereby the P.L.O. terrorists would evacuate Beirut and remove to several Arab countries that had agreed to accept them. Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 1985, but continued to maintain a Lebanese buffer zone north of its border (see also the Palestinians).

Israel had long sought a peaceful northern border, but Lebanon's position as a haven for terrorist groups made this impossible.

For example, in March 1978, PLO terrorists infiltrated Israel. After murdering an American tourist walking near an Israeli beach, they hijacked a civilian bus. The terrorists shot through the windows as the bus travelled down the highway. When Israeli troops intercepted the bus, the terrorists opened fire. A total of 34 hostages died in the attack.

In response, Israeli forces crossed into Lebanon and overran terrorist bases in the southern part of that country, pushing the terrorists away from the border. The Israel Defense Forces withdrew after two months, allowing United Nations forces to enter. But UN troops were unable to prevent terrorists from reinfiltrating the region and introducing new, more dangerous arms.

Violence escalated with a series of PLO attacks and Israeli reprisals.

Finally, the United States helped broker a cease―fire agreement in July 1981. The PLO repeatedly violated the cease-fire over the ensuing 11 months. Israel charged that the PLO staged 270 terrorist actions in Israel, the "West Bank" and Gaza, and along the Lebanese and Jordanian borders. Twenty―nine Israelis died and more than 300 were injured in the attacks.

Meanwhile, a force of some 15-18,000 PLO members was encamped in scores of locations in Lebanon. About 5,000-6,000 were foreign mercenaries, coming from such countries as Libya, Iraq, India, Sri Lanka, Chad and Mozambique.

Israel later discovered enough light arms and other weapons in Lebanon to equip five brigades. The PLO arsenal included mortars, Katyusha rockets and an extensive anti―aircraft network. The PLO also brought hundreds of T―34 tanks into the area. Syria, which permitted Lebanon to become a haven for the PLO and other terrorist groups, brought surface-to-air missiles into that country, creating yet another danger for Israel.

Israel was not prepared to wait for more deadly attacks to be launched against its civilian population before acting against the terrorists.

The final provocation occurred in June 1982 when a Palestinian terrorist group led by Abu Nidal attempted to assassinate Israel's Ambassador to Great Britain, Shlomo Argov.

The IDF subsequently attacked Lebanon again on June 4-5, 1982. The PLO responded with a massive artillery and mortar attack on the Israeli population of the Galilee.

On June 6, the IDF moved into Lebanon to drive out the terrorists in "Operation Peace for Galilee."

Whilst the media has shown itself immediately ready to report alleged wrongoings by the Israeli government or security forces, the massacres at Tel az-Zataar and the Lebanese Christian towns of Damour, Aishiye, Beit Mallat and Tall Abbas seldom receive a mention.

Massacres committed at these places by Palestinian militia under the control of Yasser Arafat, where it is estimated that about 100,000 Lebanese civilians were killed. The Syrian massacre of civilians at Hama where some estimate that 30,000 Lebanese civilians were killed also rarely receives attention.