On Wednesday, we went on a very interesting tiyul starting off at Ammunition Hill, also known as גבעת התחמושת. There we learned all about the Six Day War and what it consisted of.
After the War of Independence, Jerusalem was divided and the Eastern part was under Jordanian control. Jews were not permitted access to the Old City or Hebrew University. As a result, Hebrew University moved its campus to the another place so that Jews could go to school there. There was a line in the middle of the city that showed the division between Eastern and Western Jerusalem. Today, Hebrew University is in its original location that was built in 1925, and it is still one of the most prominent universities in Israel.
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| Kitat Dov at Hebrew University's Campus |
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| View from Ammunition Hill |
Although Israel was at a disadvantage, in the first 3 hours, Israel destroyed ⅓ of all Arab aircraft. After this, Israel told Jordan not to enter the war, yet they choose to join due to false information from Egypt. After this, Jordan bombed Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and the Battle on Ammunition Hill took place as a result of this attack. This battle consisted of hand to hand combat, which was incredibly difficult. This battle was a very important part of the Six Day war because it allowed Israeli troops to be at a certain advantage because it showed the strength of the Israeli troops. From this battle, Israeli troops were able to go and capture the Old City and Mount Scopus. On the third day of the Six Day war, Jerusalem was captured by Israeli troops. And then on the fourth day, Israel retained the Suez Canal.
Ultimately, Israel was able to win the Six Day War and was able to receive lots of new land. Israel obtained the Golan Heights from Syria, the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and Jerusalem from Jordan. Around 20,000 Arabs died, however the exact number was not released because Arab countries did not want to show their defeat. 766 Israeli soldiers died fighting in this war. However, this war led the moral in Israel to be incredibly victorious, euphoric and happy. Israelis were very proud to be a part of this country and they were filled with so much pride. This war led other countries to realize that Israel has a very strong military and it has the ability to take land. Secular Jews in Israel also start to believe that Israel’s neighbors will now accept our ability to be here. However, this is not what the Arab countries actually considered. During the Khartoum conference, the Arab league meets and they decide on the 3 No’s. These are the ideas that state that there will be no peace with Israel, no negotiations with them and no recognition. Although these ideas are still prevalent today, Israel has been able to come to peace agreements with both Egypt and Jordan and maybe someday the issues with the Palestinians will possibly diminish, however this is not very likely.
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| Bunkers at Ammunition Hill |
In your opinion, how do you think you would have reacted to the Six Day War as an Israeli citizen? Would you say that the results would lead to even more problems with Arab countries or would you say that the end justified the means and there is nothing more to be done with the situation?
I think I would have been really fearful before the war. But after I think I would have been one of the people who supported trading back the land we gained in exchange for peace. I definitely think the results of the Six Day War led to more problems with Arab countries, but that's better than the alternative - if the Arabs had won the Six Day War, Israel would have been wiped off the map. Taking the preemptive strike against the Arabs was justified because it was a highly strategic choice that probably was one of the major reasons we won the war.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think that I would have reacted fairly well to the six day war. While I do not like war in any way, shape or form, I do think that this war was necessary. I believe that the preemptive strike was justified because of the actions that Egypt took. Not only did they put troops along our borders and kick out UN peace keepers, but Nasser also said he wanted to get rid of Israel. Because of this, I think I would have been fine with the war.
ReplyDeleteI think that if the "means" is war, then the ends don't justify it. I personally think that defense is important, but that taking land from other nations is wrong if its forceful and violent. I understand that many Israelis lived in fear of another holocaust, but I also feel that there must have been other ways to avoid this fear without having to cause death and destruction to other nations or take land from them using violence.
ReplyDeleteWar as a general theme makes me nervous. Fortunately, in my life, I have never dealt so closely with matters relating to war, especially of such violence. Because of this, I feel I can never really know how I would have reacted to the 6 Day War as an Israeli citizen. Still, I think that I would be extremely nervous during the time, and probably would have contemplated moving away. I do think that the 6 Day War induced conflict with Arab countries. That doesn’t mean, however, that the war was not necessary. It is easy to advocate for peace, but it is a much more difficult task to find an alternative solution to the actions that nations have to make sometimes. Defense is extremely important in the upholding of Israel as a Jewish state, and I firmly believe in the value of protecting ourselves.
ReplyDeletePersonally, war is a very shaky word for me with all the pros and cons that comes with it. In the six day way, the general pros were that Israel got a Jewish State but with that, the cons are they lost 1% of their population. With the six day war in mind, I have a much better grasp of the tension between the Jewish people and the Arabs as both claim land as the Arabs state that we took it from them but the Jews say that it was there, dating back from biblical times. In the future, I do believe in peace between the Jews and Arabs if both sides are willing to negotiate as peace is good for both sides.
ReplyDeleteI think that I would have been filled with much fear, and be very anxious during those days. I think that it could have lead to serious issues with Arabs, since we took so much of their land. While the TaNach does show that this is the land of the Jews, I still think it was extremely unfair of us to just kick the Arabs out because this is their land that they settled too.
ReplyDeleteDuring the war I'm sure I would have been very scared. But when we received the land I think we should have tried to keep it. Any land Israel could gain is creating not only a buffer zone but much more resources and power. If there was no other way to make peace then trading back the land was a good solution. There would certainly be more conflict with the Arab countries after the war, and even when we traded back the territory there would still be so much hatred of Israel I'm not sure giving back land was worth it.
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