Israeli-Palestinian peace soon after 1967 Six Day War

[dovibear]

As it was just the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War, I think it's appropriate to reflect on the following:

A Palestinian Christian lawyer from Ramallah and originally from Jaffa, Aziz Shehadeh, proposed the creation of a Palestinian state out of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the days following the Six Day War, and he approached two Israeli reserve officers (Dan Bavly and Dave Kimche) to discuss the subject in more detail. Most Israelis, including the political and military leaders at the time, were too flush from victory over the Arabs to even consider such matters. Had that plan been successful, Middle Eastern (and world) history would have been different.

Take a look at the following: https://books.google.ca/books?id=DS...jAA#v=onepage&q=bavly kimche shehadeh&f=false
https://books.google.ca/books?id=DS...jAA#v=onepage&q=bavly kimche shehadeh&f=false
Also take a look at the following, and listen to the podcast from about 12:00 to about 27:00: http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/235717/peace-now-almost

What are your thoughts? Would success with Shehadeh's plan have forestalled much of the Palestinian terrorism that has plagued Israel for many decades now?

 

[GeographyDude]

I think a lot of terrorism is young men in their twenties who are both unemployed and angry.

So, a lot depends on how successful economically this geographically split Palestinian state would be.

 

[dovibear]

I think a lot of terrorism is young men in their twenties who are both unemployed and angry.

So, a lot depends on how successful economically this geographically split Palestinian state would be.

But perhaps those young men who are unemployed and angry could channel their anger in another direction if circumstances are different. Although, then again, many Palestinians have demanded a return of all of Israel (and not just the West Bank/Gaza) to the Arabs, or at least have been incited to do so; that is what is expressed in Palestinian Authority propaganda, its educational system, etc.

 

[raharris1973]

As it was just the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War, I think it's appropriate to reflect on the following:

A Palestinian Christian lawyer from Ramallah and originally from Jaffa, Aziz Shehadeh, proposed the creation of a Palestinian state out of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the days following the Six Day War, and he approached two Israeli reserve officers (Dan Bavly and Dave Kimche) to discuss the subject in more detail. Most Israelis, including the political and military leaders at the time, were too flush from victory over the Arabs to even consider such matters. Had that plan been successful, Middle Eastern (and world) history would have been different.

What are your thoughts? Would success with Shehadeh's plan have forestalled much of the Palestinian terrorism that has plagued Israel for many decades now?

Hey, somebody else found that book.

Well, assuming this is a solution at least some parties agree to and that has at least a few months to work before either surviving or falling off the rails, I wonder what the reaction of the Palestinian refugees and network of UN-sponsored refugee camps is. I suspect those particular refugees (at least fairly apolitical ones) who fled the '67 war specifically will go back. But what about the 48ers? Would the Shehadeh's Palestine have a "right of return" for all overseas Palestinians and residents of UN refugee camps? Will they still keep calling Palestinian towns in a Palestinian republic refugee camps?

On the Israeli side, how does the Tel Aviv government handle Herut probably bolting from the coalition, or claims advanced by former Jewish East Jerusalemites and former kibbutzniks of the Etzion bloc and Sodom to return to settlements/villages lost in the 48 war to the Arab Legion?

 

[Anarch King of Dipsodes]

As it was just the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War, I think it's appropriate to reflect on the following:

A Palestinian Christian lawyer from Ramallah and originally from Jaffa, Aziz Shehadeh... Would success with Shehadeh's plan have forestalled much of the Palestinian terrorism that has plagued Israel for many decades now?

Yes, it would have. However, that success about as plausible as, oh, Stalin accepting and honoring the Baruch Plan for internationalizing nuclear weapons.

IOW, ain't gonna happen, no way, José. No Palestinian leader with actual authority has ever agreed to any peace settlement which does not include "right of return" of Palestinians to all parts of the former Mandate, or which includes the permanent existence of Israel. The Oslo Accords were explicitly described by Arafat as hudna - a truce, like the truce agreed between Mohammed and the Quraysh of Mecca. Which was ended ten years later when Mohammed attacked and destroyed the Quraysh.

Shehadeh, being a Christian, could emotionally accept the continued existence of Israel. For the great mass of Moslem Palestinians, and most other Arab Moslems, the existence of Israel - a state created by the most despised of infidels in the heart of Dar al-islam - is not merely an injury, but a bitter humiliation, made all the deeper by repeated military defeats. That humiliation must be wiped out in blood. This position was already established in 1967. No half loaf would suffice.

 

[Napoleon IV]

The basic problem is that both sides aren't willing to compromise, at least not to an extent that would get results. The Israelis saw a lot of the areas taken in 1967 (such as East Jerusalem) as intrinsic parts of Israel, while the Palestinians saw those as intrinsic parts of Palestine. Israel also felt that holding the West Bank was an important part of their defense (for one thing it greatly increased the distance between the Israeli border and the sea, which at some areas pre-1967 was only 19 miles). Additionally, many Palestinians refused to accept the creation of Israel, which they argued had been created out of their land.

 

[Deleted member 9338]

It makes more sense, with Western economic support to give back by treaty most of the West Bank to Jordan. The economic support is to build up the industry in Jordan to create jobs.

Gaza is tougher, creating a free city state able to produce products for both Israel and Egypt is possible while unlikely.