Friday, June 10, 2011
On June 10, 1967, after just 132 hours and 30 minutes of combat (less than 6 days), the Six-Day War, or the Third Arab-Israeli War—fought between Israel on one side, and Egypt, Jordan and Syria on the other—comes to an end. It results in a humiliating defeat for the three Arab nations, and significant territorial gains for Israel, the nation’s largest gains from any single war: Sinai and Gaza Strip are captured from Egypt; East Jerusalem and West Bank from Jordan; and the Golan Heights from Syria. However, possibly more significant than the territorial losses, is that the dramatic defeat suffered by the Arab nations delivers a powerful blow to the leadership, political orientations, and collective psyche of the Arab world at the time. For the international community, the war results in a closure of the Suez Canal for the next 8 years, resulting in increase of freight prices in international trade.
Earlier this week, marking the 44-year anniversary of the Six Day War, pro-Palestinian demonstrators attempted to breach the razor-wire-enforced border from Syria into the Golan Heights. Syrian media reported 25 deaths and 350 injuries after Israeli troops fired on the protesters. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday expressed concern over Israeli’s use of live ammunition, and over reports that Syrian authorities had encouraged civilians to protest in an area where landmines have been planted. The United States and Israel have blamed Syria for the incident, saying it was provoked to divert international attention from the bloody crackdown by Syrian authorities against dissidents protesting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. So far, at least 1,100 people have been killed, according to latest U.N. estimates, amid growing reports of egregious human rights violations committed by the Syrian government since the crackdown began in April.
