Rethinking the Six-Day War...

The Israeli attacks that went down in recent history as the "Six-Day War" first targeted Egyptian sites at dawn on June 5, 1967. Israeli warplanes began striking Egyptian airfields and military runways at 07:48 in the morning, and within a short time, they had rendered 189 Egyptian aircraft and helicopters inoperable across 14 air bases. After the initial strikes that heavily wounded Egypt, the armies of Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, which found themselves compelled to intervene in the war, were similarly unable to put up a significant presence against Israel. Six days later, on June 11, 1967, when the guns finally fell silent, the most critical territories of the Arab states surrounding Israel were now under Jewish occupation. Israel seized the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the Shebaa Farms from Lebanon, expanding its borders by 3.5 times within just a few days.

In terms of human loss, the war's toll was extremely lopsided: 777 Israelis had been killed and 2,586 wounded. In Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, however, the death toll had already surpassed 15,000, tens of thousands more were wounded or maimed, and a psychological collapse had engulfed the entire Arab world.

Looking at the outcome from the Arab perspective, other dimensions of the matter also come into focus. Political and ideological rivalries among the states were at their peak. The Palestinian cause was ostensibly on everyone's lips and agenda, but for no country—with the exception of Saudi Arabia under King Faisal's rule at the time—was the Palestinian cause more important than the rulers' own fortunes and interests. Israel skillfully exploited the rivalries and conflicts within the Arab world, thereby achieving its outcome with relative ease.

Fifty-nine years later, as we reconsider the Six-Day War, it is deeply tragic that some things have not changed at all: the conflicts and rivalries within the Arab—and Islamic—world still persist in ways that serve Israel's interests. The weight of the occupation continues to make itself felt in Palestinian lands. Al-Aqsa Mosque, along with other religious and historical sites belonging to Muslims, remains under the domination of the Zionist occupation.

However, when we look at the matter from Israel's perspective, some changes are visible: today, there is a global anger, hatred, and revulsion against the Zionist occupation. The occupied Palestinian lands are no longer an "ideal homeland" or a "safe country" for Jews; on the contrary, reverse migration is intensifying. The conflicts and divisions among Jews have escalated to the highest levels in Israel's history. Economic and social disparities in Israel have reached dimensions that are no longer compensable or repairable. The growing strength of the far-right and its becoming "mainstream" within Israeli society has turned into the primary factor shortening Israel's lifespan. Since maintaining the occupation is also psychologically driving Israeli society toward exhaustion, what stands before us is the world's sickest, most reality-detached, and disoriented society. For years, my personal reading has been that Israel's collapse will come from within and through its internal conflicts.

Unless the minds and agendas of the important states in the Islamic world become clear on how to view Palestine, what Palestine means, and what to expect from the Palestinian cause, it seems difficult to take reasonable steps toward a solution. The real knot lies in the contradictions and inconsistencies in approaches to Palestine. If a common definition can be reached, it would also be possible to develop a common stance against the occupation. To be honest, under the current conditions of the Muslim world, this remains for now a utopia. Since the atmosphere of madness that prevails over Israel will also not allow steps to be taken to end the occupation and restore the rights of Palestinians, Israel will—in the old expression—use the time that history has granted it until the appointed hour, and in the end, it will suffer the common fate of all states established by the Jews throughout history, consuming and destroying itself from within.

Is another scenario possible? Of course it is. But for that, we need brave men like the late King Faisal, who would defend Palestine at the cost of their own lives and be prepared to die for that cause, to step onto the stage.