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The Arabs and their armies have and never will get over their shame at losing a war they were so convinced on winning. Shame is the number one sin among Arabs and with shame comes revenge. They've been trying since 1948, and will never let up. As far as facts, the university students have been too indoctrinated to deal in facts, and even when presented with them (if they had the ability to actually listen) they'd need the time to analyze and connect the dots, something they don't want to invest in. It's easier to run around in trendy costume , keffiyehs and Palestinian flags, screaming and shouting about intifada. Because as we all know, that will make a huge difference in the quality of life for the Palestinians.

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What you say is very true, but I've found that the facts can be helpful with people both within and outside the Jewish community disturbed by endlessly replayed images from Gaza but who know next to nothing about the history and context. Most people are forming their views on the basis of superficial and slanted information and the facts can sway some of them if they're willing to listen with an open mind (which doesn't include the far left, of course). I've have this experience myself. So I find this article to be a useful summary of the historical milestones that can come in handy in some instances.

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The essay's summary was excellent. I was speaking about the far left, which includes indoctrinated Marxist students. I do agree that some minds can definitely be opened and somewhat changed in how they view what is happening. However, I would love to see these university students have an open mind, but I'm afraid it will take more years of maturity.

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If we’re talking facts, when you encounter progressive or academic left lies that Israel started the 1967 war:

1. Egypt was the initial target on June 5th, because it imposed a blockade on Israel’s Red Sea port of Eilat in the lead up to the war. That was an illegal act, and Egypt was warned multiple times about it.

2. Jordan shelled Israel on June 5, killing 20 Israelis, wounding 1000, damaging 900 houses. Israel warned Jordan to stay out, but they decided to act. They brought the war on themselves.

3. Syria similarly shelled Israeli towns in the Jordan Valley from the Golan Heights for days before Israel responded militarily.

Anyone trying to sell you some fiction that 1967 was Israeli belligerence is either a propagandist liar or one of their useful idiots.

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Wonderful to have all of this spelled out so clearly. Thank you.

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This is important information. Now let's boil it down even more, add coloring book illustrations and create a downloadable learning resource. The pro-Hamas crowd in Portland have issued an egregious such book for primary grades this week that lies about history, about Israel, and grooms children to attend rallies.

https://substack.com/home/post/p-145323070?r=gah8d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

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I've been reading about that situation in Portland, OR. I find it reprehensible that the Portland public school system would approve of this. It reeks of lies and antisemitism. The lessons are for K-12 indoctrinating the children in the ways of Muslim ideology. They are playing right into the hands of Hamas and most if not all of the middle eastern countries desire to eliminate Israel. I can only hope that someone wakes up and puts a stop to this.

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OMG.

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It's called "Teach Palestine." Put out by the teacher's union.

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Joshua, super excellent. Facts are important for those whose opinions are still being formed. We won’t change the haters, but we can, and must, fight back against them and provide facts to those who want to understand what’s happening and why.

Is your column still accessible to non-subscribers? I want to share but can’t tell if there’s a paywall since I am a subscriber.

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Another great historical read about the 6-day war is "Ecstasy and Amnesia in the Gaza Strip" in Mosaic:

https://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/israel-zionism/2023/11/ecstasy-and-amnesia-in-the-gaza-strip/

"The weeks leading up to the 1967 war were, in the Arab world, likewise a time of public displays of ecstasy. The hour of “revenge” was nigh, and the excitement was expressed in both mass public spectacles and elite opinion. The Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser promised an elated crowd the week before the war broke out that “our basic objective will be to destroy Israel.” Contemporary descriptions of the “carnival-like” atmosphere in Cairo in May 1967 relate that the city was “festooned with lurid posters showing Arab soldiers shooting, crushing, strangling, and dismembering bearded, hook-nosed Jews.” Ahmed Shuqeiri, then the leader of the PLO, promised that only a few Jews would survive the upcoming war.

Of course, the promise of revenge was not realized, and the expectant longing was not satisfied. The Arabs were quickly routed, and almost all of the Jews survived. Then, however, despite the eagerness to fight, the incitement to war, and the euphoria at the prospect, this defeat was reconceived not simply as a story of loss but once again into a story of victimhood. The pre-war fantasies were forgotten"

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Still, they're human beings, right? The Palestinians? They have to be accorded independence, or citizenship, somehow. Israel will eventually have to do something about this, that is not war.

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Amen!

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I just read your first sentence and I had to say -- based on a podcast I happened to catch this morning, those who want us to apologize continuously for horrendous acts carried out by our white ancestors -- they seem to care about history. Lol.

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