This week marks the 52nd anniversary of the Six-Day War, a turning point in the history of Israel. It marked the true end of the 1948 War of Independence, not only because it swept away once and for all any doubts at home or abroad about Israel's ability to exist in an Arab region, but also because it marked the end of the mission for those who fought in 1948. Toward the end of the War of Independence, David Ben-Gurion wanted to break through the lines to reach the Old City of Jerusalem and Mount Hebron, but the government decided – in what Ben-Gurion would later call a "tragedy for future generations" – not to approve his request and preferred to leave the job of liberating the land to future generations.
It is also important to add that aside from the return to areas of the homeland that had been the subject of our people's longing, the Six-Day War laid strong foundations for the strategic partnership between Israel and the U.S., which since then have been a cornerstone of Israel's defense and security outlook. At the same time, the war sowed the seeds for peace between Israel and its neighbors, who learned over the course of the war that they had no other option.
Because the history of the Palestinian national movement is a mirror image, or even a response, to the history of Zionism and the state of Israel, it's no wonder that the Six-Day War marked a turning point for the Palestinians, too – so much so that some Palestinians see it as the start of the Palestinian national movement, rather than the events that preceded it.
In the end, it was paradoxically the Arab defeat in 1967 that turned over a new leaf for the Palestinians. The Arab world on which they had hung their brutal hopes turned out to have neither the power nor the desire to fight Israel on their behalf. This prompted many Palestinians to take their fate into their own hand. Apart from that, the Palestinians, who had until that point been ruled by Jordan or Egypt, found themselves under the Israeli government. Until 1967, Jordan and Egypt had firmly quashed any budding Palestinian nationalism, and in the case of Jordan had even offered them Jordanian citizenship as a way of heading off the cause. After 1967, the Palestinians found support and encouragement from the Arab world and beyond for them to take on Israel.
Researchers are divided on the question of what would have happened to the Palestinians if the Six-Day War hadn't taken place. Some think that in that scenario, the PLO – encouraged by countries like Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser or Syria – would have stirred up the Palestinians, who at the time comprised a majority in Jordan, to topple King Hussein of Jordan and wipe out the Hashemite kingdom. In the quondam Jordan, a failed Palestinian state would have arisen, which would have become a puppet state that was controlled by Syria and Iraq. Needless to say, it would have also served as a staging ground for constant aggression against Israel.
Others think that King Hussein would have handled the Palestinian challenge successfully, the same way Jordan has for the past 100 years.
The wheels of history cannot be turned back. What is important is what the Palestinians did as a result of the war that changed their situation so drastically. It seems that at that watershed moment they were going to choose between all or nothing, like they had in the past. So rather than engaging in dialogue or agreeing to a compromise, they opted to continue their violent struggle against Israel. Palestinian nationalism since its inception has offered one thing only – a battle against Israel. Their lack of ability to throw off that one-dimensional thinking has led the Palestinian national movement from one disaster to another, eventually forcing them into the dead-end at which they find themselves today, without any ability to offer hope or a future to its members.
