Oct. 11,2004
The Editor,
The Halifax Herald.
Dear Editor:
Howard Heyman [Letter Oct. 11]regurgitates the outrageous
falsehoods put forward by Israel attempting to justify its war of naked
aggression against Egypt in June 1967 and its illegal occupation of
Sinai, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the Syrian Golan
Heights.
Israel's propagandists claimed, as Mr. Heyman does here, that
President Nasser of Egypt was planning, in June 1967, to attack and destroy
Israel. This falsehood is best answered by Israel's leaders' own
words:
Yitzhak Rabin, chief of staff of the Israeli army at
the time, stated :" I do not think Nasser wanted war. The two divisions he sent
to the Sinai would not have been sufficient to launch an offensive war. He knew
it and we knew it." {Le Monde,
Feb.28,1968}.
Prime Minister Levi Eshkol stated :" The Egyptian
layout in the Sinai and the general military build up there testified to a
military defensive Egyptian set-up, south of Israel" [ Israeli daily
Yediot Ahronot, Oct. 18,1967].
Modechai Bentov, an Israeli cabinet minister at the
time, stated: " All this story about the danger of extermination [of Israel in
June 1967] has been a complete invention and has been blown up a poseriori
to justify the annexation of Arab territory" [ Al Hamishmar,
14 April 1972, and quoted in
Le Monde, 3 June 1972].
Menachem Begin, a cabinet minister in June 1967,
stated, while prime minister, addressing Israel's National Defence College, on
Aug.8,1982, : " In June 1967, we again had a choice. The Egyptian army
concentrations in the Sinai did not prove Nasser was really about to attack us.
We must be honest with our selves. We decided to attack him" [The
N.Y.Times, Aug.21,1982].
Mr. Heyman states that Egypt occupied Gaza in 1967. Egypt and Jordan
held the Gaza Strip and the Weest Bank, respectively, after May 15,1948 in their
ineffective attempt to prevent Israel from occupying all the territories that
were apportioned to the Arab state in Palestine in accordance with the UN
Partition scheme resolution # 181, of Nov,29,1947, and put to a halt Israel's
systematic ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from their homeland.
Israel stands today in violation of scores of UN resolutions,
including UN resolution # 194, stipulatimg the right of return for Palestinian
refugees expelled by Israel.
If Israel truly cares for the security of its citizens, it should
comply with international law and UN resolutions, and thus security for Israelis
and Palestinians will be assured.
Yours sincerely,
Ismail Zayid, MD.