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Historic Security Council: The Six Day War (June 5, 1967)
Background:
On November 29, 1947, the Partition Plan was passed and the state of Israel was officially
recognized as a country. The Partition Plan set country borders for Israel and Palestine and called
for the removal of all British troops. Israel received more than half of the land which contained a
majority of fertile areas while the Palestinians received land mostly filled with desert. Due to the
aggravation of losing their land, Palestinians attacked Israel with hopes to get their land back.
Israel prevailed and granted Palestinians citizenships, however, Palestinians were considered
second-class citizens and faced discrimination. As a result of the war in 1947 and 1948 over 8,000
Palestinians fled from the state of Israel. Although an armistice was declared between Israel and
the Arab countries in 1949, conflict and discrimination, among both parties, still remained.
After the Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, nationalized the Suez Canal in July
1956, Nasser blocked the Israeli ships from entering the canal. This cut off the port of Eilat and
furthermore, blocking Israel’s access to the Red Sea. Shortly after that Israel revolted against the
nationalization of the Suez Canal and invaded Egypt. With the UN resolution, from UNEF, calling
for ceasefire, Israeli, French, and British troops retreated from the area. Even with the withdrawal
of the troops, the tension between Israel and its neighboring countries continued to escalate.
In 1964 the Arab League established the Palestine Liberation Organization whose sole
focus was to annihilate Israel. The PLO was a nationalist movement made up of numerous
organizations. The organizations included a mix of resistance, political, and popular organizations
along with some popular, independent figures. The leader of the PLO was Yassir Arafat who
believed that instead of fighting the Jews, the Palestinians should be fighting Israel. The PLO
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sought to liberate Palestine through armed conflict and planned to get rid of the Jewish people in
total. After Israel completed the National Water Carrier Project, which took water from the Sea of
Galilee, Syria began the Arab plan to divert the Jordan River Headwaters which deprived Israel of
35% of their water. Israel attacked the Syrian troops near this diversion which led to a series of
violence along Israel’s borders.
By 1967, attacks against Israel were increasing immensely and by the fourteenth attack,
Israeli Prime Minister, Levi Eshkol, warned Syria of retaliation. On May 13, 1967, USSR gave
Syria false information that Israel had placed troops on the Israeli-Syrian border and was planning
an attack. In retaliation, Syria’s ally, Egypt mobilized thousands of troops around the Suez Canal
even though there were no Israeli troops around that border. On the 16th of May Nasser asked the
United Nations Emergency Force, which served as a buffer between Israel and Egypt, to remove
their troops by the border. After deliberation UNEF eventually agreed and Nasser closed off the
strait of Tiran. Israel considered this an act of war and prepared for a bomb raid on Egypt. At 7:50
a.m. on June 5, 1967, Israel enacted Operation Focus, an air strike on Egypt, the war has officially
begun.
UN Involvement:
In November of 1947, the United Nations created the United Nations Truce Supervision
Organization which was established for the partition of Palestine. The goal was to create a state
for both the Palestinians and the Israelis. On May 28, 1948, the UN called for a mediator between
Israel and Palestine and employed by UNTSO, the United Nations Truce Supervision
Organization. UNTSO, a group of military advisors, supervised the armistice agreements between
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Israel and Palestine. One year later, UNTSO was sent to Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, and the
Syrian Arab Republic to help calm the feuding countries.
In 1956, the General Assembly created the United Nations Emergency Force which was
first employed to stop the Suez-Sinai Campaign. The UNEF was further enacted to protect the
peace between Israel and Egypt. UNEF sent messages between military advisers on both sides
with the aim of creating a ceasefire. Eventually, Israel shelled UNEF headquarters just south of
Khan Younis making it harder to communicate. In May of 1967, Egypt ordered all UNEF forces
out of Sinai. UNEF tried to be reestablished on Israel’s side but it was rejected.
In 1967, the UN passed Resolution 242 which called for the removal of Israeli troops in
the Palestinian territories. Both Israel and their United States allies agreed to give back some of
the territories but kept the majority of the land claimed. For many years the Palestinians have
rejected Resolution 242 because it went against their right for self-determination. The resolution
called for Palestinian recognition of Israel without reciprocal recognition of the Palestinian’s
rights.
Questions to Consider:
1. Is your country involved with this conflict?
2. Which side does your country support?
3. What has your country done to resolve territorial conflicts in the past?
4. Should Israel’s borders be reinstated?
5. How can you stop this war with minimal casualties?
6. How can you reach a peace agreement that does not conflict with religious differences?
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Works Cited:
“Middle East-UNEF 1.” UN. un.org. Web 2 May 2016.
http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unef1backgr2.html
“United Nations Truce Supervision Organization.” UNTSO. Untso.unmissions.org.Web.2
May 2016. http://untso.unmissions.org/
“The 1956 Sinai Campaign.” ADL. archive.adl.com. 199. Web. 2 May 2016.
http://archive.adl.org/israel/record/sinai.html
“Abbas Remembers the Good Old Days of the PLO in 1964.” Elders of Ziyon.
Eldersofziyon.blogspot.com. 23 November 2010. Web. 2 May 2016.
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/11/abbas-remembers-good-old-days-ofplo-in.html
“The Soviet Union.”The Six Day War. sixdaywar.org. 2007. Web. 2 May 2016.
http://www.sixdaywar.org/content/soviets.asp
“The June 1967-War.” 40 Years of Israeli Occupation. Arij.com. Web. 2 May 2016.
http://www.arij.org/atlas40/chapter1.3.html
“Report of the Secretary-general on UNEF Withdrawal. “Jewish Virtual Library.
Jewishvirtuallibrary.com. 2016. Web. 2 May 2016.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/UN/UNEF1.html
“The Impact of the War 1948-1949.” Dhahran British Grammar
School.”Dhahranbritish.com.
Web. 2 May 2016.
http://www.dhahranbritish.com/history/A16_war4849.htm
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“Primer on Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.” Middle East Research and
Information Project. Merip.org. Web. 2 May 2016.
http://www.merip.org/primer-palestine-israel-arab-israeli-conflictnew?ip_login_no_cache=fe98b8aca013d3b97fab219d7c069816
“Palestinian Liberation Organization.” Permanent Observer Mission of the State of
Palestine to the United Nations of New York. palestineun.org. Web.
2016.http://palestineun.org/about-palestine/palestine-liberation-organization/
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