What is special about June 5? It is the anniversary of the Six-Day War of 1967, that was one of the most amazing days of my life and in all of history. Those who were not alive then cannot understand the doom Jews felt before June 5 and how it was instantly transformed into a sense of joy and relief.
Jack Cohen – June 5th – UNRWA – Saudi Arabia
JUNE 5th Anniversary
What is special about June 5? It is the anniversary of the Six-Day War of 1967, that was one of the most amazing days of my life and in all of history. Those who were not alive then cannot understand the doom Jews felt before June 5 and how it was instantly transformed into a sense of joy and relief.
Israel was and still is surrounded by hostile Arab countries, that in 1948 and again in 1956 tried unsuccessfully to destroy the Jewish State. In 1967, Pres. Nasser of Egypt, in alliance with Syria under Pres. Assad and Jordan under King Hussein, decided to jointly invade Israel from all sides and destroy it and the Jewish population with it. They believed their own propaganda, that the Arabs out-numbering the Jews by at least 10:1 were invincible, that they could not lose and because of their hysteria discounted any possibility that the Jews could withstand them and survive.
For weeks before the epic struggle began, Nasser started to take ominous steps. He closed the Straits of Hormuz, thus cutting off all ties to the southern Israeli port city of Eilat. He ordered the UN to remove its peace-keeping forces from Sinai, put there after the 1956 Sinai campaign, and they left peremptorily. Pres. Johnson said he would organize a US-led flotilla of ships to break the illegal Egyptian blockade of Eilat, but in the end no-one came. The Jews of Israel were alone facing vastly greater Arab military forces. But, the Israel Air Force, that had superiority in the skies, had organized a plan for precisely this kind of siege. While PM Levi Eshkol of Israel dithered for weeks over what to do, while Jews around the world feared another Holocaust, the Head of the IAF Gen Mordechai Hod began to put the plan into action.
By June 4 the Israeli Cabinet decided that they could not wait any longer for the anticipated Arab onslaught. Early in the morning on June 5 Israeli planes flew out low over the Mediterranean, turned and approached Egypt from the north and west. They attacked the Egyptian airfields where the Egyptian air force planes, mainly Russian-supplied Migs, were waiting on the tarmac to be flown to attack Tel Aviv. All the planes were destroyed before they could rise and all the runways were also rendered useless. A similar attack occurred in Syria and Jordan. In a few hours all the Arab air forces that were supposed to be attacking Israel were destroyed. After this the outcome was inevitable, the Arab armies attacked, but with no air cover they were totally vulnerable to the IAF and were pulverized. The war lasted only six days until the Arabs capitulated.
The outcome was spectacular. The Arab armies were decimated, the IAF had complete control of the air, Israel had once again survived a joint Arab onslaught and in fact had a historic victory. Only once again did the Arabs think they could attack Israel and destroy it, and that was in 1973, in the Yom Kippur war, when they attacked secretly, when they had surprise on their side, when they had huge amounts of Soviet-supplied armaments, including surface to air missiles and anti-tank missiles, and yet the IDF defeated them all again. That was the end of it, Pres. Sadat signed a peace treaty with Israel and King Hussein followed some years later. Syria never signed any treaty, but who cares, Syria hardly exists any more. June 5, 1967, was the beginning of the end for Arab pretense that they could actually destroy Israel.
Jack Cohen – June 5th – UNRWA – Saudi Arabia
UNRWA Has Out lived its Usefulness
The UN Relief and Welfare Agency (UNRWA) is 65 years old. Quite a feat for an agency that was supposed to be a short-lived emergency organization when it was formed. Note that it does not mention the Palestinians in its name, but it is essentially a Palestinian welfare agency that supports 5 million Palestinians from cradle to grave and is one of the foremost pro-Palestinian organizations in the world. And where do they get their funds from? 25% of all their funds come from US taxpayers, a hefty proportion comes from the EU countries and a little from the Arabs themselves.
What is so objectionable about UNRWA? 1. All other refugees in the world come under the auspices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), only the Palestinians have their own UN agency, UNRWA. Also, UNHCR uses the standard international definition of refugees, that they are people who have left or been expelled from their own country, but this does not include their descendants, or anyone who is born in another country who are normally considered citizens of the country they are born in. Not so the Palestinians, according to the the rules adopted by UNRWA all descendants of Palestinian refugees themselves become refugees, so instead of decreasing, the number of so-called “refugees” keeps increasing from generation to generation. This definition was adopted deliberately so that the Palestinian problem would continue and get worse with time, and so that the host Arab countries did not have to extend their citizenship to the Palestinians, who they did not want.
2. Of the countries that host Palestinians refugees only Jordan made them citizens. So this means that the 1 million Palestinians in Jordan actually are not refugees they are Jordanians. Also, the so-called refugees in the West Bank and Gaza are not refugees since they are still within the borders of their own country, they are officially known as displaced persons (DPs). This would exclude a further ca. 2 million so-called refugees.
3. The fact that the Palestinians have their own refugee agency UNRWA means that they receive special treatment, receiving from 2-10 times the amount of financial support that all other international refugees receive. Over 65 years UNRWA has grown into a bloated bureaucracy, in which Palestinians are employed to feed, clothe and educate their own people from cradle to grave, without any requirement to work and at international donor expense. This is a great scam. Why should the Palestinians settle down and live like everyone else when the UN will take care of them forever.
4. With the crisis in Syria reaching epic proportions, with 4 million refugees outside the country (in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq) and ca. 5 million internal DPs, the UNHCR is stretched to its limit and a real humanitarian crisis is looming. Meanwhile Palestinians who have been displaced from so-called refugee camps in Syria are being fed and receive greater support from UNRWA than the Syrian refugees who are covered by the UNHCR. This has caused riots in Lebanon where the refugees from Syria resent the fact that the Palestinians, who they regarded as parasites in their own country, are better looked after and fed than themselves and their children. I ask anyone, is this fair?
5. As evidenced during the recent Gaza war, UN facilities of the UNRWA are being used by Palestinian terrorist groups for storing weapons and missiles and as locations from which to shoot at IDF soldiers, using the “refugees” as human shields. This is a war crime. Also, in their schools there is clear evidence that the roles of terrorists as martyrs to the Palestinian cause is widely taught, with posters of previous martyrs on the walls of classrooms and schools named after them. This is a violation of UN neutrality. In any case, Palestinian terrorists have infiltrated UNRWA at all levels.
There is no doubt that in this world of upheaval in the Middle East, the designation of all Palestinian descendants as “refugees” only serves to exacerbate and perpetuate the problem. Not only that, the idea that Palestinian refugees have some automatic “right of return” under international law is a hoax, there is no such right. To resolve these issues UNRWA must be shut down and eliminated. Doing so would remove one of the greatest irritants in the Israel-Palestinian conflict and would make it into a normal situation rather than an international cause celebre. It would be a great injustice if UNRWA continues to exist to clothe, feed and educate Palestinians for another generation, when none of the original refugees would be alive. Americans should contact their representatives and the Israel Government should make it a priority to close down UNRWA.
Jack Cohen – June 5th – UNRWA – Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia and Israel
Saudi Arabia is one of the most conservative and repressive regimes in the world. They practise a very austere and fundamentalist version of Islam called Salafism, that was introduced by the religious collaborators of the Saudis, known as Wahhabis, named after their religious leader. They consider themselves the natural leaders of the Muslim world because they control Mecca and Medina, where Mohammed founded Islam back in the 7th century, which is the center of the Sunni Islamic world. In Saudi Arabia, women have few rights, they are considered property, according to Islamic Sharia Law, and are not allowed to travel outside the home without a man and are not allowed to drive.
But, change is coming slowly and inexorably to Saudi Arabia. They are the focus of hostile forces, both Shia Iran and the Sunni Islamic State. The Shia are the traditional enemies of Sunni Islam and would love to capture Mecca and Medina and establish themselves as the leaders of Islam. The Islamic State regard the Saudi regime as an enemy because they are allied with the US and because they do not support the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate, which is the aim of the IS. They would love to capture Mecca and Medina in order to make it their center and capital. Although Saudi Arabia has spent billions on US arms, they are not considered competent in the military area. There is little doubt that the Saudi military could not withstand either the Shia or IS threats.
Two significant events have occurred in the past week regarding Saudi Arabia and Israel, two countries not often referred to together in the same sentence. First, according to a report in the Times of Israel, the director general of the Saudi Intelligence Agency, Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, met with the head of Mossad and several other senior Israeli intelligence officials last month, while the Geneva nuclear talks between the P5+1 world powers and Iran were taking place, according to the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars. No one has denied this report. Second, in a telephone poll conducted by an independent agency of Saudi opinions about who are Saudi Arabia’s enemies, Israel came third with 18%. Iran topped the list with 53% and IS came second with 22%. These seem like reasonable estimates given that Israel has never been seen as a direct threat to Saudi Arabia, while the other two certainly are direct threats. Saudi Arabia is currently at war with the Shia Houthi rebels who have captured most of Yemen including the capital Sanaa and are currently attacking Aden. Also a large majority of Saudis (85%) supported the Saudi Peace plan for the Palestinian-Israeli issue.
Moreover, these two Muslim entities Iran and IS are common enemies to both countries. Certainly Saudi Arabia shares Israel’s concern over the pending deal being negotiated by the P5+1 States with Iran, being pushed by Pres. Obama. Both the Saudis and the Egyptians feel betrayed by Obama’s lack of commitment in withdrawing from the Middle East just when the threats are increasing, leaving them vulnerable. The only other power that can help protect Saudi Arabia from the twin threats of Iran and IS is Israel. It has been rumored for some time that there have been meetings between Saudi and Israeli officials sharing information about Iran, and that Saudi Arabia would allow IAF jets to overfly their territory if they are on a mission to attack the Iranian nuclear sites. So, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” may indeed apply. But, don’t expect open relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia any time soon.
Born in London, UK, lived in suburban Washington DC area for 30 years, moved to Israel in 1996. He has a web site: Jack’s Blog
Jack Cohen – June 5th – UNRWA – Saudi Arabia
