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because the buses and drivers had
been taken by the Army. They
formed a slow moving, milling
mixture of sport shirts and kakai
uniforms, of baby strollers, brief
cases, and rifles.
The climate of the crowd had
changed however in the past few
hours. These people seemed to be
listening for something. A stranger
like myself could notice the hesi
tation in their manner. There was
tension, which my waiter described
to ‘‘possibly a reprisal raid- end
less, insufficient task”.
‘‘But why so many troops and
weapons,” I asked. He didn’t know
I judge from recent events that
there was a movement towards the
Jordanian frontier. The massing
of Iraqi troops on Jordan’s bord
ers and the open threats from the
new government of that nation
made my guess seemed the plau
sible explanation. But what is
predictable in Middle East affairs?
Also, my information about mobi
lization and massings in the State
of Jordan’s new government was
only piecemeal.
I wrote a long letter, read
awhile, and went to sleep.
That night the Israelis attacked
Egypt. No Israeli to whom 1 spoke
had anticipated this. Yet no one
showed either regret or trepidation.
Tension slowly accumulating dur
ing the years had become a heavy
burden on everyone, a mounting
pressure without release. And now
the rebuttal had come generated by
hatred and a dominant passion for
survival. The people I met that
morning were suddenly more re
laxed; they appeared gay, almost
tipsy. The first flush of victory
swept them along on a wave of
mounting pride. At last, the mom
ent of retaliation against abuses
had arrived.
The forces behind the Israeli en
try into Egypt are geographic as
well as political. The borders creat
ed by the United Nations partition
plan had made the country almost
impossible to defend. There is
scarcely a point in Israel from
which the hills of enemy territory
cannot be seen. Tel Aviv is 20
miles from Jordan. Jerusalem is
split, half Jew’, half Arab; a ten-
foot w’all has been built to protect
pedestrians from snipers. Why is
the Israeli government holding so
doggedly to the Gaza strip? That
piece of land is four miles wide
and 26 miles long and penetrates
up the coast half way into Isiael’s
heartland. From here Egypt’s com
mandos were readily able to enter
Israel, spreading terror across the
countryside. Israel was required to
guard 30 miles of frontier instead
of the logical four miles had Gaza
either been made a part of Israel
or internationalized. Haifa, the
principal port, lies 20 miles from
Lebanon, 24 miles from Jordan, and
37 miles from Syria, hardly a posi
tion to lull a nation into security.
The tension came also from gen
erated emotions inherent in the un
reasonable man made geography.
Community settlements, like Eve
lyn’s, follow closely along the bord
ers. Seldom do t ree consecutive
nights pass without a death. Stolen
cattle, bombing of wells and ir
rigation systems and sniping are
daily matters. The settlement’s
weekly newspaper prints in a box
with a thick border, the names of
the four or five farmers killed dur
ing the week. Each night brings its
terror. Two weeks ago a picture
appeared of tu’O farmers who had
been killed and mutilated. Freq
uently the Arabs decapitate their
victims or severe their hands.
I tried to imagine the situation
on our southern border with the
Mexicans killing and burning our
Texas farms. Would we withhold
our anger for five or six years ap
pealing for investigations and com
missions in the United Nations?
How long would the people in the
southwest continue to have faith
in the government they elected to
defend them? The example is really
not even revelant, because America
is obviously much stronger mili
tarily than Mexico, because we
are not almost surrounded by en
emies, because invaders cannot
roam almost at will throughout
this country. A country must de
fend itself when it feels threaten
ed, and war is the last resort.
I cannot say if Israel has reached
that last resort; there may have
been other alternatives than war,
and I am not seeking to defend her
actions. I only know’ that she felt
she had exhausted the alternatives
and attacked Egypt in desperation.
This is an important distinction, for
it holds the key to finding a peace
among the Middle East nations. The
reprisal raids for which Israel was
The Southern Israelite