Comment on Theo Spark: David Horowitz in Beverly Hills: 'Crush the Arabs Militarily'

Theo Spark: David Horowitz in Beverly Hills: 'Crush the Arabs Militarily'

Israel made four crucial mistakes in 1967.

1. They did not annex Bethlehem and assume the mantle of protector of Christians and other minorities in the Middle East.

2. Israel did not expel the UNRWA from any territory under Israeli control and place the Palestinians (stateless Gazans or Jordanians) under the same legal regime as all other civilians in disputed territories around the world.

3. Israel did not take control of the education system in all territories under their control and ensure that all textbooks and curricula met acceptable international standards for both accuracy and promoting tolerance.

4. Israel did not take control of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, restricting Muslim religious authorities to the operation of the mosques and appointing a Mufti, as was their right under Islamic practice, who would not permit abuse of the position.

If those four things had been done by the end of June 1967 then peace would have rapidly followed. By Israel failing to do so the Arabs became convinced that time was on their side and that there was no downside to refusing to make peace.

By the logic of Islamic Arab culture and experience the losses of 1948 and 1967 are merely a trading of Space for Time. Their model is the expulsion of the Crusades after 200 years. Their more recent experience is that of their patrons in the Soviet Union, who trained much of their current civil and military elite for two generations, who successfully repelled the Germans and then killed or deported millions of civilians.