The Right Rev. David Giuliano

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Note: This Moderator's Blog originally appeared on the WonderCafe website (www.wondercafe.ca*).

Today is, in theory, the 40th anniversary of the end of the Six Day War. It officially ended at 1630 GMT on June 10, 1967, when a cease-fire became effective on the Israel-Syrian front. Israel's casualties amounted to 759 dead and about 3,000 wounded. Arab casualties were never officially tallied, but are believed to be about 15,000. I grew up celebrating the chutzpah of the Israeli assault and decisive victory over their enemies in the region. Peace in Six Days!

Earlier this week, the news reported on the anniversary of the start of the Six Day War. I notice today, that there has been no mention of the end of the war. Maybe that is because that war hasn’t ended, not really.

It might, more honestly, be called “The Forty Years Plus Six Days War.” Nothing even close to peace exists in the region. Three generations of Palestinians have lived their entire lives in refugee camps, since the 1948 Nakba when thousands were driven from their ancestral towns and villages. Since 1967, thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of Israelis have died in the ongoing violence. Israelis live with rockets fired from Gaza and the continuing possibility of terrorism. They respond with disproportionate military strikes and illegal confiscation of Palestinian lands, punitive demolition of homes, and denial of basic human rights to all Palestinians.

Tonight I am remembering the children we met at the Hebron refugee camp in April, and the ones in Bethlehem. And the Israeli children who are taught the wall is necessary because Palestinians want to kill them. How will they mark the “end” of the Six Day War, when they are my age?

In an e-letter he wrote following a recent visit to the Holy Land, Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arche Communities said:

“I love the beauty of the Jewish people, but I can well understand the anger of Biblical prophets who were infuriated and cried out their anger against what their leaders were doing! Obviously, the terrorist actions of Palestinians are also horrible and must be condemned. The people of Israel and of Palestine both live in fear. But the answer is not in the building of a wall and planting Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory. It is in the respect for international law and real search together for justice through dialogue and help from the international community.”

The Six Day War continues 40 years hence. It has not brought peace. War rarely does. Maybe the best way to mark the anniversary of “the end” of the Six Day War is to call on Israel and Palestine and our own government to find ways to truly end the war and to recommit ourselves to a peaceful way to peace in our lives and the world. Let us all light a candle against this night, and ask: How can I bring more justice, more peace into the world?