I have had the opportunity to read books on the act of war before now but last night’s documentary on the war of June 1967 between Israel and Egypt, Jordan and Syria which was televised by Aljazeera gave me another clue to the other side of war which is mostly not told. I understand that there are users from these countries I have mentioned therefore I would want to make it clear that this article does not and was never written as a means to side any of the countries. Whichever country or faction won that war does not count in this article because this article intends to look at war from the perspective of casualties and the understanding of who a true victor is. I am not military personnel but I believe that there should be an understanding as to who a true victor of war is otherwise there will still exist this air of discord and misinterpretation of war. This is one of the reasons why we still witness the war between countries, communities, ethnic and religious groups and even war between families.
I am not going to go into the full story of what and how the war started but I would want to mention a few things that I understood to be the amber that increased the fire of the June 1967 middle east war. This war was fought between Israel against Egypt, Syria and Jordan. It may interest you to know that what caused this 6 days war was nothing but a carnal which was initially blocked and controlled by Egypt. This control was not acceptable to Israel because they believed that the canal was a sort of free passage for them into surrounding countries in the Middle East but Israel’s refusal was met with strict actions by the Arabs (Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq). The war was also escalated due to the growing alliance between these Arab countries and the inability of Israel to get the intervention of the international body which they felt could persuade the Egyptians to open the straits of Tiran which has caused a blockade for the Israeli shipping line.
The Israeli air force conducted an aerial attack which started on the 5th day of June 1967. According to the documentary, this attack was named “Operation Focus”. The attack was first targeted on the entire Egyptian airbase as a means to neutralize their airpower or support in case the war gets blown up. This attack was not welcomed by the Arabs (Jordan, Syria and Iraq), these sprung them into action and when Israel saw this, they extended the operation focus aerial attack on all the four Arab countries and this singular action gave Israel the victory or should I say the momentary victory they enjoyed. I would not go into more details about the war but I will look at the major reason why I decided to write this article. I asked a question from the beginning which I would want you to look at critically.
Is there a true Victor in war?
So many nations have gone to war against each other and each time a cease-fire is brokered, you will notice that the two warring countries will be celebrating or showing off in a way to make it sound and look like they are both victors. Is there truly a victor in war? Before I go into looking at the June 1967 war between Israel and the Arabs, let us look at the most recent war or permit me to call it bombardment which was between Israel and the people of Gaza in Palestine. If you had watched closely, you will notice that the Palestinians were seen chanting and jubilating that they are the victors of the war meanwhile Israel on the other hand was seen also dancing on the streets of their countries that they had won the war against Gaza. Now, looking at these two countries, you will understand that both of them do not know what or who a true victor of war is. The reason is not farfetched.
The untold truth of war
If you had been following the war between Israel and Gaza, you will understand that the last one was not the first time neither was it the second. The truth is that each time a war ends, there are casualties on both sides of the warring countries and if that is the case, how then can you say that you are the Victor? Just imagine a scenario where you are jubilating that you have won the war and your neighbour was among those who lost their son or daughter and also they were among those whose house was destroyed. You understand that they will never see the victory in that war. In the just-ended Israeli and Gaza airstrike, it was recorded that Gaza lost more persons including women and children than Israel how is it possible for the Palestinians to be rejoicing as victors of war?
As I was watching the documentary of the 1967 June war on Aljazeera, I saw casualties on both sides of the warring countries even though Israel or should I say it was recorded that Israel won the war, what about those whose fathers were killed in the war, do you think they will accept the victory story? After watching the documentary I found out that there has never been a true victor in war but the truth is that each warring country will claim victory based on the level of casualties recorded on their side. This is why I have always advocated that the world will do more by trying to quench the ambers that may start the fire of war early enough to avert any form of casualty both in the loss of life and in the level of infrastructural destruction. We can have a world devoid of war and death if we ask ourselves this vital question. Is there a true Victor in War? By the time we try to get the answer to this question, we will understand that even if we end up acquiring the highest grade of military wares and training the best army the world has ever seen, we will still understand that we cannot be victors when we have lost good men and women through war.
Let us give peace a chance now that we can because a time will come when everywhere will be engulfed by the fire of war and then we won’t have a nation and even the people to call brothers, sisters and even neighbours.
I love you all.
Click here to know more about the War in June 1967.
