'Six days, 40 years ago'

Olmert, Haniyeh publish articles in The Guardian commemorating Six Day War, occupation

"Looking back to the weeks preceding the war," writes Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, "it may be difficult for you to imagine just how desperate life seemed for Israelis, ringed by peoples whose armies pointed their weapons towards us, whose leaders daily promised the imminent destruction of our state"

Ehud Olmert published an article in the British newspaper The Guardian in commemoration of the Six Day War, 40 years ago.

At that time, Olmert explained, the feeling was that Israel was a people facing annihilation. Lacking strategic allies to ensure its survival, Israel had no choice but defend itself.

"Our survival in 1967 is now, in the eyes of the world and, with worrying consequences in the UK, the original sin of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Olmert wrote, alluding to the British academic boycott on Israel.

"Our opponents argue against the ongoing 'occupation' as if it were the Gordian knot of the conflict. If only we were to leave the territories the conflict would end," he wrote.

He explained that unfortunately the conflict was not that simplistic. He stated that over the last 15 years, successive Israeli governments had attempted to reach agreements with the Palestinians, who had constantly refused to stop attacks on Israel.

Referring to the tension with Syria, Olmert indicated his hopes for peace down that avenue. He wrote that Israel must aspire for a comprehensive peace with all its neighboring countries, but it can only be achieved through talks, not ultimatums.

He admitted that he was mistaken when, as a young politician, he voted against returning Sinai to Egypt and the peace accord with them. "We will not hesitate to take bold initiatives to advance peace, even if they require heavy concessions," he wrote.

Haniyeh: Israel degraded itself dehumanizing Palestinians

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh wrote an article marking 40 years of occupation, for the same publication. He claimed that Israel's leaders never imagined that 40 years after the war they would still be haunted by its consequences.

He wrote that "in the 1967 war, Israel conquered the land of Palestine but it did not conquer the people. And in its attempt to debase and dehumanize my people, Israel has debased and degraded itself before the family of nations."

The first step to change this catastrophic climate, he suggests, is for the west to engage with the Palestinian National Unity government, which envisages the establishment of an independent state on all the Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967, the dismantling of all the settlements in the West Bank, the release of all 11,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the recognition of the right of all Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.

"If Israel is serious about peace, it has to recognize these basic rights of our people," he wrote.

"The 1967 war remains an unfinished chapter. Nothing will stop our struggle for freedom and to have all our children reunited in a fully sovereign state of Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital," he concluded.

He explained that the increasing mistrust between the Arab-Muslim peoples and the western world is rooted in the conflict in Palestine.

The war, he said, was an unfinished episode. "Nothing will stop our struggle for freedom and to have all our children reunited in a fully sovereign state of Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital."

Source : www.ynetnews.com