Tuesday, June 05, 2007
40 Years of Occupation
40 years ago today, Israel launched a pre-emptive war whose result was the occupations of the West Bank and Gaza which continue to this day (physical in the case of the West Bank, seemingly virtual but still very much real in the case of Gaza). Writing in the latest issue of Socialism & Liberation Magazine, Richard Becker provides an excellent history of that event and dissects its significance. For example, most of us view Israel as having been supported by the U.S. "forever," and that's certainly true. But 1967 marked a quantitative shift in that support, as can be seen from this statistic: "U.S. aid to Israel increased exponentially from about $120 million in 1967, to $3.2 billion in 1971, to $9.9 billion in 1974, and $13.9 billion in 1979, measured in 2007 dollars." And there was another major shift that begin with that war as well - the rise of the Palestinian resistance.
And, as a companion piece, listen to David Rovics' powerful (lyrically and musically) "Occupation" (below). Particularly powerful is the progression of words in the chorus of the song:
And if peace is what you're after then let us not deceive
It will come on the day the tanks return to Tel Aviv
...It will come on the day the settlers return to Tel Aviv
...It will come on the day the jailguards return to Tel Aviv
...It will come on the day the refugees return to Tel Aviv
Labels: Music
