Ran’s view of events in ’67 muddled

Joel Wolpert

Letter from Joel Wolpert, Atholl, Johannesburg

Ran Greenstein asserts in his letter in Jewish Report of September 17, that there was no invasion from the West Bank nor a credible threat thereof in 1967.

However, a few weeks ago in these very columns, he criticised my assertion that occupation by Israel of the West Bank was justified following an unprovoked invasion by Jordan against Israel launched from the West Bank in June 1967.

Greenstein needs to clarify his muddled view of what happened in 1967; even that diehard anti -Israel reporter, Jeremy Bowen [of BBC fame], in his seminal work on the Six Day War, confirmed the historical fact that Jordan attacked Israel on June 5, 1967.

Also, in his final point, Greenstein repeats the old canard that the South African struggle against apartheid is identifiable with the “oppressive system of occupation” without acknowledging that the occupation is Israel’s justifiable reaction to a permanent security threat.