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I have always found it interesting that the Beatles' most famous album,
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was released on June 1, 1967, just
four days before Israel launched what historians call the Six Day War, an
event which began on June 5, 1967. Over the years, I have wondered if
President Johnson pressured EMI to have Pepper released on that particular
date (instead of perhaps a few weeks later) in order to create a diversion
about what happened in the Middle East. Johnson was extremely pro-Israel and
it seems like something he would have pulled. In 1967, the Beatles were by
far the most influential single force on the face of the earth.
The Six Day War was a watershed event that transformed Israel from a small
nation into a colonial empire. Although Israel became a nation in 1948, it
expanded dramatically after the Six Day War. Israel took from the
Arabs--through military force--the Old City of Jerusalem, the Sinai and the
Gaza Strip, the Jordanian territory west of the Jordan River known as the
West Bank, and the Golan Heights, on the Israeli-Syrian border. In addition
to acquiring new land, Israel gained control of an additional 900,000 Arabs
who became the discontented subjects of the new Israeli empire. Since 1967,
the number of Arabs under Israel's military control has grown to millions.
(1.3 million Arabs live in Gaza alone, versus 8,500 Jewish settlers who were
recently forced out.)
Amnesty International has documented Israel's inhumane treatment of its
Palestinian subjects citing arbitrary arrests, torturing detainees,
destroying or sealing the homes of Arab suspects and their relatives,
confiscating land, destroying crops, and diverting precious water from
thirsty Palestinians in the desert to fill the swimming pools and water the
lawns of Israeli settlers. This conduct has been condoned, embraced, and
encouraged by the United States through its steadfast financial and military
support of Israel. Today, US tax payers spend approximately $3 billion
annually to subsidize, support, and arm Israel. Although Israel is a wealthy
country by western standards, it receives the highest amount of American
foreign aid money.
Anyway, the timing of the release of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
and the Six Day War has always seemed like more than a coincidence, but one
never knows. Perhaps it was simply fate.
Debating the Six Day War and EMI's possible manipulation of
the Beatles. (on
rec.music.beatles and other Usenet newsgroups)
STEVE ROSENBACH - Hello Salvador. Sorry, I know this is a Beatles forum, but
I can't let your version of the events stand unchallanged.
SALVADOR ASTUCIA - Go for it.
STEVE ROSENBACH - On May 17, 1967, President Nasser of Egypt demanded the
evacuation of the UN peacekeeping force in the Sinai, a demand with which
the UN immediately complied! Nasser then re-militarized the Sinai, which had
been demilitarized by international agreements since 1956 following the Suez
crisis; Nasser began massing troops and tanks on the border with Israel
(remember, in 1967, that meant in Gaza itself, as Gaza Strip was
administered by Egypt 1949-1967.) Now, massing troops on a neighbor's border
is itself an act of war.
SALVADOR ASTUCIA - Claiming that Egypt launched the attack isn't even
Israel's version of events anymore. On August 8, 1982, former Israeli Prime
Minister Menachem Begin (deceased) publicly admitted that the Six Day War
was not a "war of necessity" but rather a "war of choice... Nasser did not
attack us. We decided to attack him." Begin made this admission in a speech
before the National Defense College in Jerusalem.
(SOURCE: George Ball et al, "The Passionate Attachment," p 56)
The Six Day War was part of Israel's failed expansionist policy which has
been ongoing since it officially became a nation in 1948. Israeli scholar
and publisher Simha Flapan explained that expansion was always Israel's main
objective. With respect to the original partition plan, in 1948, Flapan
stated that "acceptance of the UN Partition Resolution was an example of
Zionist
pragmatism par excellance. It was a tactical acceptance, a vital step in the
right direction...a springboard for expansion when circumstances proved more
judicious."
(SOURCE: Ball, p. 23)
STEVE ROSENBACH - On May 23, 1967, Egypt blocked the straights of Tiran to
Israeli shipping as well as the port of Elat, a clearly belligerant action,
an act of war in accordance with international law (United Nations
Conference on the Law of the Sea, Geneva: UN Publications 1958, pp.
132-134.) There really was not much doubt about the intentions of Egypt, as
well as Syria (which had joined in a military alliance with Egypt aimed at
Israel): Here's a quote from Nasser during this tense last part of May 1967:
"Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel. The Arab people want
to fight."
SALVADOR ASTUCIA - Notwithstanding Menachem Begin's public admission that
Israel had in fact attacked Nasser, there are different thoughts on Egypt
and Syria's intentions. Contrary to your suggestion, Steve, Egypt and Syria
were not acting as a team. In April 1967 Syrian bombardments of Israeli
villages had been intensified. When the Israeli Air Force shot down six
Syrian MiG planes in reprisal, Egypt mobilized its forces near the Sinai
border. This was done because Egypt had a mutual defense agreement with the
Syrians, who now felt themselves in danger. As an advocate of pan-Arabism,
Nasser felt obliged to help Syria. He ordered part of the Egyptian Army to
move into Sinai. He thought that the presence of Egyptian forces would
discourage the Israelis from attacking Syria. It was a purely defensive move
designed to draw off Israeli forces from Syria. If Israel had attacked
Syria, then the Egyptian Army would have carried out operations in support
of the Syrians. But no offensive operations against Israel were considered.
(SOURCES: Encyclopedia Britannica: Six Day War; Mohamed Heikal, The Cairo
Documents, Chapter VII: Johnson and Violence, pp. 225 - 249)
STEVE ROSENBACH - At this point, Israel's Foreign Minister, Abba Eban, made
an emergency trip to Washington to confer with the American Secretary of
State, Secretary of Defense, and finally President Johnson himself. Eban did
not get a committment of any action from the United States to help avoid the
impending destruction of Israel, and he returned home. At this point, the
Israelis concluded that since neither the US nor the UN were going to act to
prevent the invasion by Egypt and Syria, Israel would have to act on its own
to defend itself. Israel then pre-emptively destroyed the Egyptian air force
on the ground in the morning of June 5th, and that was the kick-off, so to
speak, of the 6-day war.
SALVADOR ASTUCIA - I don't know where you get your facts from, but most
historians agree that LBJ was extremely supportive of Israel. On June 3,
1967, just two days before the Israelis attacked, the United States sent the
aircraft carrier Intrepid through the Suez Canal with all its planes lined
up on deck. Nasser thought this was an unnecessary show of force. The
Egyptian people became furious. They lined the bank of the Canal and threw
old shoes at the carrier. At the same time the Sixth Fleet flexed its
muscles and prepared for a war situation. It was an excessive show of force
by the United States.
(SOURCE: Mohamed Heikal, The Cairo Documents, Chapter VII: Johnson and
Violence, pp. 225 - 249)
Not only did LBJ support Israel militarily, but he allowed Israel to murder
American sailors as well. In the midst of the Six Day War, Israel attacked
the USS Liberty spy vessel killing 34 American sailors and wounding 75.
George Ball wrote a riveting account of Israel's attack on the USS Liberty
on June 8, 1967. Ball's comments are significant because he was
undersecretary of state in the Johnson and Kennedy administrations. The
following text is an excerpt from Ball's book, The Passionate Attachment:
America's Involvement With Israel, 1947 to the Present:
==== QUOTE ON ====
During the [Six Day] War, Israel attacked the USS Liberty. The Liberty was
an American intelligence-gathering vessel, then cruising in international
waters near Egypt and reading the radio transmissions on both sides. It flew
the American flag and was painted in US Navy colors, complete with number
and name.
On the fourth day of the war [June 8, 1967], with both Jordan and Egypt
routed, the Israelis turned their attention to Syria, the original cause of
all this trouble. Guns mounted on the Golan Heights had subjected Galilee to
sporadic bombardment for years and the Israelis had every intention of
capturing those Heights before hostilities were over. Meanwhile, the United
Nations had adopted a cease-fire resolution and they feared there might not
be enough time to accomplish this objective without, as it were, going into
overnight.
The Liberty's presence and function were known to Israeli leaders. They
presumably thought it vital that the Liberty be prevented from informing
Washington of their intentions to violate any cease-fire before they had
completed their occupation of the Golan. Their solution was brutal and
direct.
Israel aircraft determined the exact location of the ship and undertook a
combined air-naval attack. Apprised of Israel's plans from various sources,
the US Navy Department faced a delicate problem. Due regard for the lives of
America's naval personnel should have impelled the Navy to urge the State
Department to warn off Israel in no uncertain terms; meanwhile, the Navy
have alerted the Liberty to its danger and dispatched ships or planes for
its protection. But none of these actions was taken in time.
There has, for years, been a continuing argument about the tragic lapse.
Some say that a warning to Israel might have exposed U.S. sources of secret
intelligence. Whatever the motive, the President or one of his aides took
the decision to risk the ship and its crew, and merely ordered them, without
explanation, to steam west at top speed. Unhappily, that notice was too
little and taken too late. Israeli ships and planes attacked, killing 34
American sailors, wounding 75, and leaving 821 rocket and machine-gun holes
in the Liberty. It was only when the Israelis were preparing to board the
ship that American planes belatedly appeared from the west and forced them
to retire.
The sequel was unedifying. The [Johnson] administration tried vigorously to
downplay the whole matter. Although it silenced the crew, casualties to the
sailors and damage to the ship could not possibly be concealed. Thus, an
elaborate charade was performed. The United States complained pro forma to
Israel, which reacted by blaming the victims. The ship, they rejoined, had
not been clearly marked but looked like an Arab ship--which was definitely
untrue. Nor did the Israelis even pretend that they had queried the American
Embassy in Tel Aviv regarding the status of the well-marked ship. In the
end, the Israelis tendered a reluctant and graceless apology; indemnities
for the victims and damaged ship were both parsimonious and slow in coming.
The sordid affair has still not been erased from the history books; an
organization of devoted survivors has kept the cause alive over the years by
publishing a newsletter and holding well-advertised meetings.
Yet the ultimate lesson of the Liberty attack had far more effect on policy
in Israel than America. Israel's leaders concluded that nothing they might
do would offend the Americans to the point of reprisal. If America's leaders
did not have the courage to punish Israel for the blatant murder of American
citizens, it seemed that their American friends would let them get away with
almost anything.
==== QUOTE OFF ====
(George Ball, The Passionate Attachment, pp. 57 - 58)
To claim that LBJ did not support Israel during the Six Day War is simply
incorrect. The manner in which he protected Israel after the USS Liberty
incident was closer to treason than anything else.
STEVE ROSENBACH - Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol let it be know to
Jordan via diplomatic back-channels that Israel had no fight with Jordan and
would not conduct military operations against it if Jordan stayed out of the
war. Unfortunately, telephone calls to King Hussein by Nasser convinced him
that Egypt was on the verge of destroying Israel and convinced him to
join the attack (this is hard to imagine in today's world of 24-hour
instantaneous satellite coverage of events.) King Hussein, in one of his few
truly bad decisions, decided to answer Israel's plea for restraint by
shelling western Jerusalem and other parts of Israel from the West Bank
(which at that time was western Jordan). At this point, the Israelis
counter-attacked, and within a few days, captured all of the Jordanian
territory. That's right, the entire issue of Israeli occupation of the West
Bank is a result of a mistake made by Jordan in 1967. It's interesting that
Jordan has been somehow "excused" by the international community from having
a responsibilty in settling this conflict.
SALVADOR ASTUCIA - That's an interesting piece fiction, but it has little to
do reality, and even Israel has acknowledged that my version of history is
the correct one. Your version is a story that was used long ago, similar to
the Warren Report's claim that JFK was killed by a lone nut, but few people
believe either anymore.
STEVE ROSENBACH - After the war, Israel made it clear that was ready to
return virtually *all* of the lands it occupied as a result of the 6-day war
in exchange for peace and recognition by its neighbors. The answer from the
Arab League, in the infamous Khartoum Resolution
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khartoum_Resolution ) was the famous "three
nos": No peace with Israel, No recognition of Israel, No negotiations with
Israel.
SALVADOR ASTUCIA - This is absolute nonsense. within six months after the
Six Day War, the UN Security Council issued Resolution 242 which called for
"withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent
conflict." In theory the UN could have enforced the resolution itself, but
unfortunately, reality is much different. The sad truth is the UN has been
unable to enforce much of anything without the support of the United States,
and the United States has maintained a "passionate attachment" to Israel
ever since President Johnson was in office. In addition, the Israelis
managed to secure ambiguous, legalistic wording for Resolution 242 which
makes even more difficult to enforce; however, the resolution remains a
highly sensitive area for American presidents and politicians to roam. The
following is the entire text of the resolution:
===== QUOTE ON =====
The Security Council,
Expressing its continuing concern with the grave situation in the Middle
East,
Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and
the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every State in the
area can live in security,
Emphasizing further that all Member States in their acceptance of the
Charter of the United Nations have undertaken a commitment to act in
accordance with Article 2 of the Charter,
1. Affirms that the fulfillment of Charter principles requires the
establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle
East which should include the application of both the following principles:
(i) Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the
recent conflict;
(ii) Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and
acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political
independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace
within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force;
2. Affirms further the necessity
(a) For guaranteeing freedom of navigation through international waterways
in the area;
(b) For achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem;
(c) For guaranteeing the territorial inviolability and political
independence of every State in the area, through measures including the
establishment of demilitarized zones;
3. Requests the Secretary-General to designate a Special Representative to
proceed to the Middle East to establish and maintain contacts with the
States concerned in order to promote agreement and assist efforts to achieve
a peaceful and accepted settlement in accordance with the provisions and
principles in this resolution;
4. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council on the
progress of the efforts of the Special Representative as soon as possible.
(UN Security Council Resolution 242 of November 22, 1967)
===== QUOTE Off =====
In September 1973 President Nixon appointed Henry Kissinger as Secretary of
State, thereby replacing William Rogers. To resolve the Yom Kippur War, the
UN passed Resolution 338 which called for a cease-fire between Israel and
Egypt, prescribed implementation of UN Resolution 242, and urged additional
peace talks at Geneva. The following is the complete text of UN Resolution
338:
===== QUOTE ON =====
The Security Council
1. Calls upon all parties to the present fighting to cease all firing and
terminate all military activity immediately, no later than 12 hours after
the moment of the adoption of this decision, in the positions they now
occupy;
2. Calls upon the parties concerned to start immediately after the
ceasefire the implementation of Security Council resolution 242 (1967) in
all of its parts;
3. Decides that, immediately and concurrently with the ceasefire,
negotiations start between the parties concerned under appropriate auspices
aimed at establishing a just and durable peace in the Middle East.
(UN Security Council Resolution 338, October 22, 1973)
===== QUOTE Off =====
STEVE ROSENBACH - Despite this intransigence, Israel and Egypt eventually
did conclude a peace treaty in 1979, after a regime change in Egypt (Nasser
died in 1970 and was succeeded by the noble Anwar Sadat.) Following it's
policy of "land for peace", Israel returned every square foot of Egyptian
territory to Egypt by 1982. There was a disagreement about a small area,
Taba, on the Red Sea, and the 2 countries submitted the question to
international arbitration. The arbitration found in favor of Egypt, and the
Israelis accepted this decision and dropped their claim. Likewise, following
a peace agreement with Jordan in 1994, Israel ceded former Jordanian
territory (not claimed by the Palestinian Authority) back to Jordan.
SALVADOR ASTUCIA - Israel merely returned some uninhabited desert land to
Egypt, but UN Resolutions 242 and 338 have still not been enforced, although
returning Gaza was a good start.
STEVE ROSENBACH - As for Amnesty International, this formerly admirable
organization has been taken over in the last number of years by people who
seem to have trouble seeing the difference between democracies under seige
and rouge nations and terroritst groups. Shall we mention the recent
embarrasing "American gulag" remark by an AI spokesperson - it's hard to
take them seriously any more.
SALVADOR ASTUCIA - Are we to assume that Amnesty International is run by a
bunch of anti-Semitic bigotted skinheads? Is that the latest Zionist
propaganda?
STEVE ROSENBACH - As for the Beatles' role in all this, your idea of some
conspiracy is ludicrous. I have a feeling, however, that the Beatles, and
especially John, would have seen the Arab-Israeli dispute in the 70's in
terms sympathetic to the Arabs and especially the PLO... "Give Peace a
Chance", "All You Need is Love", etc.
SALVADOR ASTUCIA - I agree that John would have supported the PLO, and I
never meant to suggest otherwise. I merely asked a question. And I never
meant to suggest that the Beatles were directly involved, if anyone was. I
merely asked if it was possible that LBJ might have somehow pressured EMI
into releasing Sgt. Pepper just before Israel launched an attack against
Egypt, thereby starting the Six Day War. From what I understand, neither the
Beatles or George Martin had any great love for EMI. And the LBJ-EMI
connection isn't that far-fetched. Writer Anthony Summers indicated that J.
Edgar Hoover was blackmailing British Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1965.
According to Summers, Hoover was harassing Wilson over a sex scandal.
Summers gave the impression that Hoover blackmailed Hoover, although it was
not explicitely stated in those terms. In addition, Summers indicated that
LBJ didn't like Wilson because he opposed the Vietnam War and they (LBJ and
Hoover) liked having information which they could use against Wilson if
necessary.
(SOURCE: Anthony Summers, "Official & Confidential: The Secret Life of J.
Edgar Hoover," p 342)
If Summers' information is correct, how hard would it be for a British Prime
Minister Harold Wilson to call the head of EMI, Sir Joseph Lockwood, and
tell him to delay the release of a Beatle album until a specified date.
STEVE ROSENBACH - But having viewed the cynical way the Palestinian people
were manipulated by the Arab countries and by Yassir Arafat himself, having
seen Arafat's duplictiy following Olso and Camp David 2000, having seens
that when the Israelis Gave Peace a Chance, they were answered by suicide
bombers and Quassam missles, their sentiments would have been more along the
lines of "But if you want money for people with minds that hate, all I can
tell you is buddy you have to wait"
SALVADOR ASTUCIA - The world knows Israel is not truly a democracy or a
republic. Any country that links religion to citizenship is by definition
not a democracy or a republic. Israel's present form of government has a
peripheral layer of self-government, which is a facade. It is presently a
military state. To become a free country, Israel needs to drop the concept
of Jewish Nationalism and treat all citizens as equals, regardless of their
religion or ethnicity. What I'm describing is not an end of Israel, just an
end of Zionism.
END
Ordering information for Salvador Astucia's books can be found at
http://www.jfkmontreal.com/raveningwolf/
Also see Astucia's homepage:
http://www.jfkmontreal.com
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