Our Memories Are Short.
How Real Are Their Promises?
Most people forget that the ÒOccupied TerritoriesÓ were occupied by Israel only as a result of what is known as ÒThe Six Days WarÓ in June of 1967.
Up until that time, the ÒOccupied TerritoriesÓ consisted of Gaza Ñ occupied by Egypt, and Jordan Ñ which had even annexed the ÒWest BankÓ of the Jordan River and made the Palestinians Jordanian citizens after the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. Nobody complained - or called that ÒOccupied TerritoriesÓ At the time all of what was Israel was called ÒOccupied PalestineÓ.
The Six Days War occurred when:
¥	The President of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser, insisted that UN observers leave Sinai.
¥	Egypt blockaded the Straits of Tiran (an international waterway) which was IsraelÕs access to Asia and East Africa from its southern port of Eilat.
¥	Thousands of Egyptians marched through their cities calling for a chance to push the Jews into the Mediterranean sea.
¥	Israel begged peaceful Jordan not to intervene.
Again, no one seemed concerned that the Palestinians did not have their own state. After all, it was supposed to have been created in 1948 beside, and the same time, as Israel on much more territory than is now ÒOccupied TerritoriesÓ - but the Palestinians and other Arab countries rejected the offer if there was to be a Jewish state as well.
After the war (September 1967), the leaders of the Arab governments met in Khartoum in Sudan (where slavery still exists!) and came up with the Khartoum declaration which among other things called for:
¥	no peace with Israel
¥	no recognition of Israel
¥	no negotiations with it
<http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/khartoum.htm>
has the full text.
Now (Spring 2002) Saudi Arabia calls for Ònormalization of relationsÓ with Israel at the Beirut summit, as its representative hugs the Iraqi representative (a country that dropped poison gas on thousands of its Kurdish citizens). ItÕs hard to take them seriously.