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Six Days by Jeremy Bowen Essay

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In this ambitious work, Jeremy Bowen details the happenings between Israel and Palestine. This Middle East war sparked much debate throughout the world especially amongst historians. Bowen uses this work as a personal recount of the six days that shaped the world as it is today. Bowen, an experienced BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) journalist and editor, presented the world with the Radio 4 series which allowed listeners to learn of the Six Day war. Through a detailed assessment of Bowens words readers of the book are able to submerse themselves back to 1967 and view how monumental moments such as West Bank settlements, the rise of Yasser Arafat, Black September and the 1973 Yom Kippur war all have roots stemming from the Six-Day …show more content…

Egypt than began to mobilize its forces in and around the Suez Canal, moving its forces eastward across the Sinai desert towards the Israeli border, challenging the extraction of UN Emergency Force (UNEF) stationed along the boundary. The Egyptians ousted the UN Emergency Force (UNEF) from the Gaza Strip and Sinai, and continued pouring its military forces into these areas. Thus, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, constituting a case for war for Israel. Responding the Egyptian call, the governments of Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon encouraged their militaries towards the Israeli border. Israel mobilized its reserve forces, and launched a diplomatic campaign to win international support for ending the Egyptian blockade of Israeli shipping through the Strait of Tiran.
Bowen then begins to chronicle parts of the war as it develops from hour to hour. One of the benefits of reading this book besides the content is that Bowen is explore policies, planning, and combats in equal measure. He devotes special attention, for example, to the accurate accounts from the Israeli side, the idea that diplomacy was merely an option and the fact the prime minister at the time, Levi Eshkol was very reluctant to go to war.
In the midst of the thorough detail, however, Bowen still manages to highlight the essential details of the war. He also shows that Palestinians were a witness to the cultivation of their own history. Bowen also

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