European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 02, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Jubilant israelis took Over Arab Jerusalem last june vow they will never give it Back. 2o years of Var and uneasy peace we a continued Frum pay it fought the arabs in the Sinai desert in 1958 and in the six Day War Las june. Bach time it Defeated overwhelmingly Superior Arab forces. And still peace has not been achieved. On oct. 21, 1967, the egyptians san the israeli destroyer Eilat Elath with soviet built rockets. Three Days late israeli guns shelled and destroyed vital egyptian Oil refineries at  guerrillas of the fanatic Al Fatah organization have staged repeated raids on israeli settlements. On March 21, the israeli army and air Force carried out a massive one Day punitive expedition against the guerrillas main bases in Jordan. There has been More Border fighting since then. So Arab israeli tensions remains explosive As Ever with no end in  the contrary the soviets have re placed almost All the planes tanks handguns Egypt and Syria lost against is Rael last june. Soviet warships us Alexandria and other egyptian ports As bases. Soviet warplanes paid a Good will visit to Syria Early in april. Israel has called repeatedly on the arabs to join it at the peace table. But they have ignored All appeals to negotiate until Israel Abandons the Terri tories conquered from them. This the israelis refuse to to without a prior peace settlement. The Suez canal re Mains closed indefinitely because the egyptians refuse to reopen it while the israelis remain dug in on the Eastern Shore and the israelis refuse to leave until peace is guaranteed. One Corner of conquered Arab Terri tory the israelis say they never will till the i Buill 2tt about 7i, i and a st1 to 77 i Nearl Jinice Al Oki years of Trajn Iti and 4$. Wome.,live Dajic after \ Basic signed to the an super slut  the la with Frai tour i he Iii jell give up is Tho 3,three weeks  Day Var they it with the be d Glt i it of Jeru i we Hall is  1 Rhine Mawari Iii a pc in the Sinai a the be t banker mulits of Syria Al added 750.000 Rethe  ready living in army is essentially a citizen  strength of the three armed services is Tut the regular army s Normal strength is Only ,000. This consists of the annual intake of draftees re Core of Long service officers and noncom. The Lade up of reservists who can be mobilized within israeli boy and girl is inducted for military serv if 18. The boys do an initial two and a half to three i service. Men then have to do 31 consecutive Days tally until the age of 40 and 14 Days Between 40 months of National service and then 30 cons ecu Fly until the age of 30 or until they have a child Are excused. The women go through the same raining As the boys. But after that they Are As ministrative and other noncombatant jobs. Equipped mainly with american built Patton an tanks British built centurions and French built iks. Force of 8,000 men is equipped almost entirely planes. Its 250 combat planes includes Vau nobers. Mirage Iii Jet fighter bombers Mirage ind mystery Iva Jet fighter bombers. Of Jerusalem end of the six it and merged City into a sin Spital of Israel Render Jerusa Levi Eshkol has the Gaza strip and the Golan Rae Lis now Havelos Tilc arabs to minority Al israelis Are deeply divided among themselves about the future of these occupied Arab lands. Some responsible leaders believe All the occupied Territo Ries should be handed Back if and when there is a peace settlement. Others argue Israel must guard the Security fits frontiers by maintaining permanent garrisons on the Suez canal the Jordan River and the Golan Heights. The june War also intensified problem that has festered in the Middle East since 1948that of the hundreds of thousands of displaced Arab refugee who fled from the territory of the new state of Israel at is  their numbers Are estimated at Between 1.25 million and 1.5  than 300,000 live in Camps in israeli occupied territory eking out a existence on . Food handouts. The continuation Patuc Luj Arab refugees Stream into Jordan after six Day War. A israeli troops still occupy East Bank of Suez canal and arabs refuse to reopen it. Up up Twenty years ago the scene was much the same As refugees streamed out of newly created Israel. For 20 years Israel has been the world s Only jewish state but it remains As much a melting pot As the United states. The 2,500,000 jews of Israel have come from 100  the streets you see tall Blond european jews red haired jews from Poland Olive skinned French speaking jews fro North Africa and Small dark skinned jews from the Yemen almost indistinguishable from  intellectual elite of the country remains the original zionist pioneers who came mainly from Russia and Poland anti the jews who fled nazi German persecution in the 1930s. But the jews of european origin now constitute a Minori Tyas a result of mass immigration from the Yemen the Middle East and North Africa. The israeli government s policy is to prevent an kind of social or color bar distinction Between the immigrants from different  policy is being carried out particularly in schools and the army where jews from every possible National land of origin mingle study and do their military service together. The he brew language which is the language of the country also Isa great social leveler. In a country As Small us this regional dialects and accents hardly  you speak bad hebrew which Marks you Down As an immigrant or Good hebrew which shows you probably Are native born. ,. ,. Israelis whatever their origin Are a cultural and intellectual people. Art flourishes in Jerusalem and in artists colonies at Julia and in a Hill Village near Haifa Page 12 the Israel philharmonic orchestra founded in 1936 by Broni Slaw Huberman is the country s Foremost musical institution. More than 40 per cent of its members Are native born. The Ein gov music festival is held every year at passover Inan auditorium capable of holding an audience of 3,000, Over looking the sea of Galilee. Israelis also Are great theatregoers. The prestigious Hasima National theater company the Kameri theater group and the Haifa municipal theater Are three of the Best known  produce mainly native works or hebrew translations of Torelan classics. The country has produced a growing number of outstanding authors. Shmuel Yosef Agnon an eminent hebrew author shared the Nobel prize for literature in 1966. Other prominent hebrew writers Are url Rvl Greenberg Hay in Hazaz and Avraham  israelis probably Are As swinging n group As Tho younger generation in any country they frug and Rock night Yin the Little Jam packed discotheques that have sprung up in Tel Aviv Jerusalem Haifa and other cities. Perhaps however there is less of a generation Gap in this country than in the United states and other Western countries three times in a generation Young israelis have had to go of to War against the arabs. Youngsters of 17 still stand their turn tit guard against Arab guerrillas in Frontier settlements. That can be a sobering experience. The stars and stripes Premier lev Esthol Wilh Thyr Idoy. Raid on terrorist. Up three wars in a generation Between Israel and the arabs have burdened the Middle East with a tragic human jetsam of Dis placed Arab  reliable estimates put the number at Between 1.25 million and 1.5 , they were palestinian arabs who fled from the territory of Israel when it became Independent in 1948. The abandoned their Homes and lands and took Refuge in neighbor ing Arab states. Many did so on the Promise of their Leader that they would be Able to return in a few Days when the jews have been driven into the , 20 years later survivors of remain in Camps homeless hopeless look Forward to Breeding furiously and eking out an existence on . Relief and works Agency for Palestine Usuwa  of 1,500 calories daily. Originally they numbered perhaps 600,000. In 20 years that number Lias at least doubled. Then a new tide of refugees swept Over the same area during and immediately after the six Day War last june. Some fled from their Homes in the israeli occupied West Bank area of Jor Dan to the unoccupied East Bank. Some were refugees for a Sec Ond time arabs who fled from refugee Camps on the West Bank o new Camps on the Liast Bank. The original refugees still jobless with no future to the stars and stripes according to the Best available estimates Israel itself now has about 350,000 of these refugees in areas under occupation. Of these an estimated 215,000 live in the Gaza strip a prong of land on the Mediterranean coast projecting into the South of Israel. They form about 60 per cent of the Gaza strip Popula Tion. About 175,000 of them live in Unhwa Camps. Another 150,000 remained behind in the occupied West ban territory of Jordan. Most of them live in refugee Camps too. Tiny Jordan now has an estimated 600,000 refugees out of total population of less than 2 million. An estimated 150,000 of these were palestinians who fled eastward across the Jordan last june. The remaining refugees totalling Between 250,000 and 500,000,live in Syria Lebanon Iraq and Egypt. The longer the refugee problem drags on the More intractable becomes. The arabs insist the Only solution is for Israel to restore their former Homes and lands to the refugees or to recompense Thorn for the loss. Israelis reply that jews have lived on these Laud for 20 years now and it is impossible to hand them Back to the original Arab owners. In any event Israel asserts it would be impossible to absorb More than 1 million destitute arabs in a country with a population of less than 3 million. Page 13