40 Year Anniversary

Today marks the 40 year anniversary of the end of the 1967 Middle East War--also called the Six Day War--in which Israel fought against Jordan, Syria and Egypt. All week long the BBC, CNN, Al-Jazeera and local newspapers here have been commemorating this war and its effect and consequences on the region. For Jordan the consequences have been great. Around 350,000 people fled to Jordan from the other side of the Jordan River because of the war. Added to the refugees from wars prior to and after this, they form part of a Palestinian refugee population of nearly two million here in Jordan. Many of these people still live in one of the 10 Palestinian refugee camps here, although many others live outside of the camps and have comfortable lives.

One thing all the news coverage on the war has done for me this past week is provide me with some context for many of the stories I've been told or experiences I have had during our time in Jordan. For instance, the three men who installed our satellite dish last year all hail from the Baqaa refugee camp, which was established 40 years ago for Palestinian refugees from the 1967 war. None are over 40 years old, so they were all born there. This camp is just outside of Amman, and it used to be necessary to drive past it to reach certain tourist destinations in the north. You still can, but now it is not necessary, as the government has built a nice, new road to those same places, far away from this camp. The cynics among us think it was built so the big tourist buses--and anyone else--could avoid driving past such an unpleasant sight.

Another man I know came to Amman from the West Bank--at that point part of Jordan--for college at some point before the war. Before he finished his studies, though, the war started--and ended--and Israel was suddenly the governing authority of his homeland. He couldn't go back, and he hasn't been back since. Going away for college turned into a lifetime. Also, for many people here, 1967 was just one of several times they were uprooted from their homes due to a war. A taxi driver we know, for example, fled the West Bank in 1967 to Kuwait. Then, he fled with his family to Jordan in 1991 during the first Gulf War. Also, I once met a man who worked at a shawarma stand who actually fled from three different wars, first as a child to the West Bank during the Israeli War of Independence in 1948, then to Kuwait because of the 1967 war and then to Jordan in 1991 because of the Gulf War. Finally, we've met many people who are originally from Jerusalem, people who were among those who fled during the war that has been recollected so many times this week.

The images we've seen on television this week have been sometimes grainy, the color dull and dim. The 40 year old commentary from Israeli, Arab and other news sources that is sometimes played alongside these images has that tin can quality of historical documentaries. For a long time I've known about the 1967 war, but watching this coverage all week has helped bring to life the stories I've heard from people here. Or maybe the stories I've heard have helped bring to life the coverage on the news. Either way, what happened 40 years ago has become less grainy to me this week.