Friday, June 5,1987 — THE BULLETIN—5
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Six Day War local volunteer's diary recalls 2^^
ISRAEL DIARY, 20 YEARS AGO ExCwptis iroirt
July 12; 1967^ A Tn tion finally arrived. It was Nahum in his 1942 W.W, II jeep. Having diixen in Nahum's jeep before, I was more than a little surprised that he would attempt such a potentially liazardous trip, but he seerned well prepared, even totheexterit of bringing emergency water, petrol and airimuriition.
We were on our way. Two 0 kept me informed (via simultaneous translation) about various historical landmarks and sites. -.  Our destination was El Arish, located in Northern Sinai. It was the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the Six Day War only a month ago.
Today's trip is not just for sightseeing, however. We are going to witness the post combat dismissal of a complete reservist tank battalion thiat captured and held El Arish. One of the officers commanding this battalion is a cousin of my host.
As we drive along a liewly paved asphalt road between Kiryat Gat and Ashkelon, I receive an account of the immediate area in which we travel. This new road which is now 12 metres wide was last year only three metres wide. It was built upon the very path used by ancient caravans between Cairo and Mecca for over 3000 years. This whole Lachish Valley wasoccupied by Colonel Nasser during the 1948 war of Independence until he was humiliated by the Israeli forces which completely surrounded him (he had to be rescued by the British). At left still lies an old British fortress from which Nasser's troops controlled the valley.
We change roads at Ashkelon arid now travel on a well worn, bumpy road. We reach the checkpoint at the Gaza Strip border around 2 p.m. and show our military permit to the guards. One or two cars are being turned back for lack of such a permit, but we encounter no trouble whatsoever.
We drive past what looks like a large military outpost with a multitude of new white barracks glistening in 100 degree sun. Above the front gate something iis written in Arabic and then English -^SWEDEN. These, then, were the headquarters of the U.N. Swedish forces, now deserted; v !
Some Arabic road signs have been repainted with Hebrew, lettering. Now, only a few kilometres from Gaza city, signs of the intense fighting beconie evident. The brick walls and houses we pass are pitted with bulletholes. y/e pass a large factory with a sign, "7-Up Bottling Company of Gaza, Palestine," a reminder that for the Arabs, only Palestine exists.
On every building and house the white flag of surrender is flying. One bullet-riddled wall has painted on it, in two foot letters: "DOWN WITH BEN GURION — EGYPT IS OUR MOTHER." Some of the buildings received direct shell hits and are just piles of rubble. Fire-gutted cars, trucks and tanks lie in twisted heaps to either side of the road in phenomenal quantities — a full month since the war itself.
Even a month after the cease-fire the stench of death remains in some areas. Most of the bodies have been removed, but helmets, boots and clothing fragments remain.
We pass through a date palm trees, some having been decapitated by stray shells.
Tiny light brown mud huts now line the sides of the road. Their Arab occupants are seen to be moving to and fro as if nothing had happened. Arab children with smiling faces wave at us and at first we do not respond. Then we begin to wave back at them and we hear-the'odd tiny-voice-cry, "Shalom!"
We are now approaching Gaza City (Aza in Hebrew). Mud huts are turning into large brick villas and population density is increasing. The average man is dressed in what appears to be ordinary, longitudinally striped black and white pyjamas, while the women are dressed in long black garments, very similar to a nun's habit. Most of the women and teenaged girls cover their faces. The few who do display a beauty that is typical of their dark-skinned Semitic race. Teenaged boys now line the roadsides, selling various colorful
KEN ABRAMSON seen on July 12,1967 against the background o^^ dismissal ceremony of a complete r«tervltttank
battalion that captured and held El Arish.
kerchiefs, pens, pottery, Egyptian purses, oddenda. We stop to see what is being sold. The men start haggling with the children and buy an assortriient of pens and pencils — all manufactured in the Peoples Republic of China! A box containing pencils ironically shows a picture of two hands clasped in a handshake. Beneath the picture is an inscription: "Friendship." Each pencil is also inscribed with this message.
I can't help wondering if these pens and pencils were manufactured in the same factory as the booby-trapped pens which were scattered around Israel during the Six Day War.
We enter Gaza which isa fair-sized town built on slightly hilly terrain. There are still gutted tanks, half-tracks (half truck/ half tank) and overturned twisted trucks and cars in the middle of main streets. The fronts of some buildings have been completely blown out by artillery fire.
The occasional vegetable market is open for business. The pyjama-clad men stare at us as we drive through, but their gaze
Kenneth Abramson is a Vancouver teacher who was one of many volunteers who went from.Vancouver to Israelto help out during the Six Day War in June 1967. An active -   member of VancbuyerHabonim during his formative * ' - yiiarsatid editor of its ntlWslettiervhe is a member of the ■■ Burquest Jewish community. '
is empty, devoid.of emotion. One can't help wondering what is running through their minds as they scrutinize us. The only weapons visible are those carried by Israeli military police patrolling the streets.
We walk down a relatively deserted street, occasionally entering an open store to look around.
We leave Gaza via a road off the main coastal road. Khan Yunis is to be our next stop. Huge Israeli army trucks are hauling smaller Russian-built trucks and half-tracks" in the opposite direction. Tank carriers also pass us, laden with new-looking Russian equipment — T-54 and T-55 tanks. We pass by a huge depot of countless Russian trucks, tanks and half-tracks, some of the trucks still loaded with anti-aircraft guns.
Aliriost immediately upon entering Khan Yunis, our jeep pulls off the road into an area studded with a few gigantic leafy trees. We climb out and listen in silence as one of the crew describes how he wais injured and how his best friend was blown to bits by a shell which demolished their jeep at this very spot between the two trees. The lower halves of.bolh
The roadsides are now more littered than ever. Shell casings of all sizes and colors, and crates of live ammunition, some intact, some spilling their contents,^ onto the s^nd — unbelievable! The incidence of skeleton tanks and trucks isfreauent now.
A few hundred metres on either side of the road are the dug-outs containing tanks, their guns still pointed at the road. Pillboxes and camouflaged machine, gun nests are frequent at distances of 25 to 50 metres from the road.-
We stop to photograph a burned out tank which is actually blocking part of the road. I look inside and see the huge fused casings of fired tank shells and a mass of unidentifiable objects ' covered with a layer of black carbon. Charred fragments and stench are the only remains of human occupants.
1 am warned not to go too.far off the road when I photograph the tank because all the mine fields have not yet been located and there have been instances of newly laid mines planted by terrorists. We drive on, passing a number of minefields roped off by barbed wire.
We pass an overturned Russian-made truck, spilling out its load of gas masks, another grim reminder of the fate that had been planned for Israel.
A hill in the distance is seen to contain treiiches cut right out of the rock and snaking back and forth till they reach the top of the hill. I am told that this type of trench isa product'of Russian design.
Again we stop the car, this time to look at a solitary symbol of peace amidst the relics of war. It isa tractor alongside the road. I begin to collect a few souvenir shell casings but the men will not let me for fear of mines or booby traps. We climb back into the jeep and continue our journey along the battle-scarred road to El Arish.
The first sight to meet our eyes as we enter theJSinai town is the military fortress flying a large Israeli flag. We do not go into the city proper which appears to be a mass'of white brick apartments built adjacent to each other and on top of each other. Instead we head for the military parade grounds where we park on a huge lot filled with vehicles of every description.
We walk toward the sound of a band, and a huge field ^completely covered by tanks and soldiers on parade becomes visible. This impressive sight is accented by 20 to 30 Israeli flags flying from poles located around the parade grounds.
Throngs of soldiers and civilians line the perimeter of the * parade grounds^afewthmisand-watehingthe"procee from e number of bleachers, the rest standing at every
severely"damaged,~as if somebody had been hacking away at them with an axe. .
Arab kids, who are gathered around us trying to sell their "peace" pencils, are shooed away as we clim^ back into our jeep and follow the freshly painted Hebrew sign pointing the way to El Arish.
The last of the journey is 40 miles of incredible sights. The terrain is desert dunes covered with small clumps of scrub. In the distance huge mountains of white sand indicate the edge of the Sinai Desert. ____
vantage point, on trucks, on the tops of light posts, and on the slopes of a nearby hill. We wave to Mordecai, standing at attention in front of his tank division, then we make our way through the barbed wire to the top of the hill.
A voice is calling out a long list of names over the public address system. As each name is called, a torchbearer lights each flame of a huge Menorah constructed from a large number of tank shell casings, each one polished to a high gleam. Each shell casing represents a man from this batallion who has been killed
INSIGHT-Page 8
GAZA town (right) as photographed by Ken Abramson after the Six Day War. Far right: Sinai Desert dunes Interspersed with small clumps of scrub enroute to El Arish, July 12, 1967, heading for military parade grounds for ceremony.