(…)
The die has long since been cast; the fight will take place. The Jews with their backs to the sea, fighting for their very homes, with 101 percent morale, will accept no compromise. On the other hand, the Arabs say:
“We shall bring Moslem brigades from Pakistan, we shall lead a religious crusade for all loyal followers of Mohammed, we shall crush forever the invader. Whether it takes three months, three years, or 30, we will carry on the fight. Palestine will be Arab. We shall accept no compromise.”
The United Nations is scoffed at by both sides and the United States will never be able to regain the position of ascendancy she previously enjoyed with the Arab world. She lost the love of the Arabs when she supported partition. She lost their respect when she reversed that decision. She lost it irreparably. For days on end Arab commentators drummed into their people that finally the power of the Arab world had been realized.
(…)
The above is excerpted from the last in a series of four articles written for the Boston Post by Robert F. Kennedy between June 3rd and June 6th, 1948. The complete series can be found here.
Mr. Kennedy would die twenty years (to the day) after he wrote these words, shot by Palestinian Arab Sirhan Bishara Sirhan on the first anniversary of the 1967 Six Day War.
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