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Communist China celebrates 60th anniversary with instruments of war and words of peace The day of festivities is full of contrasting images. Tanks and goose-stepping soldiers travel along a parade route as TV commentators discuss the nation's love of peace. By Barbara Demick 1:50 PM PDT, October 1, 2009 Reporting from Beijing At the end of a gala today celebrating Communist China's 60th anniversary, President Hu Jintao and his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, got down from their podium and joined hands with the dancers in Tiananmen Square. It was a symbolic gesture designed to soften the image of a remote and...

BEIJING — China celebrated its rise to a world power over 60 years of Communist rule Thursday, staging its biggest-ever parade of military hardware with over a hundred thousand marching masses in a display that stirred patriotism — and some unease. Police blocked off a wide area around central Beijing's Tiananmen Square for the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic. City residents were told to stay away and watch the events on television. President Hu Jintao, dressed in a gray Mao tunic instead of the business suit he usually wears, reviewed the thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks and...

The secret of Jewish survival through the ages and Israel’s independence 61 years ago, are closely intertwined. For 2,000 years Jews prayed for, cried for, hoped for, lived for and died with the wish of returning to Jerusalem. Between never giving up their national aspirations, between being reminded constantly that they were merely accursed Jooz, the possibility of assimilating into the society around them could not be accomplished easily. Even converts were all too often reminded of their roots. Frankly, neither the Europeans nor the rest of the world wanted them even when they tried to blend in and become...

NEW YORK - This Monday, November 24th, the UN will commemorate its annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People with a film depicting Jews as Nazi-equivalents and a public exhibit mourning the sixty years of Israel’s existence. “The event is an annual reminder that the UN’s real agenda is to delegitimize the birth - and the perseverance - of the state of Israel,” said Anne Bayefsky, Editor of EYEontheUN.org. Monday’s observance marks November 29, 1947 - the day that the UN voted to establish a Jewish and an Arab state in Palestine - a decision accepted by the...

Pyongyang, September 12 (KCNA) -- Sixty-three years have elapsed since the U.S. imperialists occupied south Korea in September 1945. The days of the presence of the U.S. imperialist aggression forces in south Korea are a history of blood and shocking crimes. Ever since they set foot in south Korea, the U.S. imperialists have inflicted all manner of immeasurable misfortunes and disasters upon the people there and killed innocent people at random. They brutally put down the struggle of the people in different parts of south Korea against the U.S. "military government" in October 1946 by setting in motion planes, tanks...

VILLANOVA, Pennsylvania: As the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift approaches, recycled myths about its accomplishments drop from the sky like candy into the waiting arms of Americans hungry for a foreign policy alternative to endless war and secret torture. But politicians and pundits looking for a humanitarian policy to win the world's hearts and minds should look back to the airlift with caution. Sixty years after British and American planes began to fly supplies to West Berliners facing a Soviet blockade, even the faux news program "Colbert Report" has reprised the Cold War refrain that the airlift saved the...

MONEY can't buy you love. This week George W Bush flies into Europe to mark the 60th anniversary of the Marshall Plan - the massive reconstruction effort that enabled western Europe to rise to prosperity from the ashes of the second world war. The president's European tour, which will include a visit to Belfast, comes on the back of a YouGov poll published last week that reveals the extent of European hostility towards the US. Asked "Do you think the United States is overall a force for good or evil in today's world?", an astonishing 43% of respondents said "force...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - It may not be kosher, but the Hoopoe was chosen Thursday as Israel's national bird. The Hoopoe, or "Duchifat" in Hebrew, is listed in the Old Testament as unclean and forbidden food for Jews. President Shimon Peres declared the pink, black and white-crested bird the winner of a competition timed to coincide with Israel's 60th anniversary. It beat out rivals such as the Yellow-vented Bulbul and the Palestine Sunbird. The Book of Leviticus groups the Hoopoe with birds such as the eagle, vulture and pelican that are "abhorrent, not to be eaten." Israel is a main crossroads...

You can always tell when the Democrats have blown their cover and are exposed for who they really are. They get their panties in a bunch and begin to sniffle and whine. Such was the case when President Bush told the Israeli Knesset, during celebrations of Israel’s 60th birthday, "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along . . . We have an obligation to call this what it is – the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited...

After delivering a scientifically inept global warming lecture in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, greenhouse gasbag Al Gore presented Israel with a 60th birthday gift of custom tailored, regionally-targeted Globaloney. As adaptable to his surroundings as any desert snake, the shameless Nobel laureate told conference attendees that plunging water levels in their lakes and rivers were the result of -- guess what? Quothe the Goracle: "In this region of the world, the water crisis is one of the most important manifestations of the global climate change crisis." In reporting the story, the Associated Press offered this explanation for his reasoning: "Water...

The cemetery at Neve Allon is small, only two rows of graves, so it was easy to find Danny’s. His was one of two graves on which the Israel Defense Force (IDF) emblem had been carved. Since it was the day before Israel’s Memorial Day, the IDF had placed a small bouquet of purple flowers and a memoriam candle on the grave, and had tied a black ribbon to the flagstaff of the small Israeli flag that stood at the foot of the grave. The stone read that Daniel, the son of Harvey and Sandra, was an immigrant from the...

Israel’s 60th anniversary has prompted a rash of articles summing up the Jewish state’s achievements and problems. It’s also worth considering the world’s record vis-à-vis Israel over these six decades of its existence. The subject is very large and this article only looks at some aspects of it. 1. The difficulty of finding allies. Although, particularly with Nazi Germany’s defeat and the liberation of the camps in 1945, the Western world expressed horror over the emerging scope and nature of the Holocaust, it did not translate into caring about the struggle for survival of a few hundred thousand Jews in...

By any measure, President Bush’s speech to the Knesset last week on the occasion of Israel’s 60th birthday was nothing short of stunning. This paean to the bond between the United States and Israel, while personal in many ways, went beyond anything any U.S. president had previously said and expressed sentiments that all people of good faith and seekers of peace can relate to and embrace. The president’s message was that when it comes to Israel, the U.S. would never accommodate terrorist pressure or political importuning from any source, and those who think otherwise had better reevaluate their position. He...

Israel Children Learn About Democracy, Peace And Israel's 60th Birthday By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem ----- May 20, 2008 ....... From Metulla in the north to Eilat in the south, every school in Israel is teaching their students the meaning of Israel 60th birthday. Students of all ages and grades have been assigned a variety of tasks from collecting photographs of family, making posters, creating green environmental exhibits to learning how to use free speech on radio, TV and in the newspapers. The Israel News Agency entered a secondary school today in the central Israel town of Ra'anana...

"A little learning is a dangerous thing," wrote Alexander Pope. Daily, our 43rd president testifies to Pope's point. Addressing the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's birth, Bush said those who say we should negotiate with Iran or Hamas are like the fools who said we should negotiate with Adolf Hitler.

By Daoud Kuttab As the state of Israel celebrates its 60th birthday, Palestinians remember the naqba, or “catastrophe” - their story of dispossession, occupation, and statelessness. But, for both sides, as well as external powers, the events of 1948 and what has followed - the occupation since June 1967 of the remaining lands of historic Palestine - represents a tragic failure. Israel is most at fault for this failure, owing to its continued military occupation and illegal settlements. Despite paying lip service to peace, the Israeli refusal to leave the Occupied Territories continues to be in direct contravention to what...

The president makes a clumsy reference to Nazi Germany before Israeli lawmakers Monday, May 19, 2008 E xquisitely timed, this was not. Politicians and commentators do a disservice to history when they evoke the Third Reich to make political points, as if American policy questions can be equated to state-sponsored genocide. Such comparisons dull the uniqueness of the horrors visited upon Jews, gypsies and others during the dark years between Kristallnacht and the Allies' capture of Berlin. But there stood the POTUS, on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, addressing that country's national parliament, groping...

Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama says Israel is a "constant wound" and a "constant sore" that infects "all of our foreign policy." Obama, under fire for attracting praise and support for his presidential run from the terrorist group Hamas, spoke to Atlantic Monthly at length about his views of the Middle East. Asked if he thought Israel represented a drag on America's reputation overseas, Obama said: "No, no, no. But what I think is that this constant wound, that this constant sore, does infect all of our foreign policy. The lack of a resolution to this problem provides an excuse...

President Bush made a moving speech in Israel to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of that state. The New York Sun began its editorial "Bush's Covenant" this way: As far as political reactions go, it was a weird one. President Bush gave a beautiful and moving speech in the capital of Israel to give voice to America’s solidarity with the Jewish state. He reached back to Herzl and beyond, declaring that the establishment of the State of Israel was, as the president put it, “the redemption of an ancient promise given to Abraham and Moses and David —...

I am four things – I am an American, I am a black man, I am an academic without a home, and I am a lover of the Jewish people and of the nation of Israel.~ Ellis Washington (2007) Madam C.J. Walker Library, Detroit, Mich., circa 1967I was almost 6 years old, my brother 3 and my little sister 1. We were waiting for my mother to check out some books. Her co-workers at my local elementary school called "white lady" because she believed in educating yourself and strove for a better life through personal discipline.I remember walking up and...

On Israel 60th Birthday Bush Tells Iran, Syria, No Appeasement On Terrorism By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem ----- May 17, 2008 ....... US President George W. Bush will leave Saudi Arabia this morning for Egypt after having visited Israel for its 60th birthday celebrations. Upon his historic arrival at Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport, Bush stated: "Israel is our strongest friend and ally in the Middle East. Our two nations both faced great challenges when they were founded. And our two nations have both relied on the same principles to help us succeed. We built strong democracies to protect the...

Democrats outraged by Bush "appeasement" remark. Bush said, “America stands with you in breaking up terrorist networks and denying the extremists sanctuary. And America stands with you in firmly opposing Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions. Permitting the world’s leading sponsor of terror to possess the world’s deadliest weapon would be an unforgivable betrayal of future generations. For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” And: “Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along,” he said. “We...

Before sending Lewis and Clark west, Thomas Jefferson dispatched Meriwether Lewis to Philadelphia to see Dr. Benjamin Rush. The eminent doctor prepared a series of scientific questions for the expedition to answer. Among them, writes Stephen Ambrose: "What Affinity between their [the Indians'] religious Ceremonies & those of the Jews?" Jefferson and Lewis, like many of their day and ours, were fascinated by the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, and thought they might be out there on the Great Plains. They weren't. They aren't anywhere. Their disappearance into the mist of history since their exile from Israel in 722 B.C....

Washington and Tel Aviv vow to take 'tangible action' to prevent Iran from acquiring 'nuclear weapons', an Israeli spokesman says. Israeli premier Ehud Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, said on Friday that the diplomatic efforts to exert pressure on Iran to give up its uranium enrichment have so far been insufficient. "It is clear that additional steps will have to be taken," he continued. "We are on the same page. We both see the threat... And we both understand that tangible action is required to prevent the Iranians from moving forward on a nuclear weapon," said the Israeli spokesman. Regev then...

WHEN HE hinted to the Israeli Knesset this week that Barack Obama was an appeaser for being willing to talk to Iran, President Bush broke an unwritten rule against partisan politicking on foreign shores. He also displayed confusion about his own policies — and about the cause of his calamitous foreign policy failures. more stories like this * What they said * U.S. looks set to offer Israel powerful new radar * US-Russia pact faces opposition in Congress * Obama slams Clinton's "cowboy" talk on Iran * Petraeus promotion keeps nation on its war course * Perhaps Bush forgot that...

Thursday May 15, 2008, American media hit a new low. To paraphrase Michelle Obama, I have never been less proud of my country. On the occasion of Israel's 60th anniversary, President George W. Bush gave one of the greatest speeches of his career. Yet, America's media could only see this event through the tiny prism of the upcoming presidential election, and thereby totally ignored virtually everything that was said by the most powerful man in the world to one of our nation's greatest allies. From a speech that lasted over 20 minutes -- interrupted eight times by applause from Israeli...

As Israel enters its 61st year, Israelis may look back with pride. Yet, the realists among them must also look forward with foreboding. Israel is a modern democracy with the highest standard of living in the Middle East. In the high-tech industries of the future, she is in the first rank. From a nation of fewer than a million in 1948, Israel's population has grown to 7 million. In seven wars -- the 1948 War of Independence, the Sinai invasion of 1956, the Six-Day War of 1967, the Yom Kippur War of 1973, and the Lebanon wars of 1982 and...

Before sending Lewis and Clark west, Thomas Jefferson dispatched Meriwether Lewis to Philadelphia to see Benjamin Rush. The eminent doctor prepared a series of scientific questions for the expedition to answer. Among them, writes Stephen Ambrose: “What Affinity between their [the Indians’] religious Ceremonies & those of the Jews?” Jefferson and Lewis, like many of their day and ours, were fascinated by the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel and thought they might be out there on the Great Plains. They weren’t. They aren’t anywhere. Their disappearance into the mists of history since their exile from Israel in 722 B.C. is...

If you look a few posts below, you will find the text of President Bush’s powerful and moving speech to the Knesset today. In the course of it, he says something very general: Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: “Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.” We have an obligation to call this...

Today the President, the First Lady and Secretarry of State Condeleza Rice continue their visit to Israel celebrating the 60th anniversary of the creation of the Israeli State. Today they visited the Masada Historic Site, the ancient fortress on a plateau in the desert overlooking the Dead Sea. The President also addressed the Knesset in Jerusalem. They also attended a reception at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem where the President spoke. Pray for President Bush -- Day 2800

US President George W. Bush's speech at the Knesset on Thursday "is tantamount to a declaration of war on the peoples of the region," MK Muhammad Barakei (Hadash) has said, according to an Army Radio report. "This is the worst speech ever made by a world leader and the most dangerous that can be heard," he said. "I call on all those who believe in peace to unite against the Israeli-American policy which harms the Palestinians and the peoples of the region."

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinians marked the 60th anniversary of their uprooting with rallies, sirens and black balloons Thursday — an annual ritual made even darker this year by crippling internal divisions and diminishing independence hopes. The memorial provided a stark contrast to Israel's all-out birthday bash, which included a high-profile visit by President Bush for the 60th independence day celebration. Bush's embrace of Israel at a time when the Palestinians were mourning was bound to further harm the tainted U.S. image in Palestinian areas and across the Arab world.

As Prepared for Delivery: Remarks by the President to Members of the Knesset The White House Office of the Press Secretary (Jerusalem) Shalom. Laura and I are thrilled to be back in Israel. We have been deeply moved by the celebrations of the past two days. And this afternoon, I am honored to stand before one of the world's great democratic assemblies and convey the wishes of the American people. It is a rare privilege for an American President to address the Knesset. Although the Prime Minister told me there is something even rarer – to have just one person...

........"Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along," the President said to the country's legislative body, "We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is –- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."

William Daroff is vice president for public policy and director of the Washington office at United Jewish Communities, an organization representing America's Jewish federations. In other words, he's a lobbyist. Daroff is also one of the country's better-connected Jewish operatives. In recent months, he has been called upon to moderate dozens of panels aimed at Jewish activists and professionals, dealing with the hot topic of the day: the 2008 election and the Jewish community. This election has reignited an old debate: Which party is better for Israel—the Republicans or the Democrats? Assuming that Jewish voters care about this question, the...

US President George W. Bush sits beside Israeli parliament speaker Dalia Yitzik in Jerusalem. White House hopeful Barack Obama has accused Bush of tainting US foreign policy with the "politics of fear" after the US leader implied in Israel that Democrats would appease terrorists. U.S. President George W. Bush (R) listens to Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (L) as he speaks during a special session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, in Jerusalem May 15, 2008 U.S. President George W. Bush tours the historic fortress of Masada, Thursday, May 15, 2008, in Israel. Bush and Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and...

Pump up the Carly Simon. President George W. Bush spoke to the Israeli Knesset on Thursday morning, to mark the nation’s 60th anniversary. The president said: Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along . . . We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is —...

And Democrats are outraged!You can usually tell when President Bush hits the bullseye of truth. Democrats erupt into childish fits. They don’t like it when the President points out how little they have learned from the lessons of history and how dangerously misguided liberal policies are.When President Bush told the Israeli Knesset “Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along,” Obama and friends went into attack mode.Obama made a statement stressing the need for tough diplomacy (talk). Nancy Pelosi (whose visit to Syria...

OBAMA Bush Israeli Trying To Start Something Thu. May 15, 2008 "In a particularly sharp blast," Pres. Bush told the Israeli Knesset today that Barack Obama and other Dems are in favor of "appeasement" of terrorists in the same way U.S. leaders appeased Nazis (CNN.com, 5/15). Bush: "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have...

U.S. President George W. Bush lashed out Thursday at those who would negotiate with "terrorists," calling the approach comparable to the "appeasement" of Adolf Hitler before the Second World War, comments that were perceived as a personal attack by Senator Barack Obama. "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along," Bush said in a speech to Israel's parliament as part of the country's 60th anniversary celebrations. No names were mentioned, but it was widely seen as a criticism of Democratic presidential nomination front-runner...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama says President Bush launched a "false political attack" in remarks that appeared to imply the Democratic presidential candidate would appease dictators. Bush said in a speech to Israel's Knesset that "some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along ... We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history." Obama responded in a statement. It is "sad" that Bush would use Israel's 60th anniversary "to...

Text: Greeting to President Bush by Benjamin Netanyahu at Knesset http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=39281  Greeting to President George W. Bush The Knesset, May 14th, 2008 Benjamin Netanyahu, Head of the Opposition [Translation provided to IMRA by MK Netanyahu's office]Israel and the United States were founded on one pivotal idea - freedom: individual liberty, religious freedom and the desire to be a light unto the nations-along with the determination to resist those seeking to destroy those principles.The history of the Jewish People was deeply rooted in the creation of the United States. The first pioneers to land on the shores of America saw...

Speaking in Israel, President George Bush today slammed the policy of appeasement that led to World War II and the extermination of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust, the same policy approach he said some today favor in dealing with terrorist states such as Iran. President Bush never mentioned the name "Barack Obama" in his remarks, but the Obama campaign has stepped right in the subtle trap by decrying Bush's attack on him. He obviously recognized himself in Bush's remarks! The liberal media is going crazy, as are the Democrats. Listen to what Bush actually said . . . (Video)...

RUSH: The big news today is that George Bush is over in Israel, and in a speech at the Knesset he made some comments about how talking to tyrants is not the way to defeat them. Magic words are not going to convince your enemies to all of a sudden realize they are wrong. He said this is appeasement. The Obama campaign is erupting. They all think it's about them. Puff Daschle went, for him, what is ballistic on Fox today on the phone. I think the Puffster was actually spitting and might have shorted out his phone. Then they...

Organisers of the main celebration of Israel’s 60th anniversary in Scotland last week decided not to raise the Israeli flag for fear of provoking pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Ten years ago — for Israel’s 50th — the flag was raised on a flagpole in a ceremony outside the premises of East Renfrewshire Council where the event had been staged. But after discussions between local organisers and the council, the decision was taken not to repeat the exercise this time. The 60th event was held at the same venue, in the south of Glasgow. Adele Conn, co-chair of the Israel at 60 committee,...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President George W. Bush will tell Israel's parliament on Thursday that letting Iran acquire nuclear weapons would be an "unforgivable betrayal of future generations." "America stands with you in firmly opposing Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions," Bush will tell Israeli legislators on the second day of his visit to the Jewish state, according to an advance copy of a speech he was due to deliver later in the day. Bush was in Israel to celebrate the Jewish state's 60th anniversary and try to shore up the faltering Israeli-Palestinian peace process. In his speech to the Knesset, he planned...

President Bush said today that 60 years of Israel's existence is cause for optimism for democratic change throughout the Middle East. "What happened here is possible everywhere," Mr. Bush said, opening a trip divided between ceremonial duties and a new push for Israeli-Palestinian peace. The president, trying to hold together peace talks in his waning months in office, said modern Israel gives him a strong example to preach optimism to other nations in the region. "I suspect if you looked back 60 years ago and tried to guess where Israel would be at that time, it would be hard to...

I hope that no one will mistake me for an enemy of the British people. I lived in London for six months, and I have been a frequent visitor to England. I can testify to the warmth, hospitality, courtesy, and friendliness of her people. A foreigner staying as the guest of an English friend is cosseted as if he or she were a long-lost niece or nephew. It is easy to strike up a conversation with a total stranger in a public place who quickly becomes a friend. When one is boarding a train with a heavy bag, there is...

President Bush and Mrs. Bush arrived in Israel to take part in celebrations for the country's 60th anniversary and to inject some momentum into the current peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. TRANSCRIPT OF ARRIVAL SPEECHES

US President George W. Bush arrived in Israel shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday, his second visit to the country in approximately four months. The American leader was once again greeted in regal fashion when he landed in Ben-Gurion Airport to celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary. His reception included a red carpet ceremony, complete with army band and honor guard, attended by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres as well as cabinet ministers and assorted dignitaries. Bush left the White House late Tuesday afternoon on the trip that will first take him to attend ceremonies in Jerusalem, marking the state's...