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Only 20 of the 160 people who showed up to participate in the conference connecting Nakba Day and Independence Day were Arab Unlike those who relate them, the Israeli-Jewish narrative and the Palestinian-Arab narratives usually share what seems to be a productive coexistence, a kind of strange mutual support system: the more one develops and grows, so its colleague-rival is reinforced and strengthened. So just now there is a festival of narratives: the traditional torch-lighting on Mount Herzl was accompanied last week by a "Procession of Return" event, which is held annually on the Hebrew date of Independence Day, and...

Over the past week, and I suspect for the next week, many of us have read, or at least seen, numerous articles on Israel and her 60th anniversary. Many of these articles stated the seemingly obvious fact that the reestablishment of the state of Israel was nothing short of a miracle. In many ways that is very true, but is it the real miracle? Other countries have disappeared only to be reestablished though none waited quite as long as the Jewish state. So, if Israel returning to the list of countries after almost 2000 years is not the miracle, what...

This week marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel. There have already been many birthday greetings, some heartfelt, some perfunctory, along with numerous reflections on the meaning of the occasion, some profound, some commonplace. For me, however, a discordant voice broke through. Israel is a “stinking corpse” on its way to “annihilation,” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last Thursday as Israel celebrated Independence Day. “Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken,” proclaimed the president of Iran, a nation that is...

TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Israel was born not only into war, carnage and controversy but also into shortage. Shorn of cash and goods, it had to ration meat, eggs and cooking oil through a coupon system that soon generated undernourishment, bread lines and a thriving black market. Worse, lacking allies, trade partners and natural resources while swamped by poor immigrants, the Israeli economy was also burdened by its leaders' rigorous socialism. Central planning initially generated growth, but Israel's protectionist duties, sclerotic financial system, high labor costs, bloated public sector and exorbitant defense spending soon proved untenable. By the 1980s the...

Israel, your people, as well as people of good will, are celebrating your sixtieth birthday. We, the children of Cyrus the Great, also would like to offer our heartfelt best wishes to you on this occasion. Yet, this, in fact, is your rebirth. Your birth occurred some 4,000 years ago. Regrettably, your journey from your early beginning to the present has been fraught with great suffering. It is a tribute to the indomitable spirit of your people that they persisted in their valiant struggle to re-gather again in the land of their birth. A noble and just Persian king, Cyrus...

THE BIRTH of the state of Israel 60 years ago this week was an astonishment. It is not unheard of for a nation to vanish from the map and later reappear. Poland, for example, was partitioned out of existence in 1795 and regained its independence in 1918. But the restoration of Israel was unlike anything the world had ever seen. more stories like thisJews had been deprived of their homeland for nearly 2,000 years, ever since the Roman devastation of Judea in the first and second centuries A.D. That upheaval had been cataclysmic. By the time the fighting ended in...

On Israel 60th Birthday, Picnics And A Warning To Iran By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem ----- May 11, 2008 ....... Israel is celebrating her 60th birthday this week. From colorful fireworks, laser shows and Israel flag draped skyscrapers to country picnics, folk dancing and IDF parachute drops. The mood is upbeat. And Israel security forces deserve a loud applause for their Intel and field work in preventing Islamic terror attacks from interrupting this joyous and historic anniversary. But quietly inserted into Israel's 60th birthday celebrations was a highly lethal message for Iran. It was not articulated in the...

In all the commentary on Israel's 60th anniversary that has appeared on these pages over the last week, little has been said about what may be the most remarkable and important attribute of the Jewish state: the rule of law. Noting, as so many have, that Israel is a democracy in a region awash with totalitarianism is important, but that broad concept has many specific attributes. At the core of democracy is a method by which undemocratic or illegal behaviour by government can be challenged by citizens. If such challenges are successful, government must then be bound to change its...

Israel’s doom would be bad news for Europe. Almost everywhere I went last week — TV, radio, speeches — I was asked about the 60th anniversary of the Israeli state. I don’t recall being asked about Israel quite so much on its 50th anniversary, which as a general rule is a much bigger deal than the 60th. But these days friends and enemies alike smell weakness at the heart of the Zionist Entity. Assuming President Ahmadinejad’s apocalyptic fancies don’t come to pass, Israel will surely make it to its 70th birthday. But a lot of folks don’t fancy its prospects...

The establishment of the state of Israel on May 15, 1948 was the most significant event in the history of the Jewish people in modern times. After an exile of almost 2000 years, the Jewish people are returning to their ancient homeland, a tiny little piece of land in the Middle East of which they were dreaming, yearning and praying for, for many centuries all over the world. The millions who emigrated to Israel before and after the establishment of the state and those who come today are not just "colonial settlers" who arrived to a remote and unknown plot...

ISSUE: Jewish state celebrates 60 years of existence. Sixty years after its birth, the state of Israel finds one thing hasn't changed much. It still has to fight, every day, for its very existence. It still has to be wary, it still has to battle enemies on all sides, it still has to take international criticism when it retaliates against those who want the nation destroyed. Indeed, it is that perseverance, that will to exist, that should be celebrated this month, as Israel marks 60 years of independence.

Sixty years after its establishment by an internationally recognized act of self-determination, Israel remains the only state in the world that is subjected to a constant outpouring of the most outlandish conspiracy theories and blood libels; whose policies and actions are obsessively condemned by the international community; and whose right to exist is constantly debated and challenged not only by its Arab enemies but by segments of advanced opinion in the West. During the past decade or so, the actual elimination of the Jewish state has become a cause célèbre among many of these educated Westerners. The “one-state solution,” as...

Sixty years after its establishment by an internationally recognized act of self-determination, Israel remains the only state in the world that is subjected to a constant outpouring of the most outlandish conspiracy theories and blood libels; whose policies and actions are obsessively condemned by the international community; and whose right to exist is constantly debated and challenged not only by its Arab enemies but by segments of advanced opinion in the West. During the past decade or so, the actual elimination of the Jewish state has become a cause célèbre among many of these educated Westerners. The “one-state solution,” as...

Israel's 60th Independence Day is an excuse for the international media to weigh in on the state of the Jewish state. Given the anti-Israel bias of most of the international media, not surprisingly, most of the reports reveal less about Israel's status at 60 than they reveal about how anti-Zionists perceive Israel at 60. Two critiques - both cover stories of major magazines - stand out in this regard. In Canada, Maclean's magazine's May 5 cover pictures three Israeli soldiers struggling to raise the national flag. The headline reads, "Why Israel Can't Survive." In the US, the cover of The...

Two religiously-identified new states emerged from the shards of the British empire in the aftermath of World War II. Israel, of course, was one; the other was Pakistan. They make an interesting, if little-compared pair. Pakistan's experience with widespread poverty, near-constant internal turmoil, and external tensions, culminating in its current status as near-rogue state, suggests the perils that Israel avoided, with its stable, liberal political culture, dynamic economy, cutting-edge high-tech sector, lively culture, and impressive social cohesion. But for all its achievements, the Jewish state lives under a curse that Pakistan and most other polities never face: the threat of...

More than 100 paratroopers from around the world jumped from military planes into Israel's sparkling blue Mediterranean skies Monday afternoon as they rehearsed for a special Independence Day performance set for Thursday. At least 120 paratroopers will parachute along the beaches of Ashkelon to salute the IDF as part of the celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of establishment of the State of Israel, according to the IDF. Over the past weekend 150 foreign paratroopers representing armies from around the world arrived in Israel. Among them are paratroopers from the US, England, France, Spain, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Singapore, South...

President Shimon Peres' office has been flooded in recent days with letters from world leaders congratulating the Israeli people on the country's 60th anniversary. Among those who sent their blessings were Queen Elizabeth II, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, Irish President Mary McAleese, Austrian leader Heinz Fischer and many others. "As you know, France has always been committed to Israel's security and to the pursuit of a comprehebnsive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East," Sarkozy wrote to his Israeli counterpart, "France will continue to stand by your side and work...

(IsraelNN.com) Iranian Jewish leader Siamal Morsadegh, slated to become a member of the Iranian parliament, said he is calling on the Jewish community not to celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary as a modern state because of the killing of "innocent" Arabs. The approximately 25,000 Jews in Iran largely enjoy religious freedom and economic prosperity and often distance themselves from pro-Israel stands. "We are in complete disagreement with the behavior of Israel," Morsadegh told Reuters News Agency. "We are Iranians. We have no relations with Israel."

Dispatch from the war front, May 14, 1948: After 2,000 years as wanderers over the face of the Earth, the Jews proclaimed their own sovereign state today and girded to fight the Arabs in its defense. Armies of five Arab nations were poised on the Palestine frontiers. Enemy planes dive-bombed Tel Aviv and Sarona. There was heavy fighting in Jerusalem, where troops of the new Jewish army were reported to have seized control of the heart of the city. President Truman announced that the United States recognizes the new Jewish state in Palestine. The new state, born in fire, formally...

On Sept. 10, 1945, I landed in Palestine. Why was I there? The truth is, I didn't really have any other place to go. I'd lost my entire family to the Nazis so it was unthinkable to go back to Germany. I'd found safety in Switzerland, but once the war was over, all the refuges there had to find a different homeland. The United States was a place I dreamed of, but getting there was an impossibility. But the Jews were founding a new state in Palestine where I was not only wanted, but needed. I went to a kibbutz,...

JERUSALEM — As Israel toasts its 60th anniversary in the coming weeks, rejoicing in Jewish national rebirth and democratic values, the Arabs who make up 20 percent of its citizens will not be celebrating. Better off and better integrated than ever in their history, freer than a vast majority of other Arabs, Israel’s 1.3 million Arab citizens are still far less well off than Israeli Jews and feel increasingly unwanted. On Thursday, which is Independence Day, thousands will gather in their former villages to protest what they have come to call the “nakba,” or catastrophe, meaning Israel’s birth. For most...

Almost everywhere I went last week – TV, radio, speeches – I was asked about the 60th anniversary of the Israeli state. I don't recall being asked about Israel quite so much on its 50th anniversary, which, as a general rule, is a much bigger deal than the 60th. But these days friends and enemies alike smell weakness at the heart of the Zionist Entity. Assuming Iranian President Ahmadinejad's apocalyptic fancies don't come to pass, Israel will surely make it to its 70th birthday. But a lot of folks don't fancy its prospects for its 80th and beyond. See the...

Oscar winner Jon Voight is coming to Israel next week for his first solidarity visit to salute the Jewish state in honor of its 60th birthday. World-renowned for his roles in "Midnight Cowboy," "Coming Home," "Deliverance," "Mission Impossible," "Ali and National Treasure," among others, Voight will welcome Chabad’s Children of Chernobyl’s (CCOC) 80th rescue mission airlifting children from irradiated regions in Ukraine, Belarus and Western Russia to Israel; visit Sderot, which has endured 7,000 Hamas missiles and numerous casualties; comfort terror victims; and, go to Yad Vashem. “I’m coming to salute, encourage and strengthen the people of Israel on this...

As Israel celebrates its 60th birthday, the world should recognize the enormous gifts the Jewish state has given the world. Israel has exported more lifesaving medical technology to the far-flung corners of the earth than any nation of comparable size. It has done more to protect the environment, to promote literature, music, the arts and sciences, to spread agricultural advances and to fight terrorism within the rule of law. Israel has created a legal system that is the envy of the world, with a Supreme Court that is open to all with few, if any, restrictions on its jurisdiction. As...

The Palestinian Authority is planning to mark Israel's 60th anniversary by calling on all Palestinians living abroad to converge on Israel by land, sea and air. The plan, drawn by Ziad Abu Ein, a senior Fatah operative and Deputy Minister for Prisoners' Affairs in the Palestinian Authority, states that the Palestinians have decided to implement United Nations Resolution 194 regarding the refugees. Article 11 of the resolution, which was passed in December 1948, says that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date,...

The Palestinian Authority is planning to mark Israel's 60th anniversary by calling on all Palestinians living abroad to converge on Israel by land, sea and air. The plan, drawn by Ziad Abu Ein, a senior Fatah operative and Deputy Minister for Prisoners' Affairs in the Palestinian Authority, states that the Palestinians have decided to implement United Nations Resolution 194 regarding the refugees. Article 11 of the resolution, which was passed in December 1948, says that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date,...

Russia has offered to host and finance events to mark Israel's 60th anniversary, but an official source in Jerusalem cautioned that there are no free lunches in Moscow. The source said the Kremlin's "embrace of Israel" would bring it political benefits. "There are no free lunches where the Russians are concerned. They are doing this to gain influence and they won't hesitate to pour money into the Israel anniversary events," the source said. A few days ago the minister in charge of the 60th anniversary celebrations, Ruhama Avraham Balila, met senior Russian officials in Moscow. Vyacheslav Nikonov, the executive director...

The Israel Project by: Meagan Buren, April 07, 2008 The Israel Project (TIP) is pleased to invite all filmmakers, writers and other artists around the world with a passion for Israel to submit entries for a first-ever contest commemorating Israel’s founding 60 years ago. TIP will award a total of $20,000 to the winning submissions in each of the following formats: · Television Advertisement (30 seconds) · Video (30 seconds - 7 minutes) · Printable Flyer (8 ½ x 11 inches) Entries will be accepted in English, French, Spanish, German, Arabic and Russian and must be submitted March 31 –...

9/13/2007 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Airmen will have a unique opportunity to commemorate the Air Force's 60th anniversary Sept. 18 through Oct. 18. The Air Force and U.S. Postal Service have joined forces to offer a commemorative postmark that will be available for cancellation from Sept. 18 to Oct. 18 at 40 base post offices worldwide. The pictorial cancellation features the B-24 Liberator bomber, which was flown in every combat theater during World War II. "This postmark has special meaning because bombers were the swords of Air Force history," said Andrew Stephens, a historian for the 11th Wing at Bolling...

In one of the most famous orations of the Cold War period, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill condemns the Soviet Union's policies in Europe and declares, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent." Churchill's speech is considered one of the opening volleys announcing the beginning of the Cold War. Churchill, who had been defeated for re-election as prime minister in 1945, was invited to Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri where he gave this speech. President Harry S. Truman joined Churchill on the platform and listened intently to his...

Churchill's speech defined the world order for the next 40 years In his "Iron Curtain" speech, delivered exactly 60 years ago, Winston Churchill brilliantly defined an era. The speech may also have lessons for the present. It was a heroic but troubled time. The world was in turmoil after the most terrible conflict in human history. On 5 March 1946 Churchill was no longer the UK's prime minister but he still enjoyed a giant reputation around the world. So US President Harry Truman himself travelled 1,000 miles to Fulton, Missouri, to hear Churchill give a speech after receiving an...

The story of ‘how we won the war’ has failed to give credit to the colossal – and costly – effort in the Soviet East to bring down Hitler, writes leading historian Norman Davies The celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the second world war are likely to be the most verbose, the least reflective and the last. In Moscow, politicians will be lining up to extract their pound of kudos from the main victory celebrations on offer. The host, President Putin, will say Soviet forces played the prime role in defeating Nazi Germany. This will...

Try, if you can, to picture the scene. A vast crowd in Red Square: Lenin's tomb and Stalin's memorial in the background. Soldiers march in goose step behind rolling tanks, and the air echoes with martial music, occasionally drowned out by the whine of fighter jets. On the reviewing stand, statesmen are gathered: Kim Jong Il, the dictator of North Korea, Alexander Lukashenko, the dictator of Belarus, Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, the former dictator of Poland — and President George W. Bush. That description may sound fanciful or improbable. It is neither. On the contrary, that is more or less what...

It was early June 1942 and Jeweldeen "Dean" Brown, a young radioman serving aboard the submarine USS Trout, was itching for the chance to fire a few torpedoes into the sides of a couple of Japanese ships. Brown, a Missouri native, was frustrated when the Trout and other U.S. Navy submarines were ordered to take up defensive positions west of Midway, to prevent transports carrying a massive Japanese invasion force from reaching the American-held island in the Central Pacific. "I didn't understand then why we didn't go after the Japanese," said Brown, 79, who retired to Montville after a Navy...