Israel's 60th Anniversary

Today is Israel's 60th anniversary and I wonder, how do Israels feel about this celebration? How do Palestinians feel? It reminds me of so many battles - the struggle between the Southerners and the Union toops during the American civil war, the battle for independence by so many small African countries trying to finally stake their claim after years as European colonies. Who are these people that suffer for that small bit of independence they've been yearning after? For the small piece of land they want to say they belong to? It seems to put things into perspective for me. Who is to say the U.S. deserved to win the war? What if we were just another dot on the map and controlled even today by Great Britain. This, at least, causes me to sympathize with the Palestinians and the Israeli Peoples, searching for a place to call home and will never be completely safe until the ethnic battle is settled and there is peace. And I'm not sure how excited I feel that the U.S. is taking side when there are obvious human atrocities committed on both sides of this battlefield.

Israel's 60thAP is reporting: "President Bush on Wednesday opened a celebratory visit to Israel ... 'We consider the Holy Land a very special place, and we consider the Israeli people our close friends,' Bush said. ... The Palestinians are marking the 60th anniversary of the 'nakba,' or catastrophe..."ALICE ROTHCHILD, dkar@rcn.com, http://alicerothchild.com Currently in Washington, D.C., Rothchild is author of the new book "Broken Promises, Broken Dreams: Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience." She is active with Jewish Voice for Peace. Her piece "The Other Side of Israel's Birth" appears in today's Baltimore Sun: "As Israel celebrates its 60th anniversary ... I wonder what would happen if this tragedy, al Nakba, were to be publicly recognized alongside the Israeli victory. Perhaps taking the risk of acknowledging the pain of the 'other' and seeing 'the enemy' as a real person is how peace is ultimately made." http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.nakba14may14,0,6220379.story Rothchild said today: "The stance of the major party presidential candidates is a testament to how powerful the pro-Israeli lobby is."
SALMAN ABU SITTA, info@plands.org, http://www.plands.orgSAMAR ASSAD, sassad@palestinecenter.org, http://palestinecenter.org Founder and president of the Palestine Land Society based in London, Salman Abu Sitta is editor of "The Atlas of Palestine." He will be arriving in the U.S. on Wednesday evening. He said today: "The 60th anniversary of al Nakba -- that is, the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians -- and the creation of Israel on the ruins of Palestine shows that wars, occupation, brutal force and racist policies will not bring peace to the Holy Land. It is only justice based on international law that will bring it. That can be achieved by reversing ethnic cleansing and allowing the Palestinian refugees to return home. There is no legal or practical reason to prevent that except Israel's intransigence." Abu Sitta will speak at the Palestine Center in Washington, D.C. on Thursday at noon. Assad is executive director of the Palestine Center.