Happy Independence Day, Israel As You Turn 59!

Scheduling the memorial day right before the independence day is supposed to remind people of the price paid for independence and of what was achieved with the soldiers’ sacrifice. This transition shows the importance of this day among Israelis, among whom many, if not most, have served in the armed forces or have a connection with people who were killed during their military service.
Days before the celebration, Israeli flags begin to wave from almost every house and car. On the eve of Israel Independence Day, there are parties, singing and dancing on the streets, and fireworks. On Independence Day, everyone packs their picnic baskets with charcoal, lots of meat, Israeli salad, and bamba. Then they head out in search of the perfect picnic spot. The whole country is dotted with families outdoors enjoying “The Land.”
Acting President Dalia Itzik, whose speech opened the ceremony, referenced the connection between Independence Day and Memorial Day, saying “our grief encompasses our joy.

“Dear citizens, we live in a long war whose end we cannot see. Alongside our peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt, we hear from near and far, constant sounds of war.” Addressing the source of such incitement, she asked Iran and Syria to “leave off your wickedness, for Israel lives and lets live.”
“Residents of Iran, Syria and the Palestinian Authority, has there not been enough blood spilled, yours and ours? Replace your Katyushas and Qassams with computers and education, and finally, be rewarded with peace and quiet,” she said.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz invited families of kidnapped Israeli soldiers to the ceremony at Mount Herzl.
Among those who attended were the families of the three soldiers kidnapped by Hizbullah in 2000, the families of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev kidnapped by Hizbullah in 2006, and the family of Zachary Baumel, captured in battle in 1982.
Israel of 2007 is a very different country from Israel in 1948. The population has grown almost by almost nine times and stands at almost seven million people. Israel now has five cities with over 200,000 residents each, a far cry from 1948, when Tel Aviv was the only city with over 100,000 residents.

Wild Thing’s comment………
Since 1948, Israel has defended itself against the hostility of its neighbors and the enmity of many who wished the State would disappear. And not only did Israel survive — it thrived. I pray they never ever lose their inheritance again.
But of course the enemy cannot let them celebrate in peace, no way.
Dozens of Celebrating Jews Threatened by Israeli Arab Mob
(IsraelNN.com) An Arab mob of several thousand – including young men on horseback and others waving PLO flags – surrounded and threatened about 150 Jews from Haifa who went to a public forest to celebrate Israeli Independence Day. A Jewish young man was lightly injured in the ensuing clash.
On Tuesday afternoon, shortly after the group of Haifa families made their way to the Megiddo Forest, in the north of the country, a group of Arab youths on horseback accosted the Jewish celebrants, jeered and threatened them. As the young Arab men continued their menacing behavior, they called more Arab youths to join them. Some of the new arrivals were waving flags of the PLO terrorist organization.

“Within a short time, there were hundreds of Arabs surrounding us,” one of the Jewish celebrants said. “We felt threatened. We are here with little children and they are threatening us. We called the police. They promised they would handle it and send a patrol car, but the car never arrived. We called the police again and again, but the help never arrived.”

At this stage of the incident, a few of the Jewish young men, with Israeli flags in hand, charged the gathering Arab mob. Within moments, a fight broke out, during which one of the Jewish youths suffered a light injury to the face. The Arabs, still threatening the Jewish families, called for more of their comrades to join them.
Within forty minutes of the start of the incident, 6,000 Arabs waving PLO flags and making menacing threats had gathered around the group of Jews in Megiddo Forest. It was only at this point that a border guard patrol jeep showed up on the scene, with just six soldiers.
Speaking from the forest at about 3:40 pm, one member of the Jewish group described the outcome of the day’s events:

“The border guards are handling [the group of Arabs] and trying to block them. They are a few dozen meters from us. We are folding up to go. They are staying here. We can’t stay here when we have so many little children with us. …It is sad that this is the picture in the center of the country on the Independence Day of the State of Israel.”