Israel this week celebrates its 60th birthday with military displays,
barbecues and a Bible quiz but also with a cloud of uncertainty hanging
over its prime minister's political future.
Air shows, concerts, beach parties and fireworks will mark the six
decades since the Jewish state was founded according to the Hebrew lunar
calender.
Several members of parliament have urged Olmert to quit or at least step
aside pending the outcome of the latest investigation into corruption
allegations against him, the fifth such probe since he took power.
___________________________________________--
Israel throws 60th birthday bash under cloud of uncertainty
AFP - Wednesday, May 7
JERUSALEM (AFP) - - Israel this week celebrates its 60th birthday with
military displays, barbecues and a Bible quiz but also with a cloud of
uncertainty hanging over its prime minister's political future.
Air shows, concerts, beach parties and fireworks will mark the six
decades since the Jewish state was founded according to the Hebrew lunar
calender.
For many, the three-day weekend will be an opportunity to escape to
beaches or the countryside for picnics and barbecues, and opposition
politicians have suggested Prime Minister Ehud Olmert should also get
away from it all.
Several members of parliament have urged Olmert to quit or at least step
aside pending the outcome of the latest investigation into corruption
allegations against him, the fifth such probe since he took power.
Olmert has denied any wrongdoing and insisted he will continue his
duties as premier.
While the big bash is on Thursday, celebrations will continue for weeks
and some foreign dignitaries will only join in later, including US
President George W. Bush who is scheduled to travel to Israel next week.
Israel's vaunted military, which defeated Arab armies to forge the
Jewish state in 1948, will play a key role. Its displays will include a
jump by 150 paratroopers from different countries over the seaside town
of Ashkelon on Thursday.
In a reminder that Israel remains mired in conflict with the
Palestinians, the army says it will offer guided tours of copies of
tunnels used to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip.
It will also display a model of underground bunkers and missile launch
sites used by Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia which Israel battled to a
bloody 34-day stalemate in 2006.
The more religiously minded can take part in an international Bible
quiz, while for those seeking intellectual stimulation, President Shimon
Peres is to host a conference on challenges facing Israel and the world.
On Tuesday evening, Peres led the nation in remembrance of its fallen in
successive Arab-Israeli wars, lighting the flame of remembrance at the
Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site.
"The Jewish people returned here to struggle for its homeland and it is
your sons who have put up the fight," the president said.
"For 60 years now, we have had our homeland and have built it on a sea
of tears... We want to live in peace with our neighbours and want to
shake hands with them but our enemies know too that we can also press
the trigger."
The president spoke after the sirens sounded across Israel at 8 pm (1700
GMT) to start the annual minute's silence to remember its fallen.
But as Israel held its annual commemorations, Palestinians marked six
decades of what they call the "Naqba" -- Arabic for catastrophe.
The Western Wall, where Peres gave his speech, lies in Arab east
Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in 1967 but which the Palestinians want
to make the capital of their promised state.
Every year as Israel celebrates its anniversary, the Palestinians
remember the 700,000 or so of their fellow citizens who fled or were
forced from their homes as the Jewish state was created and who, with
their descendants, now form a UN-registered refugee population of more
than 4.5 million.
Sixty years on, Israel and the Palestinians remain locked in a seemingly
intractable conflict.
UN agencies say the Gaza Strip is on the brink of a humanitarian
disaster as a result of a crippling blockade Israel has imposed on the
impoverished territory since the Islamist Hamas movement seized power
there last June.
In the occupied West Bank, construction of new homes for Jewish settlers
in defiance of both international law and an internationally drafted
peace plan has cast a huge shadow over a new peace push launched in
November.
The separation barrier Israel has been building the length of the
territory and the 500 or so roadblocks that hamper movement around it
remain a source of frustration for Palestinians and a key obstacle to
economic development.
The Israeli army further tightened the restrictions for the anniversary
celebrations, imposing a three-day security lockdown on the territory
until midnight (2100 GMT) on Thursday.
warned of a possible "major attack" by Hamas during the anniversary
celebrations.
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