Tel Aviv Diary: Israel is 71 years old today—and as far from peace as it ever was | Opinion

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Israelis, both right and left, are much less optimistic that peace lies in our immediate future.

Today, Israel marks the 71st anniversary of its Independence. Israelis have much to celebrate. The Israeli population has now passed the 9 million mark, having grown from 600,000 souls in 1948. Israel is no longer an impoverished third-world nation, but rather a member of the OECD, with a strong economy and a 21st-century military, which is peerless in the region.

In the evening that beckons the start of Memorial Day, every store, bar, and restaurant in the country close. In Tel Aviv, a city that never sleeps, thousands gather together in central Rabin Square to watch the official ceremony at the Western Wall on giant screens. After the close of the national commemoration, attendees in the Square spend the next two hours listening to sad songs, punctuated by stories about soldiers who gave their lives, going back to the state’s inception.

The first rows of seats in Rabin Square are reserved for the families of the fallen. It is the one honor all Israelis uniformly and categorically fear. Therein lies Israel's impossible dilemma.

When Sadat came to Jerusalem in 1978 and pledged no more war, there was a collective sigh of relief that could be heard across the planet. From that moment, until the outbreak of the second Intifada in 2000, the average Israeli believed a final peace agreement was around the corner, just waiting to be negotiated.

 

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A transplanted colony can never live in peace unless it normalizes its relations with the native population and the neighbouring states. However, Israel has become an epitomy of Nazi Germany.

it's not like they haven't tried. it's impossible to find peace with people that want to murder you.

How do they mark the birth dates of the lands they have stolen or occupied since then. Are birth dates of illegal settlements celebrated as well?

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