Israel at 57

Israel at 57, middle aged. We have done a great thing here, building a
viable country from scratch under constant attack and threat.
But, it was at great cost, nearly 27,000 Jews died from before the state was
founded, both in uniform and civilians. Of those ca. 1,200 were killed by
terrorists in the past 5 years of the intifada. Yesterday we honored all of
them in Yom Hazikaron, Remembrance Day for the Fallen. This was only a week
after Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. Yes, we Jews have a lot of
our people to remember.
It has been noted that the commemoration by Israel for the Fallen soldiers
is done somewhat more devotedly in Israel than for the Shoah victims. I
suppose this is because they mostly died young, fighting to defend the
State, while most Holocaust victims were just that, victims. Israelis
prefer the active to the passive, which they don't altogether understand.
It was noted that PM Sharon seemed ill at ease at Auschwitz, he did not fit
in there, it was not natural for him, as compared for example to PM Begin,
who came from that European milieu. Sharon is a Sabra, born and raised on
the land here. So do the generations change.
When I drove to Jerusalem a few days ago I had to pass thru a security
checkpoint. Of course, there was a traffic backup, but I passed thru
quickly. Maybe it was because I had two Israeli flags flying from my car.
On Independence Day here it is customary to fly the Israeli flag from cars
and homes. The whole city is bedecked with blue and white. I know that in
the US people would be scared to fly the Israeli flag from their car, or
have a sticker with it on. People of other nationalities have no such
compunction, Italian Americans have the Italian flag, and blacks some kind
of African flag, and so on, but Jews do not have the Israeli insignia, such
as the Magen David. Some anti-Semite might attack you, might curse you or
hurl something or even worse. The same is true even more so in Britain and
Europe. Jews fear to be identified as such in public places, many religious
Jews remove their kippot, and women hide their Magen David necklaces inside
their clothes. Such is the state of freedom in our great democracies.
That's one reason I delight in living in Israel, freedom from fear! Of
course, we have another kind of fear, namely terrorism. But, fortunately,
fighting back has so far worked. Many terrorists are dead and although we
lost many of our people, we did not give in to despair. There is a
significant lull in the terror, even though there are still rockets fired
and attempts by suicide bombers. During this lull life has returned almost
to normal, and there is a surge in tourism and life outdoors.
Last night people gathered in every city and town in Israel and celebrated.
There were fireworks and music, and even though there was security, we take
that for granted. It was an enjoyable evening and we all felt happy that
Israel is very much alive.