Israel’s 60th Birthday

Lance Armstrong, 7 times winner of the tour de France, has agreed to join Israel in its celebrations marking 60 years of Independence in 2008. Does Lance realise that while for the Israelis 1948 was a miracle, the best year in Jewish history, for the Palestinians it was exactly the opposite? They call it the Nakba: the catastrophe. In his recent book Israeli professor Ilan Pappe illustrates how Israeli leaders planned for and carried out the ethnic cleaning of the Palestinians. While Lance might enjoy the party in Israel, if he had a heart, he’d remember the suffering in Palestine.

Sources

• Israel invites Lance Armstrong for state’s 60th birthday
• The History of Israel Reconsidered: A Talk by Ilan Pappe