Israelis put aside their many divisions yesterday to remember more than 22,000 fallen soldiers and terror victims, mournfully aware that the strife that led to those deaths is far from over.
Memories of the recent war against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip are raw. Although Israeli casualties were low — 13 dead compared with more than 1,400 Palestinians — Israel emerged from the offensive facing war crimes allegations and the realization that the widespread devastation in Gaza has done little to assure the Jewish state peace and security.
The specter of a nuclear Iran also loomed large, as military chief Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi said on Monday night, when official state memorial day ceremonies began.
PHOTO: EPA
Vitriolic statements against Israel delivered by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a UN conference last week “still resonate and remind us well that in the 61st year of Israel’s independence, the threats against it haven’t stopped or slowed,” Ashkenazi said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose hawkish government is expected to toughen Israel’s stance against the Palestinians and Iran, said on Monday that Israel must remain strong militarily to fend off threats.
But “in spite of the difficulties, we will continue our efforts to complete the circle of peace with our neighbors,” he added.
Since Netanyahu took office a month ago, his government has signaled a willingness to restart peace negotiations with both Syria and the Palestinians, but his hardline approach to peacemaking clouds prospects for success.
Memorial Day is one of the most emotional days on the Israeli calendar. Nearly every Israeli family has been touched by decades of conflict, either losing a relative in battle or knowing someone else who has.
Ceremonies were planned throughout the day at military cemeteries across the country. Radio and television stations played somber music and devoted programs to retelling the stories of soldiers killed in battle. Movie theaters, restaurants and other places of entertainment were closed, schools held memorial services and a two-minute siren was to sound at mid-morning, bringing much of the country to a standstill.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
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