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Five Sept. 11 Suspects to Face Trial in New York

The Obama administration has announced it will try 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other 9-11 Gitmo detainees in a civilian federal court in New York, allowing them the protections of the U.S. Constitution even though they are not U.S. citizens.

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Four Radical Chinese Muslims Transferred to Bermuda

Four Chinese Uighers (radical Chinese Muslims) were recently transferred to Bermuda. Do you think it's a good idea to release Gitmo detainees to idyllic vacation retreats?

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May 8, 2008

Recollections on Israel at 60

Ruth King

May 14th, 1948: "This Government has been informed that a Jewish State has been proclaimed in Palestine and recognition has been requested by the provisional Government thereof. The United States recognizes the provisional government as the de facto authority of the new State of Israel." ~ Harry S. Truman

These simple, straightforward words by the President of the United States were released to the press before they were made available to the State Department or to the U.S. delegation to the United Nations. A day later the Arabs declared war, a war that continues to this day, notwithstanding temporary truces, agreements, lulls in activity, two peace treaties (with Egypt and Jordan) and so called "peace processes."

When I was a silly twelve-year-old, immediately after the 1949 "hudna" (Arabic for temporary truce), my parents and my kid brother and I went to Israel for the first time. For my parents it was a monumental experience as they reunited with so many of their friends and relatives who had endured and survived the Holocaust.

All our family....grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins were killed in Poland. Those who were left were precious to my parents, but I must confess that my brother and I, who had been born and spent the war years in Bolivia, were totally bored with everything except the beach. We were also quite callow about the endless retelling of the horrors by my parents' friends.

My father, a Zionist, insisted on touring every square inch of the little land which was a fraction of Palestine. He was quite fatuous. Every street in every city elicited a long winded history of the names such as Ben Yehuda, Bilu, Trumpeldor, etc. When he saw soldiers in a truck he would blow kisses at them and embarrass us totally.

One miserably hot day in Beersheba, the car we were in overheated and we got out, trying to find some shade. Suddenly there was a loud whir in the sky and a small formation of planes flew overhead. On the bottom of the wings was the Star of David. Suddenly my brother shouted: "Jewish planes...look at the Jewish planes!!!" That was when we both had an epiphany.

Jewish planes, Jewish guns and a Jewish army to defend Jews forever remain significant symbols of Israel for my brother and for me.

I have one other recollection to share.

My late mother was a very elegant and lovely woman who was always perfectly coiffed and dressed. By now she would be taking out the pastel clothes and shoes that one always wore only after Memorial Day and put away immediately after Labor Day. She always traveled with large cosmetic and color coded manicure kits. She had a kindness that is unequalled in the world.

One afternoon she asked me to stay with her in the hotel while my father and brother went to Jerusalem. She had an idea.

She invited four of her lady friends who had survived concentration camps and we gave them all manicures. We buffed and shaped and used pretty colors on their nails. The women were delighted and actually laughed and joked and compared colors. When I saw their wrists with the numbers burned on them waving in the air to dry the bright pink lacquer and when I heard them actually giggling with pleasure something clicked in my head.

I'm still not sure why but I'll never forget that event. I suppose it represented a return from the edge of hell to the pleasures of a life still imbued with hope. It occurred at the time of the epic rescue known as "the ingathering" where hundreds of thousands of the wretched survivors of genocide, as well as 850,000 oppressed Jews from every corner of the Arab world, found refuge, housing, counseling, vocational training and a government and army to protect them.

In these 60 years Israel has developed a superb military in which the overwhelming majority of citizens serve, and where volunteerism runs high for the most dangerous and difficult units. Israel has outstanding scientific institutions; its research and development of new medical technologies are cutting edge. Israeli contributions to computer science and production are second only to those of Silicon Valley (and many Silicon Valley companies maintain branches in Israel). Israel's advanced weapons technology is world-recognized and Israel's agricultural achievements have made her expertise widely sought after. Israel's artistic world abounds with performers, writers, painters, novelists and composers. There are advanced social institutions to protect the population's national and civil rights. In Israel's free wheeling democracy there are many newspapers, endless debate and a million opinions on everything. Religious shrines - Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Bahai - are scrupulously maintained and guarded.

Governments and policies come and go and so do despair and optimism. There are only 13 million Jews in the world today and yet Israel thrives and survives and never stoops to the gutter and brutal mores of its dangerous neighborhood.

Happy Birthday, Israel.

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