14th May 1948: Following Resolution 181 of the UN General Assembly on 29 November 1947, the representatives of the Jewish Yishuv assembled under the leadership of David Ben-Gurion to declare the independence of the state of Israel.
14.05.2021
14th May 1948: Following Resolution 181 of the UN General Assembly on 29 November 1947, the representatives of the Jewish Yishuv assembled under the leadership of David Ben-Gurion to declare the independence of the state of Israel.
2,000 years of exile all over the world came to an end. The Jews declared once again their own sovereign - but it was not accepted by everyone. On the next day, the armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq invaded its territory, with the aim of eliminating the historical moment of Jewish history. Against all odds, Israel managed to defeat all five armies and in less than one year it declared victory.
73 years has passed since Israel’s declaration of independence. Jews from all over the world could finally escape to a refuge where they were safe from persecution and pogroms. In 73 years, Israel’s population grew from 806 thousand to 9 million. Israel became a modern, developed country, which joined the globe’s family of democratic states, and continues producing never-ending innovation. It overcame several wars and emergencies which threatened its existence. It succeeded in winning wars against enemies who were larger in size and numbers. But in 73 years, there is still one struggle that Israel still has not won: The struggle to live in peace with its neighboring countries in the Middle East and to earn its legitimacy as a Jewish-democratic state from the entire of the world.
73 years passed and 23,928 casualties of war have fallen victims to the horrors of warfare and terrorist attacks. Many of them were survivors of the Jewish holocaust or descendants of them. Neither did they nor the founders of Israel were given the privilege to witness the end of this struggle.
This is the struggle where a holocaust survivor got off the Israeli shore, got his weapon, and sacrificed his life in battle the next day. This the struggle where siblings, relatives and friends from both sides of the conflict, who had all their lives ahead of them were gone too soon. This is the struggle that our generation finally ought to witness its end: The struggle for peace!
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