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Illustrative photo credit: Israel Defense Forces [License]

Yom Ha’atzmaut in Jerusalem :: State of Israel Celebrates 73 Miraculous Years

Wednesday was Yom HaZikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day) that leads directly in to Yom Ha’atzmaut (Independence Day), which begins on Wednesday night and continues through Thursday. The official national ceremonies take place in Israel’s eternal unified capital of Jerusalem.

Illustrative photo credit: Israel Defense Forces [License]

Israel at 73: Festivities & Dramatic IAF Flyover to Celebrate Independence Day

Article Courtesy: The Jewish Voice

Hundreds of Israeli flags are in place; the Air Force has been rehearsing its formation fly-by routine for days; platforms and sound systems stand ready in the main squares in town; and there’s a discernible festive air in the Jewish state. But before Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations of the nation’s 73rd birthday take place on April 15th, Israel pays its annual tribute to those who fell in battles and terror attacks that continue to claim lives even until today.
Officially known as Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day, Yom Hazikaron takes place the day before Yom Ha’atzmaut, and the piercing siren brings the country to a complete standstill at 8 p.m., then again at 11 a.m. the next morning for two minutes of silent remembrance. The abrupt change in atmosphere between the two days is stunning and uniquely Israeli.

See the extended article for more…

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In this photograph from October 1994, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh (1921-2021), can be seen planting a maple sapling in the Righteous Among the Nations plot at Yad Vashem, in memory of his mother Princess Alice of Battenburg, who hid a Jewish family in her home during the Nazi occupation of Greece.

Here is an excerpt from Prince Philip's remarks at the ceremony:

"We did not know, and, as far as we know, she never mentioned to anyone, that she had given refuge to the Cohen family at a time when all Jews in Athens were in great danger of being arrested and transported to the concentration camps.

In retrospect, this reticence may seem strange, but I suspect that it never occurred to her that her action was in any way special. She would have considered it to be a perfectly natural human reaction to fellow beings in distress. You must also bear in mind that she had been well aware of the Nazi persecution of the Jews for many years.

Even I, at the age of twelve in the 1930s, had first-hand experience of the antisemitic frenzy that was gripping the members of the National Socialist party in Germany in those days. I had just moved from a private school in England to attend the boarding school at Salem in the south of Germany belonging to one of my brothers-in-law. The founder of the school, Kurt Hahn, had already been driven out of Germany by Nazi persecution and this was well known throughout the school.

It was the custom of the school to appoint a senior boy to look after the new arrivals. I was unaware of it at the time, but it so happened that our 'Helper', as he was called, was of Jewish origin. One night he was over-powered in his bed and had all his hair cut off. You can imagine what an effect this had on us junior boys. Nothing could have given us a clearer indication of the meaning of persecution.

It so happened that I had played cricket for my school in England and I still had my cricket cap with me. I offered it to our Helper and I was pleased to see that he wore it.

It is a small and insignificant incident, but it taught me a very important lesson about man's capacity for inhumanity, and I have never forgotten it."

Prince Philip will be missed.

Photo by Beni Birk, the Dan Hadani Collection, the Pritzker Family National Photography Collection at the National Library of Israel.

Yad Vashem: World Holocaust Center, Jerusalem ... See MoreSee Less

13 hours ago
Jerusalem :: In this photograph from October 1994, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh (1921-2021), can be seen planting a maple sapling in the Righteous Among the Nations plot at Yad Vashem, in memory of his mother Princess Alice of Battenburg, who hid a Jewish family in her home during the Nazi occupation of Greece.
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RIP Prince Philip

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We salute the convoys of soldiers and Jewish citizens who came with supplies and reinforcements to help Jerusalem during the Arab siege on the city in 1947-1948. Without these brave men and women, many of whom were killed in action, the War of Independence and the State of Israel would have ended up very differently. This picture depicts one such caravan of trucks winding its way up the narrow and steep road toward Jerusalem in the spring of 1948.
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One Jerusalem

photo credit: Etienne Valois

Established in January 2001, One Jerusalem is a strong, broad-spanning, non-profit, educational foundation committed to preserving a united Jerusalem, under 100% Israeli sovereignty. Jerusalem stands as the exclusive capital of the state of Israel, and only the Israeli government will protect and maintain access to the holy sites for members of all three major religions as well as others. One Jerusalem is a USA 501(c)(3) organization, and does not accept government funding of any kind.
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