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.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS