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Israel embarked on “70 hours of celebrations” to mark the 70th anniversary of the creation of the Jewish state on Wednesday, according to the Hebrew calendar.
Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev said Israel’s Independence Day celebrations will be kick-started with a torch-lighting ceremony on Wednesday evening and continue through Shabbat on Saturday, the traditional Jewish day of rest, the Jerusalem Post reported
“These will be 70 hours of celebrations in Israeli society that connect us all,” Regev said as he detailed the festivities. “The events are tailored for both young and veteran audiences, for entire families, and also for Jews around the world. We are going to host the most-talked-about and moving events in Israeli society, full of energy, positivity and joy. It will be exciting, distinguished and touching, just as this country that we love so dearly deserves.”
A file photo of Israeli Culture and Sports minister Miri Regev.
The Post reported that “all the usual Independence Day festivities will be bigger and more extravagant for the state’s momentous anniversary, with every Israeli organization and establishment marking the occasion even better than they did last year.”
The events over the three days will include: “Israel and the world sing together,” in which Israelis and Diaspora Jews will sing simultaneously; a fireworks show; a “70-km party” that will rave across the country from Tiberias to Eilat; and a “Parade of Lights” planned for Thursday night, illustrating Israel’s success and innovation.
A pre-Shabbat “70th Hora” will be held on Friday evening, with Israelis folk-dancing in group circles. The closing ceremony on Saturday night will be a “soundtrack event for Israeli society,” honoring dignitaries both living and dead, the Post reported.
The overall theme for this year’s events is “Heritage of Innovation,” drawing upon Israel’s successes as the Start-Up Nation and the cutting-edge technology developed locally, it said.
“[Israeli society is] creative, looks to the future, thinks outside the box, and is a trailblazer in research, medicine and agriculture, thereby providing a vital contribution to all of humanity,” Regev said.
Remembering fallen soldiers, civilians
The Independence Day celebrations were preceded on Tuesday by commemorating fallen soldiers and civilian victims of violence. The country came to a halt for a minute as sirens sounded across Israel on the annual day of remembrance, officially known as the “Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism”.
Israeli scouts light torches on April 17, 2018 during a ceremony at the Mount Herzel military cemetery in Jerusalem at the start of Remembrance Day commemorating fallen soldiers.
On the occasion, the Jewish state paid tribute to 23,645 members of its security forces and 3,134 civilians killed since 1860. That was the year Israel says its conflict with the Palestinians began after Jews settled in a district near the walls of Jerusalem's Old City. Israel gained recognition as a state in 1948.
"For 70 years we have held a shield and a sword in our hands while building the state of Israel," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a commemorative ceremony on Tuesday.
"We bow down to those whose blood has spilt in the homeland to heroically repel enemy attacks."
Solemn gatherings were held on Wednesday morning at cemeteries and war memorials across the country, giving way in the evening to 70 hours of street celebrations to mark the state's 70th anniversary.
Palestinians mark Prisoners' Day
Tuesday also saw several thousands of Palestinians observing the “Prisoners’ Day” in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of annual mass protests in support of Palestinians jailed by Israel.
Palestinians hold portraits of relatives jailed in Israeli prisons as they protest to demand for their release during a demonstration to mark the Prisoners' Day in the northern West Bank city of Nablus on April 17, 2018.
A few thousands gathered in the Gaza Strip, while there were smaller demonstrations across the West Bank. Around 6,500 Palestinians are currently in Israeli prisons for a range of offences and alleged crimes, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club.
Of those, around 500 are detained under so-called administrative detention laws, it said.
Administrative detention allows Israel to detain people without charge or trial for renewable six-month periods.
The prisoners' club also says around one million Palestinians have been detained by Israel since the country was founded in 1948.
Dozens of girls carrying photographs of women prisoners demonstrated on Tuesday outside the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross, west of Gaza City.
In Nablus in the northern West Bank, around 1,000 people gathered, while a few hundred demonstrated in Bethlehem and Ramallah.
(CGTN)
