النكبة - Nakba

President Bush is in Israel today, here with other heads of state and foreign diplomats to celebrate Israel's 60th birthday. As the celebrations roll on into their second week, I would like to take a moment to pause and ruminate on tomorrow's "Nakba Day." The word Nakba (spelled out for you in Arabic, and intentionally capitalized in English) means "catastrophe." Not surprisingly, it refers to the creation of Israel, the flight of Palestinian refugees that fled or were forced from their homes because of the fighting, and the destruction of over 100 Palestinian villages in what would become Israel.

Israel is dear to me, as it should be. Having lived here, I no longer see it through rose colored glasses, but rather with a skeptical eye and a heavy dose of reality. I believe this is healthier. I love this country but I feel it is my responsibility to recognize that the culmination of our collective hope and drive to regain our Holy Land did not come without significant bloodshed and hardship. Israel was not born by immaculate conception. Nor was it only Israel that was born in 1948. There were two nations born as a result of that war, Israelis and Palestinians.

60 years later, Israel is thriving. It's far from perfect, but Zionism has been a fantastic success. We Jews have realized self determination. It would be immoral and unjust to deny it to the Palestinians, whose fate we are bound to. It is time to realize that making concessions is not a sign of weakness. We have our Jewish state, our Israeli society, our Promised Land, and it is beautiful. For our sake, as well as for theirs, we must help the Palestinians to build their state alongside ours.