THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, May 12, 1978 31
Israel's 30th Anniversary Supplement
The Jewish News Salutes the People of
Israel on the 30th Anniversary of Their independence
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THE PRIME MINISTER
Let us rejoice. Thirty years ago, 1,878 after the destruction of the Second Temple
after the Roman conquerors had proclaimed 'Judea vanquished', our people lived to
see again the renewal of our independence in the land of Israel and there unfurl the
flag of our freedom among the independent nations. It is a unique event in the annals
of mankind.
In the intervening centuries between the fall and rise of free Israel the Jewish people
were scattered, humiliated, deported, wandered from one country to another
deprived of liberty and human dignity, violently attacked and permanently perse-
cuted. Ultimately, in Europe, millions of our people, men, women, and children, were
physically annihilated. Such was the indescribable price we paid for the exile from
the land of our forefathers. But then, with the last vestige of our national and human
strength, after having lost one-third of our people, our generation rose in revolt
against homelessness and helplessness in an heroic fight of the few against the
many.
With great sacrifice we won the day and regained an independent country: Thus it
was that thirty years ago, on the Fourth of lyar, a great light dawned on our people.
Free Israel came into being.
The history of these past thirty years is also unique. Our state was attacked time
and again. We had to fight many battles in order to maintain our independence. At
the very same time there was a magnificent process of building up the country, of
turning desert land into green pastures, of bringing in the exiles of our people from
four corners of the world, of the most creative work in every sphere of life.
Jerusalem has been reunited, our• victorious army strengthened. Our wonderful
young generation, serene and devoted, is the pride of our hearts.
It is true that for the last thirty years we have not enjoyed a single day of peace. We
have embarked last year, in the wake of ceaseless previous efforts, on the road of
direct negotiations to establish peace between ourselves and our neighbors. De-
spite all the difficulties, we believe that this noble goal will be reached. We shall not
cease in our effort to achieve the peace and the security for which we yearn.
We owe a special debt and concern for a remnant of the Jewish people in Europe,
our brethren in the Soviet Union. Their return to Judaism, their plight and fight for
the return to the Land of Israel is, historically, the second greatest event of our
time after the renewal of our independence. We must stand by them and wage an
incessant campaign for their inalienable right to reach the historic homeland of the
Jewish people.
Admittedly, we have difficulties in many spheres of life. But if we remember where
we were and what we were only one generation ago, in the 30's, and in the 40's, and
how with our own initiative, sacrifice and effort, we changed fundamentally the
situation of Our people from tragedy to triumph, we have reason to believe that we
shall overcome all the obstacles and guarantee the future of our children's children.
On this great anniversary, we bow our heads in humility and love as we remember
our fallen heroes of the Haganah, Palmach, Irgun, Lehi, Mahal and the soldiers of the
Israel Defense Forces. It is their self-sacrifice which brought us out from bondage
and regained for us the dignity of independence. They will be engraved on the hearts
of our people for ever and ever.
The Jewish people on the Land of Israel and all over the world, together with men and
women of goodwill in every nation, rejoice this day as we celebrate the triumph of the
spirit over matter, of right over wrong, of justice over iniquity. Israel's rebirth is,
indeed, a victory of humanity.
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