Israel

Bush fetes Israel on 60th anniversary

Article published on the 2008-05-14 Latest update 2008-05-14 15:06 TU

Arab Israelis commemorate Naqba in West Jerusalem
(Photo: Reuters)

US President George Bush arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Wednesday to join Jewish state's celebrations of the 60th anniversary of its foundation. He goes on to tour the Middle East, in which he will discuss the Middle East peace process with regional leaders.

Bush said that the US must support Israel, its "strongest ally and friend in the Middle East, the only true democracy, against the forces of terror".

In the past he has said he hoped a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians would come to fruition before he leaves office in January.

As he touched down in Israel, four Palestinians were killed in Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip.

The US president will not be visiting the Palestinian Territories. Bush's national security advisor Stephen Hadley called Israel's 60th birthday "a great event" but added, "we also recognise that that event resulted in hardship for many Palestinian people."

Palestinians confined to the Gaza Strip and West Bank, with ten million more dispersed around the world, call the mass exodus from the newly-formed state of Israel in 1948 naqba, the Arabic word for catastrophe.

Thousands of Palestinians will officially commemorate the defeat of Arab armies and the flight of more than 760,000 people on Thursday but some started peaceful protests earlier today.

"I would like to tell [the Israeli government] to be honest with themselves and honest with the world, just and only just, to stop the illegal activities," said Alice Zulk, a young supporter protesting in West Jerusalem.

Organisers of a Palestinian protest tomorrow plan to release 21,915 balloons over Jerusalem while Bush adresses Israeli parliament, a balloon to mark each day of the dispossession, according to organisers.