On April 26, 2023, Israel celebrated 75 years of independence, with both Israelis and global supporters of the Jewish state marking this milestone with festive prayers, fireworks, barbeques, parades and other joyous undertakings.
However, the commemoration of Israel’s birthday was not limited to its citizens or avowed supporters.
Here’s how the global media, international leaders and even anti-Israel activists marked the 75th anniversary of Israeli independence.
Doom, Gloom & Hope: How the Media Commemorated Israel’s Birthday
In their coverage of Israel’s 75th birthday, most mainstream news organizations set their reports against the backdrop of the continued domestic unease surrounding the government’s proposed judicial reforms and the protest movement that has arisen in response to the controversial legislation.
For CNN, Israel is “on the brink of a chasm” while the Associated Press (AP) depicted the Jewish state as facing “one of the gravest crises in its history.”
Similarly, Reuters reported that Israel was celebrating its “75th anniversary…in a fractious and uncertain mood” while The New York Times suggested in its piece that “Israel is deeply divided as never before” and that some viewed the Jewish state as a “crumbling democracy.”
Aside from Israel’s internal divisions, these media reports also focused on other threats facing Israel at 75, including the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the threat from Iran and its proxies, demographic changes and the shifting landscape of international power.
Many of the mainstream media organizations also used the opportunity of Israel’s 75th birthday to parrot the Palestinian narrative, with CNN and the Associated Press noting that Palestinians consider Israel’s creation to be a “catastrophe.”
In addition, as part of its Israeli independence coverage, MSNBC interviewed a Palestinian artist who expressed his hope that the end of Israel was on the horizon while The Economist felt it necessary to wrongfully insinuate that Israel is responsible for the lack of democracy in the West Bank (as opposed to the undemocratic Palestinian Authority) and to note that 25% of American Jews believe (erroneously) that Israel is an “apartheid state.”
Related Reading: Israeli Independence: How Did the Press React in 1948?
However, it was not all doom and gloom in the media’s commemoration of Israeli independence.
As rightly pointed out by both The New York Times and The Washington Post, there is much to celebrate on Israel’s 75th birthday.
Both CNN and Reuters noted the impressive speed at which Israel has developed into an advanced economy in a relatively short period of time. The New York Times reported that the domestic turmoil and the fierce patriotism of both sides of the Israeli political spectrum are powerful evidence of the strength of Israeli democracy.
Perhaps The Economist said it best when it observed that Israel “has triumphed against the odds…Today Israel is hugely rich, safer than it has been for most of its history…It has overcome war, droughts and poverty with few natural endowments other than human grit. It is an outlier in the Middle East, a hub of innovation and a winner from globalisation.”
Related Reading: How Israeli Innovation Contributes to the World
‘Friends and Allies’: Birthday Greetings From Around the World
Unlike the global media’s generally despondent outlook on Israel’s future, the congratulatory messages from some of Israel’s closest allies were much more joyous and uplifting.
The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and the European Union’s messages all celebrated the decades-long relationships they share with the Jewish state, with the US noting that it was the first country to recognize Israel, and Australia taking pride in the fact that it was one of the first to vote for the UN partition plan.
Along with their strong friendships, the US, UK, EU and Canada’s messages also celebrated Israel’s advances in technology, science, innovation, culture and the arts.
While these messages were, of course, much more diplomatic than the media’s coverage of Israel’s birthday, the US, Canada and the UK did make subtle references to the current political climate, with the US and Canada referencing Israel’s democratic tradition and the UK reiterating its commitment to the two-state solution.
Today we celebrate 75 years of Israel's independence and friendship with Europe.
A special message from President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen: pic.twitter.com/TCi7GpfQWm
— EU in Israel 🇪🇺🇮🇱 (@EUinIsrael) April 26, 2023
The Nakba, Ethnic Cleansing & Racism: Anti-Zionist Twitter Responds to Israeli Independence
In her special message congratulating Israel on its 75th birthday, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, stated that Israel has “literally made the desert bloom.” This led to a severe backlash on Twitter, with a number of anti-Israel personalities calling her out for what they perceived to be a “racist” statement.
Known anti-Israel persona Muhammad Shehada tweeted that von der Leyen had resorted to a “racist and colonialist trope,” while Electronic Intifada lamented the fact that her special Israeli independence message had made no mention of the Palestinians and trotted out “one foundational myth after another.”
The reaction to Ursula von der Leyen’s message was but the latest vitriolic response by popular anti-Israel social media users to Israel’s 75th birthday.
In commemoration of the anniversary of Israeli independence, Jewish Voice for Peace claimed that Israelis were celebrating “75 years of ongoing dispossession, oppression and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” while also falsely asserting that Israel was manipulating the Jewish calendar in order to entrench the idea that the Jewish people are perpetual victims and that Israeli military might is needed in order to save them.
Not one to be outdone in publicly flailing the Jewish state, Ali Abunimah (the founder of Electronic Intifada) tweeted “Imagine how much of a sociopath you must be to see and know the horrors ‘Israel’ has been perpetrating against the Palestinian people continuously for 75 years (actually much longer) and considering that a cause for celebration.” He claimed in another tweet that Israel is a racist endeavor “perpetrated on the land of people subjected to barbaric European colonization and genocide.”
As we approach May 15, when Palestinian nationalists commemorate the founding of Israel as the Nakba (“catastrophe”), the vehement anti-Israel sentiment on social media is due to grow. Already, the Palestinian Youth Movement has advertised on Instagram that it is hosting a public gallery in Dallas entitled “75 years of resistance. 75 years of glory,” in which they will pay “homage to our martyrs and political prisoners.” The United Nations has announced that it will host a Nakba event for the first time in the General Assembly.
Related Reading: The ‘Apartheid’ Myth: The Improper Use of False and Misleading Claims Regarding Israel
While world leaders celebrate 75 years of Jewish sovereignty, anti-Israel advocates vilify it online and the international press call into question Israel’s durability, the Jewish state continues to serve as an exemplar of innovation, endurance and adaptability as it looks toward its 100th birthday.
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Michael Jacobs/Art in All of Us/Corbis via Getty Images
