Joy, Protest As Israel Turns 60

Published: May 9, 2008

JERUSALEM - A clash between Arab protesters and police, and a paratrooper's crash-landing during a ceremonial jump marred Israel's 60th independence day festivities Thursday.

The paratrooper and two bystanders were seriously hurt when he missed his target on a Tel Aviv beach and slammed into a crowd of spectators. Several others were slightly injured.

Later, 11 police and protesters were injured during a march by Israeli Arabs marking the flip side of independence day for Arabs - the "nakba," or "catastrophe," when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were uprooted in the 1948 war over Israel's creation.

The march highlighted the tensions between Israel's Jewish majority and Arab minority.

Across the country, Israelis held barbecues in backyards and public parks, and were entertained by a naval parade and a Bible quiz.

Six decades after rising from the ashes of the Holocaust, the Jewish state is still plagued by threats from abroad and an identity crisis at home.

Its 41-year occupation of Palestinian territories has invited international condemnation. Yet it also is a thriving democracy that has provided a haven for the world's Jews.