A Day Without Palestinians

This Thursday Israel will celebrate its 60th Independence Day. For a vast majority of Israelis, as well as many non-Israeli Jews and gentiles, the creation of the state in 1948 and its many achievements are truly a cause for celebration. We mustn't doubt the rightfulness of our very existence as a free and independent nation.

Independence Day is also the one day we should be allowed to forget about the negative aspects of our country. Let's not think about the security situation, the decline of the welfare and healthcare systems or the corruption of our prime minister.

Also, it's a day on which we should not think about the Palestinians, what we have done and continue to do to them, or what we and the Palestinians do to each other. 364 days out of they year we should remember them and strive for peace in order to make their lives, as well as ours, better. But on the day we celebrate our independence, there is absolutely no reason to commemorate the Nakba or to think of Palestinian suffering. The Palestinians are free to commemorate their tragedy, but they shouldn't expect Israelis to do so.

One day each year, we can pretend Palestinians do not exist.