Happy Birthday--Except in Venezuela and Turtle Bay

IsraPundit coordinated a "blog burst" to commemorate the 57th anniversary of Israel's origin:

Today is the anniversary of the UN vote on resolution 181, which approved the partition of the western part Palestine into a predominately Jewish state and a predominately Arab state. . . The partition plan was approved by 33 to 13, with 10 abstentions. . .


1947 U.N. Resolution 181 Partition Plan

On November 30, 1947, the day following the vote, the Palestinian Arabs murdered six Jews in a bus making its way to Jerusalem, and proceeded to murder another Jew in the Tel-Aviv - Jaffa area. This was a prelude to a war that claimed the lives of 6,000 Jews, or 1% of the total Jewish population in 1948. This toll is the per capita equivalent of today’s Canada losing 300,000 lives, or the US losing 3,000,000.

The object of the war, launched by the Arabs in the former Palestine and the armies of Egypt, Transjordan, Syria and Lebanon (with help from other Arab countries), was to "throw the Jews into the sea". As the partition map indicates, however, rather than annihilate the Jewish population, the Arabs ended up with less territory than they would have gained by peaceful means.

Israel, of course, fought several unprovoked wars in order to survive until age 57. So I guess I shouldn't be shocked by Venezuela's birthday gift today:

[A]round 6.30AM, 25 police officers raided in Caracas the Jewish school known as Colegio Hebraica. Students were meant to start classes at 7AM [but] classes have been suspended. The school is attended by 1,500 youngsters and children.

Allegedly the State television network, Venezolana de Television, has been reporting for days now that the Mossad is behind the assassination of prosecutor Danilo Anderson.

And I should have anticipated how the U.N. celebrated the milestone: by declaring November 29th "International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People."

I guess September 11th didn't spell the end of irony after all.