2 groups will mark Israel's 60th anniversary for different reasons

Local Palestinian-Americans and pro-Israel Jews will separately mark the 60th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel this week.

To celebrate the anniversary, a concert sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and featuring the Seattle Symphony is scheduled at 7:30 this evening at Benaroya Hall.

For completely different reasons, a coalition of Arab and pro-Palestinian groups will recognize the same anniversary with a festival planned from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at Seattle Central Community College.

"It's a mourning for us," said Amin Odeh, co-founder of Voices of Palestine, one of the groups in the coalition. The coalition also plans a silent march and protest of tonight's Jewish Federation event.

Supporters of Israel have reason to celebrate the May 1948 establishment of a homeland for the world's Jews. But that same date marked what in Arabic is known as Nakba -- or catastrophe -- for 800,000 Arab Palestinians, who as a result were left homeless and dispersed across the globe."You have two groups of people with very different orientations for the same event," said Joel Migdal, a University of Washington professor of international studies and an expert in Mideast issues.

Aside from the Holocaust, he called creation of the Jewish state "the most significant event in Jewish history in the past several thousand years. A people who had been discriminated against and powerless to control its own fate was now able to rule itself and gain independence.

"For Palestinians it was the central event that dispersed them," Migdal said. "It basically foreclosed the possibility of them getting some control over their own lives."

Sixty years after the establishment of Israel, Jews and Palestinians agree on very little about their shared history. And peace between them remains elusive.

The event this evening at Benaroya Hall will feature the Seattle Symphony, actress and singer/dancer Bebe Neuwirth and folk singer Theodore Bikel. An "Israel@60" retrospective video will feature local Jews sharing their memories of the country's creation.

"It's a remarkable testimony for Israel to be around for so many years," said Richard Fruchter, CEO of the Jewish Federation. Israel's declaration of statehood 60 years ago brought an immediate attack from neighboring Arab countries, followed by other wars.

"We were so worried about the survival of the state, the only truly democratic place in the Middle East."

The Al-Nakba Coalition, a coalition of Arab and Palestinian-support groups, is planning the Saturday event at Seattle Central Community College to celebrate the culture of Palestinians.

"What we are celebrating is Palestinian history and culture and 60 years of resistance and steadfastness," said Odeh, the co-founder of Voices of Palestine. "After 60 years we are still here."

Odeh said the group is planning a march and silent protest of the Israel celebration tonight so people can understand there's another side to the story.

"We want people to understand that there's no celebration in an event that made almost 800,000 homeless 60 years ago. Really, it's been 60 years of oppressing others."

Lornet Turnbull: 206-464-2420 or lturnbull@seattletimes.com