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"The people coming to the event are not coming for me personally but to express solidarity with Israel and salute peace," MK Shimon Peres said.
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| By Ellis Shuman September 21, 2003 |
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Hundreds of world leaders, politicians, businessmen, entertainment stars and other celebrities flocked to Israel over the weekend to join in former prime minister and acting Labor chairman MK Shimon Peres's 80th birthday celebrations. Among the dignitaries are former U.S. president Bill Clinton and former U.S.S.R. leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Israeli right-wing groups plan to hold an "Oslo Memorial Ceremony" outside the birthday party.
The birthday celebrations have been criticized in Israel due to their cost, at public expense, and due to their timing, ten years after the signing of the Oslo Accords. But contributions of over $150,000 were received to help pay for the event and the arriving dignitaries are paying their own way, including the flight and hotel rooms, Haaretz reported. In addition, the use of Tel Aviv's Hechal Hatarbut auditorium, where the main event will be held Sunday night, was contributed by the Tel Aviv municipality, the paper said.
"This is not a personal thing; this is a party for the entire country," said Ron Pundak, Director General of the Peres Center for Peace.
According to the Peres Center, the marking of Peres's birthday "is an opportunity to look forward with the man who has his feet firmly planted on the ground as his vision sails to the future."
Visitors attending the celebrations include the presidents of Germany, Slovenia and Malta; the foreign ministers of Bulgaria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Kenya and Spain; additional ministers from the Ivory Coast, South Africa, Serbia, Kenya, Poland, Mozambique, Cyprus, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Slovenia; and the mayors of Paris and Rome. Former South African president Frederick de Klerk will also attend.
Other celebrities arriving for the birthday celebrations include actress Kathleen Turner, singer Enrico Macias, and businessman Haim Saban. Contrary to rumors, supermodel Naomi Campbell, entertainer Barbara Streisand and film director Steven Spielberg did not arrive for Peres's party.
"I am happy to come to Israel" Macias said on his arrival. "I know what difficult days the country is going through, with the whole world relating to [Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser] Arafat as a leader and not as someone responsible for terror attacks. I came to sing to Peres and to Israel, Ya'aseh Shalom (He will make peace). He and you deserve it."
The weekend celebrations began Friday, when Peres visited the memorial to former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin at Tel Aviv City Hall. "The people who come to the event are not coming for me personally," he said at the memorial, "but to express solidarity with Israel and salute peace, whose senior partner was Yitzhak Rabin. It pains me that he did not reach that stage, and here we are in the midst of the struggle, without him... The struggle was dealt a severe blow when the bullets killed Yitzhak, but we will continue."
This morning, Peres and his guests attended the cornerstone-laying ceremony for the Peres Center in Yaffo. Afterwards, the visitors were to be bused to Jerusalem, to be welcomed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, after which they will attend a reception at Beit Hanassi hosted by President Moshe Katsav.
The main artistic event at the Hechal Tarbut Auditorium Sunday evening will present Israel via landmarks in Peres's life. The program will deal with peace and its price, and even make fun of Peres's failures, Haaretz reported.
Women in Green, Jewish Leadership, and other groups said they were planning an "Oslo Memorial Ceremony" outside the auditorium to counter the Peres birthday celebration.
Women in Green chairperson Ruth Matar said, "World leaders and, shamefully, our own government will enjoy themselves at a dazzling party, and pay homage to the main architect of Oslo, Shimon Peres... The rest of us will hold a Memorial Rally outside the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv where the festivities are taking place, to honor the memory of all those poor souls who will never be able to celebrate another birthday."
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