Wishing Israel a happy birthday

(If only it was a peaceful one.)

It has been roughly 60 years since the founding of the Zionist state of Israel. Here are a couple articles of note:

BBC News - Israel at 60

Foreign Policy - Think Again: Israel (subscription required; I'll try to find an alternate link)

And its nearly impossible to talk about Israel without bringing up the fun topic of Palestine... Is Israel contributing to humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip? You decide!